Ascension island ..... South Atlantic bound

It’s been a bit busy with the last couple of weeks being in the order of 75 hours work each so I have fallen behind on the blog. Last week was one of my more interesting journeys. The Falkland Islands

This was to be my third visit to the islands; unfortunately though I never get long there, the journey starts at RAF Brize Norton for a late night departure to Ascension Island. The flight takes just short of 9 hours as the flight plan requires an oceanic route around the coast of Africa because the MOD do not allow flights over Western Sahara, apparently its considered a terrorist nation. Shortly after 7AM the island comes into view. It’s not a big island as an be seen by the photograph below which was taken from about 7 miles out

This time the two hour fuel stop was spent around the aircraft but one occasion I have been taken on brief tour of the island. There are about 800 people living on Ascension, all of who are contractors of the various agencies with operations there, no one has a right of residency. It’s a volcanic island with a few roads and one real community Georgetown which is the capital. Even with no residents somehow it still manages to have a Government and a litter bin with the logo "keep Ascension island tidy". It feels good to be a taxpayer.

There is no GSM signal, limited phone lines and a mediocre internet service with restrictions on the amount of time an individual can be on line each day, 20 minutes I believe. Despite all this I understand it’s a popular posting. Due to its remoteness the fishing and Diving is supposed to be great and the Flora and Fauna and Animals Green Mountain are untouched. And the animals are not frightened of Humans and will apparently come very close to you. One day I might get to spend a few days there to see for myself.