Changes

The project had to changed due to some (un)expected informations. The biggest change is - there is no more "team". Nilton cannot go to Tristan da Cunha. That has an influance one the whole project, he was the "cameraman". This mean, there will be no documental movie and the trip there will be made all by myself. If I find sponsores. I also want to short the stay. I will take the first boat there and hopefully I will take the same boat back. From about 3 months I will do about one and a half. There is still no shedule for 2014 so I do not know the exact datas.
This porject will turn into less official. But it is still a big thing! The remotes inhabitted island in the World! 

Re-born

I come back from my trip to Azores. This means I can return to updating this blog. So in the next days this page should get back to life! Especially, that there is no more time to waste!
The trip to Tristan da Cunha is getting closer!

Source: http://www.extremeislands.org

Radio Gdansk

You can find a note about this project here. It`s in Polish, but we hope that`s the beginning!

Azores

This time a little bit more personal.
It was very hard for me to put any information about project or Tristan da Cunha Islands because of my other trip. I needed to work hard and after this, prepared everything for more than two months away from home. But I reached Graciosa (one of Azores Islands) couple days ago, now I am in Pico, where I will be staying for the next days and hopefully, I find a home to stay. I was already in Azores two years ago and a year ago. The trip year ago was an amaizing thing. Also two months, switching islands, meeting new people... That what makes my heart beating! That is why, I would really like to go to Tristan da Cunha.
I have met here, in Azores, Nilton. However, the funny story is, he's not here. So I'm from Poland and I'm in Azores, Nilton is from Azores and he's somewhere in Switzerland... But thanks to the Internet, we can be in touch. Besides other things, I will try to find sponsores here. Hopefully, having Nilton on board in this project will help!

So if you were interested in how looks Pico, one of the most beautiful Island of Azores (in my opinion) take a look what Nilton want to show you:

Also, for those who want to know how it is to travel alone in Azores, my personal blog In the middle of nowhere... 50 days in Azores


Sorry, for the off topic post, but I did not want to anyone think the project is over. Now when I'm away will be hard to share with you informations about Tristan da Cunha Islands. I will do my best, but I can't promise you will find any new post in next two months. Very sorry for that.

Inaccessible Island

Inaccessible Island, as the name says, is an inaccessible place. It got the names thanks to Captain d'Etchevery who could not reach the shore in 1778. Although, the island was visited by whalehunters or later by the residents of Tristan da Cunha it remains uninhabited. And this is the main reason why there is great, almost untouched by any mammals, biosystem. It is even on the UNESCO list (with Gough Island). 

source: tristandc.com

Like all islands in Tristan da Cunha Archipelago, Inaccessible Island was created due to voulcanic eruption. However, this place is not active anymore. The island is about 14 km² large and the highest point (Cairn Peak) reaches 449 m. It is possible to see Tristan da cunha Island from Inaccessible, but rather hard to see the little island from the main one. The distance between them is about 45 km. It was discovered 146 years after Tristan da Cunha by Jacobszoon (Dutch), so you can imagine it is not easy to find a little bit of land on the ocean.
The problem with reaching the shore is due to high, sharp cliffs. Most expeditions trying to landfall on the Island is somehow connected with science. On the boats are biologist, geologist, ornitologist, etc. Just from time to time the residents swim there to pick apples planted years ago by the German brothers who wanted to colonised the Island (in 1971- 1973). Everytime someone whan to visit this place has to go there with local guide.

The very special animal, which live only on Inaccessible Island, is the  Inaccessible Rail, the world's smallest living flightless bird. 

source: arcticphoto.co.uk

 This Island is important also for others birds. That is why it is protected as the Important Bird Area (IBA). Besids Rails it is a place for breeding site for Rockhoopers, Albatrosses, Petrels, Tristan Trushes (or Starchy) or Shearwaters.

All the information was taken from official webpage: tristandc.com and wikipedia.en

Whales

Whales can be seen even from Edinbourgh if they swim close to the land, mostly in the winter, between May to Decembre (depends on the species).In the summer whales migrate to the North. Sometimes, dead whales can be found on the shore - last time on January 2012. However, the best opportunity to see those mammals is to take a boat trip. It is simmilar how it works in Azores, with the exept for Tristan da Cunha is not very touristic place. Therefore the trips are not popular. To show you how it looks in Azores we upload the video from AzoresTODAY about it. Nilton took part in creating this:

 

 Whales Watching in Azores

Since 1937 whales are protected and it is prohibited to hunt them. Unfortunatelly, their population is still decreasing. Due to their size and weight they don't have many of natural enemies, generally just the killer whale. And human. Nowadays by polluting the ocean. What is interesting, iron from whales' feaces is about 10% of all iron in the South Ocean. Thanks to iron water is rich in phytoplancton, which absorb carbon dioxide. Whales are good! Don't distroy thier environment.

The best news!

Today is a great day! It is sunny (at least in North of Poland), warm, the birds are singing, grass is growing... and there is a big news from Tristan da Cunha:

They gave us the approval to visit their Island! 

Yupi!!!
The best message ever! ;-) 

Northern Rockhopper Penguin

source: vinney-05.wix.com

Those little penguins can be found mostly in Tristan da Cunha Archipelago. The residents call them Pinnamins. They are similar to the Southern species, however, you can notice the one from Tristan have longer yellow and black feathers above eyes. Which makes them look very fancy!

source: photovolcanica.com

Unfortunatelly, the population of Northern Rockhopper had declined about 90% (!) since the 1950s. This is why this species is classified as endangered. Pinnamins feeds on sea life like krill, crustacean or little fish. They live near the shore and on cliff sides. The biggest population can be found on Gough Island, over than 95% of all Rockhoopers in the Archipelago. The rest are settle in Inaccessible and Nightingale Islands and just some of them (no more than 5000) can be seen on Tristan da Cunha Island at Jew’s Point. They came to breed in August and lay 2-3 eggs in September. Next month fluffy chicks are screaming for food. 

source: arkive.org

Interesting is the fact, that after feeding the chicks for 3-4 weeks (till about March) adults have no feathers. Every year they moult! And can’t swim that time. So for few weeks they are just standing, not moving so they won’t give away any quant of energy till the new stylish feathers have grown. You can just imagine how smelly the place is after having thousands of penguins doing all their needs there. However, their guano is perfect for agriculture. That is why, the Islanders harvest it every year from all islands. They call it Guano Trip. Classy.

source: photovolcanic.com

One more great fact? The Pinnamins have to be very very very agile! They are really small (not higher than 30 cm) and they need to overcome steep and high rocks. All species of penguins cannot fly. So they jump. They are hopping. That is why they are called Rockhoppers. They hop every day up and down to feed their chicks.

source: ibc.lynxeds.com

And besides all of this, they still have time to... be famous! 

source: cinema.it

source: kidsmovies.about.com

The one with great hairstyle and perfectly matched colors of sweater is Lovelace from ‘Happy feet’ and the other one also with a enthusiastic arranged hair and chic necklace is Cody from ‘Surf up’. Aren’t they great?    



All the information was taken from official webpage: tristandc.com and wikipedia.en

A little bit of Geography - in a flash!

Tristan da Cunha Archipelago is located in South Atlantic. The nearest land is situeted about 2420 km to the North - it's St. Helena. The nearest continent is Africa, and Cape Town is the nearest city (about 2800 km away).

THE PAST
The islands were created due to the tectonic movments in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Like Iceland or Azores, which have the same geological history, Tristan da Cunha Islands have volcanic past. Actually, it should be said they have volcanic present, because there are still active volcanos. Between continent's plates, when they are moving away from each other, is being created a spreading zone. It is a place where magma is coming out from inside of the Earth and creating a new land (only in the oceans).

A quick scetch of forming an ocean ridge by Margarida

After years the 'highest' point is in a distance from the rift ('line' where the Earth's crust - Lithospere - is being pulled away). If it was 'lucky' enough it would stick out above the sea level. That how it was with Tristan da Cunha. After years denudation processes were insuficient to wash away the land and, what is more important, the volcano was still active and produced new lands around itself.


THE PRESENT
Volcanic ground is very ferticle, however it is hard to grow. Also the shape of the island, almost a perfect cone with no flats parts, causes difficulties for any of agricultural activity. Nevertheless, people was stubborn enough to settled there and make this place thier home. They started to breed cattle and they were hounthing for whales. The economy of this place where blooming. The little colony become a city. Besides Edinburgh of the Seven Seas there is no other cities or villages. The area of the largest island is 98 square km. The other islands are much smaller and there is no settelments. Only in Gough Island you can find a meteorological station, but it is not inhabitted for the whole year.

The higest point in the Queen Mary's Peak reach 2062 m above the seal level. It is almost all year in the clouds. Generally, the climate of the archipelago is soft but very wet. Also, in the winter, there is a snow at the peak. Because Tristan Islands are located on the southern hemisphere the winter is in July and August. The temperature changes from about 14 degrees (Celcius) in the winter up to about 20 in the summer. There is more precipitation in the winter, but still for over 70% of the summer days rain can be expected .The weather also impact if the ship can moor. The archipelago is the first and only obstacle for  air mass coming from the West. And in this part of the Earth there is a strong impact of the Western Winds and Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The weather can change very suddenly if there is even a little change in characteristics of weather (wind speed, humidity, temerature, etc.)
Thus, if you're palnning to visit this place check the weather and choose the best time for you!



Information from official webpage: tristandc.com and own knowladge from geography studies ;-) 

New Patronage!!!

We are going to the other end of the world. From North to South. And it is really a huge thing for us. We were happy when AzoresTODAY agreed to be our patronage and support us in this project.

Now from Poland! Radio Gdańsk !

It is a radio well known in the North of Poland - Pomerania. This is a great honor for us and we hope their support opens the door to this adventure! Thank you!

What we do - Margarida

This time Margarida.
In free time she is drawing maps. By hand, not by computer. She uses software to draw maps at work, so she's full time Cartographer. One of her last (and for sure the biggest) work you can find... here!

It was a map made for a Mexican Friend. He wanted to have a map of his family. The idea how it should look took about one day. Making this map, took about 20 days. Of course, it was made in free time, without any rush. Below you can find some photos made during the process of creating this map ;-)
Enjoy!

 First of all - some sketches were made

 

 Then it was decided, it won't be black and white, but with color

 It took Margarida 3 pencils, 12 color pencils, ruler and.. an eraser to make the map

 The map started to look like this:

And the final look:

At the very end in the upper left corner (in the box) was added special inscription.

Entering the Island

Two important information today:

Visiting this site for sure you notice the green logo of this expedition in upper left corner:

You know why is it look like this? Why it has a heart? 

Tristan da Cunha is a volcanic island, and at the top of volcano there is a crater lake. Nothing unusual. The lake is naturally formed and no human chnaged its shape ever. And guess what? It is heart-shaped! You can find some photos in the Internet:

source: panoramio.com

source: tristandc.com

Triastan is usually presented as a volcano island with penguins and not everybody knows about this lovely lake. That is why Margarida decided this part of the island will be our logo. It is simply, but meaningful. We hope you like it!

Want to visit the Archipelago?

Not everybody is aware that you need special approval to enter the Islands. You need to send a request to the Council describing who is coming, when, why and by what. There are not many ships going to Tristan da Cunha throughout the year. You can use your own boat if you have ;-) But still, you need an offical premition.

We wanted to go at the end of November, by MV Baltic Trader. I recived yeaterday an e-mail from them, that this ship has no free places already. So for sure we need to modify our dates. I think we will need to move it to next year, for January, since there is no boats in Decembre. But we will see how it goes. On 26th of June they have the Council Meeting and our request will be discussed. So keep your fingers crossed, because without the approval we can't do anything! Significant date for the expedition! And hopefully, there will be a place on the boat in near future for us!

What we do - Nilton

From time to time we will add a post like this one, so you could get to know us!

As it was said, Nilton makes short movies. Want to see?
No problem, here is one of them:

Enjoy ! :-)

Surnames in Tristan

Did you know that there are only seven surnames used?
It's GLASS - from William Glass
SWAIN - from Thomas Swain
GREEN - from Peter Green
ROGERS - from Thomas Rogers
HAGAN - from Andrew Hagan
REPETTO - from Andrea Repetto
and LAVARELLO - from Gaetano Lavarello

Therefore, they rather using their name to surname ;-)

I also heard that in 1826 one lady married a Scotch guy with a surname Patterson, but I can't find any confirmation this surname is still used on the Island.



For the last two days, when Nilton and I showed this blog to others, there were over 100 entries! Thank you guys! You are amaizing! Please, be with us all the time!
You can get e-mail whenever new post come up - use the 'follow by e-mail' button. Thank you!

History of Tristan da Cunha - part II

Peter Green was doing what ever he could to improve life on Tristan da Cunha, however it was time of war and nothing went well. By the year 1881 there was 110 people living on the island. With one ship came rev Dodgson who had to leave because of the health issues after 3 years, but he pointed out the problem of community on Tristan in England. Next years were rather harsh for people, but they got annual supply from the government.
In 1892 ship 'Italia' caught fire and the crew landed in Tristan. Two  men, Andrea Repetto & Gaetano Lavarello, decided to settled on the island. They bring not only new bllod to the society but also new techniques that could be used (like carpentry).

The hardest period of time was during the I WW when the supply was abandoned and no ship visit the island for about 10 years! After the war men build a St. Mary church on the Island thay arganised a school too. There were aslo first scientific expeditions led by Norwegians, when the first detailed base map was made. In the 30. one expedition examined the people and in the report you could find that people from Tristan da Cunha had the best dental health in the world!

On 29th of March 1938 the islands (including Gouhg) were officialy considered to be dependent on Saint Helena.

In the II WW in Tristan was built weather radio station. It helped refresh comtacts with thw world. After this war boats from Cape Town came more often to the island. They also started to use money. In 1948 was built shrimp factory, which works till today. Also Hugh Elliot (the administartor of the Islands) introduced post stamps which brough profits to all residents.

Due to the fact, that Tristand da Cunha is located in Mid-Atlantic Ridge, it was just a matter of time when something happened. First earthquakes and landslides were noticed on 6th of August 1961. In October there showed up a fissure and two days later a little active cone on the shore. The decision to evacuated everyone was made. Luckily, there were boats avaible and all 290 people were taken to Africa and after reaching the land they went to England. Next year they organised expedition to found out if the volcano is still active. It was. But only one home was destroied. Also animals that was left on the island survived. The English government assume people from Tristan will stay in england for good. Finally, in 1963, the got premition to get back to theirs home.  

Nowadays, life on Tristan da Cunha is rather calmly. Young people often continue their education in Cape Town or St. Helena and then often come back to Tristan. It is still rarely visited place, but for sure it is not impossible to see this remoted place.


All the information about the history was taken from official webpage: tristandc.com, archive.is/or2L and own knowladge acquired through years of studing different things in life ;-)  

History of Tristan da Cunha - part I

The Island was discovered in 1506 by Portuguese admiral Tristao da Cunha. However, it passed a lot of time since the Island was settled. It was caused by harsh weather and agricultural conditions. The distance between the Island and continent also did not bring any profits.
First settlers were from Neaderlands or America, but they use the land only for couple of days while they were exploring the place or seal-hunting. In 1810 Tomasso Corri (Italy), Jonathan Lambert and Whilliams (both from America) moved to Tristan da Cunha. Lambert called himself the only owner of this land and renamed the Islands into 'Islands of Refreshment'. Both Americans sank during sealing in 1812. Till today there are legends about Lambert's treasure left in the Island.
Officialy, on 14th of August 1816 the Islands were taken under possession of King George III.

The first settlers, who stayed on the island were led by William Glass. In 1827 there were 14 people, four of whose were bachelors. Only Glass had a wife and family that time. There was organised big 'blind date' and five ladies were brought to Tristan. In that time on the island setteled Thomas Swain, a lonely sailor and all five women find a husband. By the 1834 there were 41 people and 27 of them were children!

In 1856 William Glass died. 25 members of his family left the island. After them also others families emigrated. Peter Green, as a new spokesman (unofficial), become responsible for 28 people who decided to stay on Tristan. Because of political and economic situation in the world the Islands of Tristan da Cunha become increasingly isolated place. Soon, community of Tristan was titled by the Guinness  Book of Record as the most isolated in the World.

The team

Today something about the team.
For now there are Nilton and Margarida. However, there will be one more person, from Tristan da Cunha.
We will be quite International team. Actually we already are!

Nilton - he is from Pico. A beautiful island in Azores Archipelago.

He is responsible for making photos and movies and having fun. Also he is a mountain guide which makes him a perfect member of team going to Tristan to climb Mary's Peak. He has experience in ... everything, but the most significant for this trip:

• Was in a nature program about the Azores made by TV5 from France - Vu sur Terre
• Was part of the coordinating and security team of a Redbull Base Jumper on Pico Island
• Coorinated a week of outdoor activities with a group of Diabetics
• Directed promotional videos for AzoresToday and for Cume2531
• Has a great deposit of joy which he shares with others all the time

 Margarida - truly, Malgorzata, but the name is almost impossible to pronounce it correctly. So let it be Margarida - Portuguese equvalent. She's a Polish girl.

She did a master in GIS and Cartography, she also travel a little around Europe and even presented one of her trips at KOLOSY in Gdynia. That is why she is resposible in this team for maps and books and making everyone smile. It won't be hard since she has quite crazy and fancy ideas like going to Tristan da Cunha. She also took part in European Geosciences Union last year and presented there a posters so she has even a science background. Thus, she's the leader. 

Goals

There is few things why I am going to Tristan da Cunha and I hope all of them I will be able to complete.
First of all, I would like to take part in their everyday life by working there, helping with everything they do, celebrate every holiday, etc. Then, in free time, climb the Mary's Peak, walk around the Island as well as the other ones from the Archipelago (including Gough if possible). During all this activities I would get to know people which is crucial. I am a cartographer and my dream task is to draw a map (handmade) of Tristan da Cunha, but in a way they see it. While spending time with them, listening to theirs stories you get different point of view about a place where you are. And that is what I would like to draw. Let's say 'emotional map of Tristan da Cunha'. I can also make a topographic map too, no problem!
After hearing all the stories I would like to publish it as a book adding useful information for those who would like to visit this Island.

And because there is nothing better to share with others than smile and joy by showing it all the time - we (Nilton and I) will be publish here photos, videos and everything we can! At the end of this trip we would like to make a full-time document about "Life on Tristan da Cunha Island".

That would be my aims and I am going to accomplish them! :-)
 

The beginning

This blog was created to show preparation and a stay on the remotest island in the world - Tristan da Cunha. It was my dream since I was a teenager and it might come true!
I called this Project - Life on Tristan da Cunha, because I do not want only go there for a week or two but actually I would like to know how it is to live there. My plan is to spend there about three months shareing everything with natives.

Because this Island is quite far away and it is hard to get there this dream was only in my head. I finished high school, studies, started to travel... and I think it is time to go to Tristan da Cunha. Especially, that there showed up a great opportunity.
Everything started on KOLOSY in Gdynia. I was a participant and gave a speach about my amazing trip to Azores. I met there a lady from National Geographic and that how it started. Now I apply for a grant for Tristan da Cunha. But because of the distance and high costs of getting there and living I think it will be needed to find other patronages. So let the fun begin! I already have the first one!
AzoresTODAY
They promote the Islands and since Azores and Tristan da Cunha have the same geological history they agree to support me. I also find a companion who would like to go there with me - he's name is Nilton. So everything goes well for now.

The trip would take place in late November, it is when the summer is in Tristan. Keep your fingers cross!