Shopping a Daily Puzzle on Remote St. Helena

Jakarta Globe, Jean Liou, Apr 19, 2015

This picture taken on March 10, 2015 shows the entrance of the Rose and
 Crown shop in Jamestown in Jamestown on the tiny island of St. Helena. (AFP
Photo/Jean Liou)

Jamestown. If you think grocery shopping is a chore, spare a moment for those on the tiny island of Saint Helena who never know what will be on the shelves from one day to the next.

The 4,200 inhabitants of Saint Helena have resigned themselves to the reality that choice is a luxury in a place where supplies come only every three weeks on a ship from Cape Town

“This is like living under Soviet rule,” jokes Francois Haffner, a French tourist determined to eat well on the remote South Atlantic island, famous as the place the French military leader Napoleon was exiled until his death in 1821.

“In the first store there is butter, in another there are lemons, and in the third you can find some cream. There are no greens, and eggs aren’t there every day,” said an exasperated Haffner.

“The fish comes at 1:00 pm, the bread after 11:00 am — but no later than 12 noon — and all the shops close at 5:00 pm.”

The shopping schedule requires that hungry tourists and residents dedicate a good chunk of time to planning how to fill their stomachs.

“There are no stores where you can find everything, and shopping takes some time,” said Haffner.

A sign displayed in a shop in Jamestown
on the tiny island of Saint Helena. (AFP
Photo/Jean Liou)

Choice is a luxury

Still, he is determined never to visit the frozen food section, which was stocked with last year’s Christmas pudding in March.

In contrast with Haffner, the 4,200 inhabitants of the British island are more relaxed about the grocery situation, having resigned themselves to the reality that choice is a luxury in a place where supplies come only every three weeks on a ship from Cape Town.

As a result, shopping in the island’s capital, Jamestown, requires some flexibility and a close knowledge of the ship’s schedule.

“Of course, you do not want to starve, but it is better not to look for something specific,” says David Pryce, a native of England who studies insects on the island.

A successful islander has to balance patience with spontaneity, he says.

“You have to make the rounds of stores every day. And if you see something, you have to buy it.”

However, sometimes excitement over new items causes problems, says Tara Thomas, whose family owns four convenience stores.

“When bottled water hits the shop, people bulk buy. They panic buy, and they create another shortage,” she says.

“If people had a normal consumer behavior, we wouldn’t have so many problems.”

Little local produce

Most produce on the island comes from Britain or South Africa.

Little is made domestically. There are cows, for example, but no fresh milk. “We have farmers, but they do not produce enough,” moans Thomas.

What little local produce exists is often bartered between islanders or snapped up by hotels and restaurants before reaching the shelves.

Still, some are hoping to capitalize on the scarcity. Mirroring the fashion overseas for self-sufficiency, entrepreneurs have started small-scale farming.

Joshua Martin, 39, has set up a business delivering tomatoes and cucumbers that he produces in polytunnels.

While his venture is a success, Martin complains there is little coordination between the producers. “Everyone produces the same,” he says.

Then there is the issue of reliability.

“The problem is that we are not regular,” says Aaron Legg, a 30-year-old guide who grows bananas. “Retailers cannot rely on us and they have to import.”

It’s not for lack of want, says Legg, who plans to start growing onions.

“The island imports 70 tons of onions a year from South Africa,” he says incredulously. “If there were onions every day on the shelves people would buy more. There is a huge market.”

Half empty shelfs at an emporium in Jamestown on the tiny island
of Saint Helena. (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Shop owners worry that with such short supply they will not be able to accommodate an influx of tourists when weekly flights start between the island and Johannesburg in February next year.

With the monthly ship service set to end after the introduction of the flights, retailers worry their produce options will decrease.

Now they’re in a quandary. “It is not profitable for a ship to come more often,” says Nick Thorpe, one of the leading importers on the island.

“I have the feeling that if they want the ship to come more often, they will have to subsidize it,” he says.

Whether or not that will happen is another story.

Agence France-Presse

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The Man Who Keeps Napoleon’s Memory Alive

Jakarta Globe, Jean Liou, Apr 16, 2015

Honorary French Consul in Saint Helena, Michel Dancoisne-Martineau,
poses on March 12, 2015, next to the flag pole in the garden of Napoleon's last
 residence, known as Longwood House, in Jamestown on the British island
of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Jamestown. Michel Dancoisne-Martineau knows that the story of Napoleon’s life in exile is timeless — and irresistible.

The Frenchman is tasked with preserving the property where Napoleon Bonaparte lived after being exiled to the remote South Atlantic island of Saint Helena in 1815 and remained until his death six years later.

”I have a product and I am trying to sell it,” he said.

One of the few Frenchmen on the British island of just 4,200 people, Dancoisne-Martineau manages a 16.5 hectare plot of French territory.

”I want this to last after me,” said the smiling 49-year-old as his dog Papillon [Butterfly] lay at the foot of the bed where France’s greatest military hero died.

Dancoisne-Martineau, who took up his job in 1987, has spearheaded an ambitious project to renovate Longwood House, the home of the former emperor.

The upgrade could not come at a better time.

Napoleon Bonaparte's dining room at his last residence, known as
Longwood House, in Jamestown, Saint Helena. (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Next year, St Helena plans to start weekly flight service from Johannesburg — which has only been accessible by a five-day boat journey — in what many islanders hope will result in a significant boost to the tourism sector.

Dancoisne-Martineau intends to be ready.

”Hopefully, we will privatise the management of the building,” he said. “There will be a shop and ticketed entry.”

The property includes Napoleon’s house in Longwood and “Geranium Valley” — the peaceful site where the ex-emperor wanted to be buried if his remains weren’t sent back to his beloved homeland.

Dancoisne-Martineau started by renovating “the generals’ rooms” that housed Napoleon’s companions in exile.

Razed in 1860 and shoddily rebuilt in 1933, the cost to repair the building totalled more than 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million).

The French government committed to footing half of the bill, and he had to find the other half.

Despite the hefty price tag, the upgrade wasn’t difficult to finance.

A sign post on the road leading to Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb in
Jamestown on the British island of Saint Helena. (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

A labour of love

”An international campaign was conducted with the Napoleon Foundation to raise funds and it has since garnered 1.5 million euros,” said the curator, with a smile.

With the leftover money, Dancoisne-Martineau has started improving the wing of the house occupied by the ex-emperor before he died age 52, plagued by boredom and haunted by spite.

When Napoleon lived there under guard “there was standing water under the floor, water running down the walls, rats were everywhere and there was a permanent musty smell,” said Dancoisne-Martineau.

He choose to present the house the way it was the day Napoleon died — minus the rats and dampness.

”But I didn’t let the walls crumble,” he added.

The refurbished apartments, with guest rooms and seminar facilities, will be inaugurated on October 15 to mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s arrival on the island.

After the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon surrendered to the English, hoping for lenient treatment. He must have never imagined they would banish him to a no-man’s land so far from Europe.

Napoleon Bonaparte’s deathbed at his last
 residence, known as Longwood House, in
 Jamestown, Saint Helena. (AFP Photo/
Jean Liou)

Yet, the distance has not stopped people from visiting.

”People do come for Napoleon,” said Mark Capes, the island’s governor.

”For St Helena, the Napoleon legacy is very important, because he is part of what makes St Helena, he is part of our history.

”We celebrate it, and it is part of our marketing.”

As part of the restoration project, Dancoisne-Martineau has sent 32 pieces of furniture to France.

Next year, Les Invalides, a French military complex that houses Napoleon’s grave in Paris, will display them for an exhibition marking the bicentenary of his exile, along with some luxury items that the former French emperor had taken with him.

For Dancoisne-Martineau, a wave of sightseers would be the best way to end his custodianship of Napoleon’s final years before he steps down, maybe as early as next year.

”I’ll resume painting, I abandoned it 15 years ago,” he said.

In the meantime, he has started repairing the roof of a house in Briars Pavilion, above the capital Jamestown, where Napoleon stayed for two months after his arrival in 1815, before moving to Longwood.

That repair isn’t in the official renovation budget. But for Dancoisne-Martineau, preserving Napoleon’s memory has become a labour of love: he’s paying for the roof repairs out of his own pocket.

Agence France-Presse

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Remote island St Helena on brink of tourist invasion

Remote island St Helena on brink of tourist invasion

Yahoo – AFP, Jean Liou, April 14, 2015

The edge of the runway of the future airport of the island of Saint Helena,

currently under construction in Jamestown (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Jamestown (AFP) - The tiny South Atlantic island of Saint Helena -- where Napoleon died in exile -- dreams of becoming a tourist draw when its first airport opens next year despite fears it cannot accommodate an influx of visitors.

For years only accessible by boat, St Helena has just one bank, no cash machine and no mobile telephone reception.

Sailing out to St Helena from Cape Town every three weeks, the boat journey takes five long days. Because the island is so remote, only 1,500 tourists visit each year.

But the tourism office hopes the weekly 4.5-hour passenger flights scheduled to start from Johannesburg in February 2016 will change that -- and the island's economy -- forever.

Its director Cathy Alberts says she expects 30,000 tourists a year, and voices hope that the change will help St Helena become self-sufficient.

Future airport of the island of Saint Helena,

 currently under construction in Jamestown

(AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Perched in the Atlantic half-way between Africa and South America, the island relies on Britain for most of its income -- £60 million (83 million euros, $89 million) a year -- but has its sights set on financial independence.

"We talk about 600 people per week. So it's not that much," Alberts said. "It is doable, absolutely. As the demand increases, people will start providing the services."

Visitors will have several days in St Helena, ample time to see the local sights, including the house where Napoleon, France's greatest military hero, died on May 5, 1821.

But not everyone is happy with the change.

View galleryFuture airport of the island of Saint Helena, currently …

Future airport of the island of Saint Helena, currently under construction in Jamestown (AFP Photo/J …

The idea of crowds of camera-wielding tourists worries many of the island's 4,200 residents, who worry the island cannot meet such a demand.

"You can imagine the chaos on the roads," said Niall O'Keefe, who heads local development company Enterprise St Helena.

Island life threatened?

Local officials say change would not come instantaneously.

"In 10 years, I see St Helena livelier, with more people, more restaurants, more shops," the island's governor Mark Capes said.

"But it will not be a big bang, it will not happen overnight."

Hoteliers are lobbying for a second flight to Britain, home to most of the island's tourists.

"To have two flights a week, we will need to double our hotel capacity," finance official Dax Richards said, adding that a surge in demand would swamp St Helena's meagre facilities.

View galleryJamestown, the capital of the South Atlantic island …

Jamestown, the capital of the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena (AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Currently, the island offers just 85 tourists beds for tourists and a few self-catering units.

Beds are just part of the problem. Because of its remoteness and dependence on funding, the island's infrastructure is lacking.

Some in the tourism industry worry that well-heeled visitors will be disappointed by unprofessional service -- or problems like garbage in the Jamestown moat -- and vent their disappointment on influential travel websites.

Others fear something worse: that the island could lose its soul.

"I hope we don't lose our cohesion, our sense of solidarity," tour guide Basil George said. "That's my fear with the airport, not the airport itself."

Building the airport has already disturbed the island, which is framed by craggy volcanic cliffs soaring hundreds of metres above sea level and enjoys a mild climate despite being located near the equator.

A construction crew of 600 has had a big impact during the four-year project, which included chipping away at a mountain and backfilling an entire valley.

Today the runway, 1,950 metres (yards) long and 45 metres wide, ends just before the cliff drops a dramatic 300 metres into the Atlantic Ocean.

Jamestown, the capital of the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena 

(AFP Photo/Jean Liou)

Funded by the British government and built by a South African construction company, the airport cost £250 million (350 million euros, $370 million).

Airport heralds revolution

When South African airline Comair's Boeing 737-800 flights begin, up to 138 passengers will travel into St Helena each week -- roughly the same number of people who arrive every three weeks by boat.

But the runway being built at the island's eastern tip is not long enough to accommodate larger aircraft flying from Europe.

The airport project also includes the construction of a 14-kilometre (nine-mile) access road, which leads into a valley near the capital Jamestown, where a new wharf is being built for £20 million (28 million euros, $30 million).

Before the first plane lifts off, cell phone service is expected to start -- another major upheaval.

Whatever locals think, they must soon accept the inevitable reality that after years in isolation, St Helena is joining the rest of the world.