5 Stop off at Ascension Island

We flew from Brize Norton RAF base on Sunday 12th March to Ascension Island. The flight was very comfortable and there was plenty of leg room on the plane.  It was a full flight, made up of civilian and forces personnel going to Ascension Island or on  to Mount Pleasant in the Falklands.

We arrived very early on 13th March and the first thing we all noticed was the immense heat!! At 8.30 in the morning it was already 27 degrees at the airport and rising all the time.

We collected our baggage and took the 5 minute journey in a minibus to our hotel in George Town. the thing that struck me about the island on that journey was that it looked like the surface of the moon! (not that I have been) it is a volcanic island, and as such the ground is made up of dark brown fine stone and there are  large brown baron hills dotted around. The only green was from Green Mountain in the distance.

Our hotel is basic but very comfortable and the food is excellent, fresh Tuna steaks, Tuna Tartar and fish curry on the menu. I don’t think they are big on puddings though as fruit cocktail is standard every night!

Yesterday we drove up green mountain, a slightly hairy experience requiring first gear all the way.  There were tight corners and steep climbs and my knuckles changed colour a few times but we arrived in one piece (Well done Matt). Once up the mountain it was cool in the shaded areas . We took Elliot’s path round Green Mountain  a 1 hour 45 minute walk taking in views of the whole island with absolutely no complaining from the kids…?!  Ruby only fell over 4 times, so all good!

This morning we set our alarm for 6.15 and woke the grumbling kids so that we could go down to the beach and see the turtles returning to the ocean after laying their eggs during the night. It was an amazing experience and well worth the effort! most of the turtles had already left, leaving large tractor tyre marks in the sand, however, we saw about 6 large turtles as they slowly made their way down the beach. The Ocean eventually scooping them up before they disappeared. Their  long necks and heads then poked out of the water periodically to check where they were going!

We are getting ready for our final voyage to St Helena tomorrow, we set sail at 1pm and we cannot wait, it has been a long time coming but is finally here!

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