Having got to the bottom of Jacob's Ladder, I realised that life on St Helena wasn't always as laid back as it appeared on the surface.
Napoleon Street: Named after the most famous visitor. Although he was incarcerated at the other side of the island
Napoleon statue: Putting on his best Gordon Brown smile
Cannon bollard: Just like Swanage back home which has a lot of Napoleonic era cannons as bollards
After a look around Jamestown, then I decided to head off to Anne's Place to meet up with Glenn for a cuppa & some lunch. The cafe/bar is easy to find as it is in the only small park in lower Jamestown.
Parking infringements are taken very seriously: A cannonball is a bit extreme, but a good deterrent
Parking rules are quite detailed
The local nick
The small park
White Tern: The trees in the park provided a shady nest site for some of the White Terns
I like the humour of the local Saints
St Helena Moggie
Old anchor & Fig Tree
Anne's Place
Anne's Place: It has a good atmosphere inside
Doc Laura: Catching up on news from the outside world
Common Myna: Another introduced species which originates in Iran to the India Subcontinent to South East Asia
African Monarch: There were a couple feeding in the small park next to Anne's Place
Sean Browne: Chimping the African Monarch photos
St Helena Roller: Apparently, it is owned by one of the hotel owners & must be horrendously expensive to run as we were told it managed 6 miles per gallon. Still it looked perfect for the island
Wirebird: The only surviving St Helena endemic Bird. There are sub-fossil remains of a Petrel, Shearwater, Crake, Swamphen, Dove, Cuckoo & Hoopoe
Michael Frauendorfer getting a short run ashore: Michael, along with Zsuzsanna, were the two hotel managers on the Plancius who was responsible for all the accommodation & catering onboard. Both put in long hours to ensure an excellent experience for the passengers
This check post box looks to have been around for many years
Another example of Saints humour: But a bit of reality as well, given Land Rovers are probably the best suited & maintainable vehicles on St Helena
Common Myna: These platforms were erected to replace the nesting ledges used by the White Terns before the cliffs were covered in the retaining wire
White Tern: A recently fledged White Tern
Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus adscensionis): There were a few scrambling around the harbour rocks. This species occurs in the Eastern Atlantic, but has also colonised Ascension island & St Helena
Sally Lightfoot Crab: They have quite a variable colouration
White Tern: This is the nominate alba subspecies which occurs at the Brazilian Fernando de Noronha & Trindade Islands, as well as, St Helena & Ascension Island
White Tern: I like the shadows on the second individual
White Tern
We returned to Anne's Place for a meal & drinks ashore in the evening.
After lunch it was time to head back to the Plancius as Glenn & I were booked to go on a trip to the Sperry Islands to look for the local Band-rumped Storm-petrels & other Seabirds.
While we were waiting after lunch for the boat there were a few Red-billed Tropicbirds & White Terns flying around the harbour.
Red-billed Tropicbird
Kev Bollington (left) & Mike Deverell: Heading off for evening food & drinks
Jacob's Ladder
Common House Gecko: We were pleased to finally see this Gecko. Somebody had claimed one on Tristan da Cunha where they don't occur & it became a standing joke in ever log after that until we finally saw some in the toilets of Anne's Place
Common House Gecko: They are another introduced species. The nature range is India, South East Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea & Northern Australia
A number of the Wildwings punters returned to Anne's Place in the evening: Phil Hansbro was happy to get a chip buttie as apparently, they haven't worked out how to prepare this typical British cuisine in his adopted Australia
