St. Helens

wheni recieved an offer to be a locum surgeon for 3 months in st. helena a british overseas territory-i gladly accepted-for 2 reasons-i wanted a break after the stress of being a surgeon in india for 27 years; the second reason was curiosity regarding the place where napolean

spent the last years of his life.

st. helena is situated in the south atlantic, roughly equidistant between south america and

the african continent. an important port during the east india company days it lost its importance after the suez canal. it can only be approached from the sea- from uk or closer to it from capetown, being served by a small cruise ship called rms helena- carrying about 120 passengers. the island shows up on the horizon as you approach from the sea as two massifs of volcanic rock-nestled in between is the pretty victorian town of jamestown.

as you climb up the hills the climate becomes cooler &you see stunning scenes reminiscent of switzerland.

the place has avery laidback lifestyle &very friendly people- everyone seems to know each other.what is interesting about helena is that though customs , language, &food are british, fully 50 percent of the inhabitants have indian features-they can walk down any street in south india and blend into the crowd.

though all amenities are available the lifestyle is of a bygone era-i wonder if all this will survive the proposed new airport- till then it is a few people like me who are priviledged to enjoy one of the last tropical paradises