Ascension Island
Travel Guide > Africa > Ascension Island
In this Article
- Introduction
- Brief History
- Geography
- Regions
- Cities
- Sights and Activities
- Events and Festivals
- Weather
- Getting There
- Getting Around
- Red Tape
- Money
- Work
- Study
- Language
- Eat
- Sleep
- Drink
- Health
- Safety
- Keep Connected
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Quick Facts
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- Capital
- Georgetown
- Population
- 1,100
- Religions
- Christianity
- Government
- Saint Helena Dependency
- Languages
- English
- Currency
- Saint Helena Pound
- Calling Code
- +247
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Introduction
A brown, barren island in the South Atlantic, Ascension Island has attracted to its shores a diverse group of people: British soldiers, telegraph workers (an early breed of tele-sales marketers?), US military and a handful of migrants from nearby Saint Helena. Biological specialists have also frequented the island for research purposes, generally finding that the island is incredibly unique but awfully brown. In a bold attempt to add some colour to the landscape, Ascension Islanders have managed to plant an artificial forest, aptly named Green Mountain. In honour of this feat, the local government has even gone so far as to call it a national park.
Ascension Island is a dependency of Saint Helena
Brief History
Geography
The main island, Ascension, has a land are of roughly 91 km². The island is a volcanic peak, with much of the island a wasteland of cinder cones and lava flows.
The tiny Boatswain Bird Island lies off the east coast of Ascension and is a haven for sea birds, who used it to get away from the cats, rats and humans that were introduced to Ascension from African and Europe. In 2006, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, declared Ascension Island free of feral cats, after a campaign to eradicate them. As a result, the sea birds have started nesting on Ascension Island again.
Regions
Sights and Activities
Green Mountain National Park
Green Mountain National Park was opened in 2005, making it the island's first national park. The park absorbs a large chunk of the southeast, and features a wide variety of native wildlife and plants, including landcrabs, Fairy terns and red necked francolins. There are a number of bushwalks possible in the park, which also features a 300-metre long tunnel used to pump water through the mountain in the 1830s.
For more information, see the Ascension Conservation website.
Other activities
- Sport fishing - One of the most popular activities around Ascension Island is to go sport fishing.
- Golf - Ascension Island has what was once named the Worst Golf Course in the World, but golf remains a popular activity among visitors.
- Scuba diving
Events and Festivals
Weather
Ascension enjoys a subtropical climate, with temperatures at the coast somewhere between 20 °C and 31 °C. Rainfall is normal throughout the year, but tends to be heavier from January to April.
Getting There
By Plane
Flights to Ascension Island from the UK are operated by the Royal Air Force, who allow a limited number of civilian passengers on board. Departures are from the Brize Norton airbase in Oxfordshire.
More details on prices and schedules can be found through the Ascension Island travel agency website.
By Boat
The Royal Mail Ship "Saint Helena" travels regularly between Saint Helena and Ascension Island, Walvis Bay and Cape Town. The schedule is primarily designed to meet the needs of locals and cargo for St. Helena, and thus follows a timetable but not a consistent routing. In general terms, the ship leaves Cape Town once a month, before heading to St. Helena, sometimes via Walvis Bay. From St. Helena it will then run 1 or 2 shuttles to Ascension Island, before returning to Cape Town, again sometimes via Walvis Bay. Occasionally, Cape Town is omitted, and the ship returns to St. Helena directly from Walvis Bay.
Twice a year (in March and October) the ship travels from St. Helena via Ascension to the UK, currently docking in Portland on the South Coast.
Getting Around
By Car
As there is no public transport on the island, all visitors that wish to see something are required to rent a car. Several companies offer rental cars, but they are not very cheap. There is about 40 kilometers of tarred roads on the island and all major sights can be visited in a few days. Bikes can be rented as well, and if you like hiking then you are on the right spot as well.
Recently, taxis have been introduced on the island, so if you only want to take a car once or twice and you are with several people, this makes for a nice option as well.
Money
See also Money Matters
The currency in use on Ascension Island is the Saint Helena Pound, which is fixed at parity to the British Pound Sterling.
Notes come in denominations of £5, £10, and £20, while coins are available in denominations of 1p (penny), 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 (pound) and £2.
Work
Study
Language
Eat
Sleep
Drink
This is version 9. Last edited at 19:06 on Sep 17, 09 by Utrecht (+194). 14 articles link to this page.
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