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Ascension

Ascension Island

Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) from the coast of Africa and 2,250 kilometres (1,400 mi) from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, of which the main island, Saint Helena, is around 1,300 kilometres (800 mi) to the southeast. The territory also includes the “remotest populated archipelago” on earth, the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, some thirty degrees farther south and about half the way to the Antarctic Circle.

The island is named after the day of its recorded discovery, Ascension Day, and is located at 7°56′S 14°22′W, about as far south of the equator as tropical Venezuela is to its north. Historically, it has played a role as an important safe haven and coaling station to mariners and for commercial airliners during the days of international air travel by flying boats and during World War II was an important naval and air station, especially providing antisubmarine warfare bases in the Battle of the Atlantic and throughout the war. Ascension Island was garrisoned by the British Admiralty from 22 October 1815 to 1922.

The island is the location of RAF Ascension Island, which is a Royal Air Force station with a United States Air Force presence, a European Space Agency rocket tracking station, an Anglo-American signals intelligence facility and the BBC World Service Atlantic Relay Station. The island was used extensively by the British military during the Falklands War. Ascension Island hosts one of five ground antennae (others are on Kwajalein Island, Diego Garcia, Colorado Springs and Hawaii) that assist in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigational system.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

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Tanzania

Shungumbili Island


Categories
Tanzania

Okuza Island


Categories
Bazaruto Archipelago Mozambique

Santa Carolina

Santa Carolina is an island at the mouth of the Limpopo River in Mozambique. It is just 2 miles by 0.3 miles in size. Santa Carolina is a true rock island with deep channels. Santa Carolina has three beaches with coral reefs close to the shore. The island, also known as Paradise Island is regarded as the ‘gem’ of the islands forming the Bazaruto Archipelago which is a proclaimed marine national park.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Bazaruto Archipelago Mozambique

Pancy Island

Is this already an island or perhaps not yet? Perhaps not – just a sandbar maybe one kilometer long and several meters wide. Many people claim that this is one of few places in Bazaruto archipelago when you can see interesting in shape Pancy shells.

Categories
Bazaruto Archipelago Mozambique

Magaruque Island

Magaruque Island, formerly Ilha Santa Isabel, is part of the Bazaruto Archipelago, off the coast of Mozambique. It is located 5.6 km south of Benguerra Island, and 9.9 km east of Ponta Chuè on the mainland of Mozambique.

The island is 2.4 km long north-south, and up to 1.0 km wide. Its area is less than 2 km². It is owned by Zimbabwean billionnaire businessman John Bredenkamp.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Bazaruto Archipelago Mozambique

Benguerra Island

Benguerra Island in Mozambique is the second largest island in the Bazaruto Archipelago, which broke away from the mainland thousands of years ago. The island is approximately 55 square kilometers (11 km long x 5.5 km wide), and lies 14km offshore. It is famous for its unspoiled white beaches, remarkable dive sites, excellent horse riding and incredible fishing.

Benguerra Island comprises forest, savannah, freshwater lakes and wetland eco-systems that sustain a diverse population of fauna and flora. Fresh water crocodiles can be found in the three lakes, bearing testimony to the island’s mainland past. The island, which is home to approximately 140 bird species, was declared a National Park in 1971.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Jolly Buoy


Categories
Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Havelock Island

Havelock Island, with an area of 113.93 km², is the largest of the islands which comprise Ritchie’s Archipelago a chain of islands to the east of Great Andaman in the Andaman Islands. Havelock is situated 57 km North East of Capital City Port Blair. The population numbered 5,354 as of the census of 2001.

The island is named after Henry Havelock, a British general active in India. The island’s current population consists of Bengali settlers.
It is one of the few places that the administration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India has permitted and encouraged development of tourism, with a focus on promoting eco-tourism.
Havelock Island avoided much of the devastation which was visited upon most of the shores affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and its resultant tsunami, and there were no documented casualties.

Beach No. 7 on the western coast, better known as “Radha Nagar” Beach, is one of the most popular beaches on Havelock and was named “Best Beach in Asia” by Time in 2004. Other notable beaches include Elephant Beach on the northwest coast and Vijaynagar Beach (No. 5), Beach No. 3 and Beach No. 1 on the east coast.Barren Island (coordinates: 12°16′N 93°51′E) is located in the Andaman Sea, one of the most easterly of the Andaman Islands. It is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia. Along with the rest of the Andamans, it is a part of the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and lies about 135 km (84 mi) northeast of the territory’s capital, Port Blair. The first recorded eruption of the volcano dates back to 1787. Since then, the volcano has erupted more than ten times, with the most recent one which started in May 2008.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)

Categories
Tanzania

Mafia Island II

That was my second trip to this Island – absolutely not planned. I have spent almost all the time under water and that was beautiful experience. Once more (this exception – I never publish links on my page) I recommend: www.shambakilolelodge.com. Francesca and Marco – Thank you

Mafia Island (“Chole Shamba”) is part of the Tanzanian Spice Islands, together with Unguja and Pemba. As one of the six districts of the Pwani Region, Mafia Island is governed from the mainland, not from the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, of which it has never been considered to be a part.

According to the 2002 Tanzania census, the population of the Mafia District was 40,801.The economy is based on fishing, subsistence agriculture and the black market. The island attracts some tourists, mainly adventure scuba divers, game fishermen, and people wanting relaxation.

The Mafia archipelago consists of one large island (394 km²) and numerous smaller ones. Some of these are inhabited, such as Chole Island (2 km²), with a population of 800. Chole Bay, Mafia’s protected deep-water anchorage and original harbour, is studded with islands, sandbanks and beaches. The main town is Kilindoni. The stretch of water between the deltas of the Rufiji River and the island is called Mafia Channel. There are popular rumours of pygmy hippo on the island but there are zero confirmed sightings.

Source: Wikipedia (under GNU Free Documentation License)