The water is very restless, causing the ship to sway back and forth. Naja rocking. Do you know that boat in Drievliet? Well that’s how this boat goes back and forth. It is dark below us. The captain said this morning that the water is about 4,874 meters deep. Not even David Attenborough has been there. When I think about what is going on there, I get goosebumps on my arms.
On deck it is about 16 degrees and there is a lot of wind. The water is 22 degrees, yet I took it out of my head to jump in. We haven’t seen any marine life yet, but I’m sure there are scary animals swimming under the boat. By the way, we see enough birds. They don’t seem to have lost sight of us since Cape Town.
Today we met Helena from Oslo and Aniket from Bristol. Helena has lived on St. Helena for two years. Her grandmother is from there and when she was on vacation she thought; this is where I have to live, this is where I belong. She celebrated Christmas in Norway, but she can’t wait to be back on St. Helena. Aniket has a completely different story. He was a vet at Tristan da Cunha for four months. So for him it is like coming home to Tristan. We hear from him that we are staying, if we can land, with the only police officer on the island. Unfortunately the weather is not looking good to land on Tristan so far. There is too much wind and this will not change in the coming days.
Fortunately it gets a bit quieter at the end of the day. The wind seems to have died down and the waves are happily participating. It is December 31st and at 6pm it is time for a cocktail party with the captain. With a beer, what do you mean cocktails ?, I get into a conversation with two officers. They tell me about life on board and how not to get seasick. A little too late for me, but thanks anyway. According to them, alcohol is the answer. Chah when not?
Everyone came to the cocktail party in their finest clothes. The one even neater than the other and some a bit raunchy. Of course we knew that we had to bring nice clothes, this is what we have been told before the trip. A generous amount of alcohol is served and that produces beautiful images when the boat laps over large waves. The tall men hold a drink with one hand and the ceiling with the other so as not to fall over. The women hold on to each other, chairs, the bar, etc.
After the party it is time to eat. We are of course back on the first shift and still have a great time with Brian and Brenda. When I look around us I see tables where people are not enjoying themselves. You just need to have a nice table partner. Brian and Brenda tell a lot about the islands. Brian knows an incredible amount about it. Every dinner we become wiser and every time my desire to visit the islands increases. Ok, this also has to do with the fact that after three days on the water I am already quite fed up with the sea and can not wait until solid ground under my feet.
The frograce starts at 10 pm. A race in which people pull strings to pull a frog over the line as quickly as possible. It looks hilarious and they are very fanatic.
And then it is time for the New Year’s Eve party. A large bell is driven into the ‘main lounge’. The oldest and youngest members of the crew can each ring the bell 8 times. Then the confetti cannon spurts into the air and there is toast and dancing. A typical Scottish dance is started where everyone puts their arms together and jumps back and forth. Nobody watches from the side, everyone participates. In the meantime, balloons are kicked and the boat makes sure that everyone moves.
The champagne tastes good and really where everyone is dancing. Well, almost everyone. Me, Yuri, Andrew and Mr. Foo are nice at the bar drinking a beer. On the New Year. And if it starts like this, this will be a great year.
For a moment I think about the world around us. The great sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the endless amount of water that surrounds us. And there, like a tiny dot on that great sea, we celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Unfortunately, things quickly go wrong again after a good night’s sleep. My vestibular organ does not seem to be able to get used to the power of the Atlantic Ocean. The sea laps against the boat, causing the boat to go up and down considerably. Just like a wooden roller coaster, where the cart goes up and suddenly crashes down, turning your stomach upside down. So take a pill and lie in the sun on the Sunnydeck.
I haven’t eaten much yet, but the fruit will go in. The people on the boat are nice. We have already met several people and all with their own story. Today we had lunch with Andrew, a Birmingham lawyer. He has a number of court cases on St. Helena and told us that the only person who ever managed to escape from the island was a Dutchman. That happened about 20/30 years ago. This Dutchman smuggled drugs and when he was caught he could not much later escape by boat. He sailed to Brazil where he took a plane to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, different rules apply and he was not convicted.
A daily program is placed under the door of our cabin every day. Today it starts at half past three with a documentary about Tristan da Cunha. Almost everyone is present and listens and watches the interesting story about the way of life on Tristan da Cunha. I am curious if we can come ashore, but that is still the question.
The sea is calm today and it just keeps popping into my head what it’s like to jump in. I am terrified of deep water but somehow it looks attractive. The water is a beautiful dark blue, it doesn’t look cold but it will be solid. What will all be swimming underneath? We have not seen any animals except birds. Although I think I see a flying fish jump out of the water every now and then. Anyway, luckily we have a swimming pool on board.
The boat is one of two RMS ships in existence and the only one specially built for the Cape Town – Saint Helena – Ascension Island route. The ship was built in 1990 but, according to Brian, this ship was already written off after 20 years. The boat will now stop, not because it has been written off, but because St. Helena has an airport. Until recently, this airport was the most useless airport in the world . About 300 million euros had been earmarked for the airport to make more tourism possible. When the runway was ready, however, it turned out that large aircraft would not be able to land due to the treacherous wind shear. But in October 2017 the first plane landed. We will therefore also take the plane and not the boat on the way back.
By the way, we met Brian at lunch. A nice man from London who is now retired. He used to earn his money as a social worker. He travels as much as he can, does French folk dance and enjoys theater and going to the movies. Enough to talk about.
Many people on board think it is a pity that the ship stops with this route and are therefore now sailing along. According to Andrew it is a work vessel and therefore so different and unique compared to other cruise ships. The RMS – St. Helena can accommodate 150 guests, half of the ship is used to deliver mail and other goods to the islands.
The ship does not creak and rush through the waves too easily, yet I understand the grief. The ship has a certain atmosphere, it evokes a certain feeling. What will happen to this ship later? The island of St. Helena would like to buy it but does not have the money. According to Brian, that is an eternal sin. The ship is a piece of the island and it will soon be lost.
… Well not our last voyage, but from the Royal Mail Ship – St. Helena. The journey we’ve been looking forward to for so long is about to begin. From Cape Town we will sail to Tristan da Cunha in 6 days on the Royal Mail Ship – St. Helena (RMS – St Helena). It will be the final journey of the RMS. Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited place on earth and it is hoped that we can enter the island. Weather permitting, we will sleep two nights with the only police officer on the island. Then we will travel on to Saint Helena where we should arrive on January 10th.
During our trip on the boat we have no internet, no connection with the world. But of course I have a notebook and a pen. Read in my series ‘ the last voyage ‘ about our journey to the end of the world.
Day Cape Town
Around five o’clock we leave Cape Town behind. A rough sea meets us. We soon meet a number of fellow travelers including Austen, a stamp collector from Malaysia. We also soon meet Bassel, a journalist from the Lake district who, quite coincidentally, writes stories about people who collect stamps. The two are not traveling together, by the way.
The dinner
We are on the first dinner shift, which means that we eat at 6.45 pm. Every day we had dinner with Brian and Brenda. Brian and Brenda live on Saint Helena, our final destination. They know how to entertain us with interesting and beautiful stories about the island. Dinner consists of an 8-course menu. Unfortunately for me, my stomach, like the boat, was in full blast. My appetite is nil, although the Kudu back tasted good. Tasty cheeses are served for dessert, but I thank them kindly. And with a concerned and motherly look from Brenda, I call it quits.
The captain of the ship also eats at table 16 every evening, the second dinner shift. Every evening, some of the guests are invited to dine with him at the table. You are then expected to dress formally. Not for us.
After dinner I enjoy the sunset on the deck for a while. The sea is fairly calm. My lips already taste like salt and my hair feels rough after a few hours. Walking is still a bit difficult, but that will come naturally.
The boat creaks but seems to find its way through the waves somewhat. The water looks black and seems cold, icy. There is a light breeze and the moon is shining brightly. Cape Town has completely disappeared and all I see is water, water and water. The sea stretches out as far as I can see. The boat rocks back and forth on the waves, let’s see how I get through the night.
From New Utrecht to Harlem and from Fort Gansevoort to the New York Yankees. Everywhere in New York there are connections with the city’s Dutch past. Not only a city that never sleeps, but also a city with two names: New York and New Amsterdam. And I am looking for the latter.
My forehead is sweaty, my feet feel like I’ve walked for miles on a bed of nails, and a taxi is honking so loud that my ear snaps shut. But, here I am.
Sometimes the link with the Netherlands is obvious. For example, there is the very long Amsterdam Avenue and of course we also know the Holland Tunnel that connects Manhattan with New Jersey. But did you know that Broadway was actually Heere Straet, and Pearl Street was Parelstraat? Entire neighborhoods have also been named after Dutch cities such as Brooklyn to Breukelen, Bushwick to Boswijck and Flushing to Vlissingen. But to see what’s left of New Amsterdam I don’t have to be in these neighborhoods, I have to go to Lower Manhattan for this.
Lower Manhattan
It is 36 degrees and the asphalt reflects the sun so that not only my nose but also my double chin burned. Still, nothing prevents me from going to Lower Manhattan in this weather. Lower Manhattan is the region in the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan. It covers Chinatown, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Meatpacking District, Greenwich Village, Nolita, East Village, and parts of SoHo.
Lower Manhattan is the place where the Dutch founded New Amsterdam in 1626. Since then, the area has become the financial and tourist heart of New York. Fort Amsterdam once stood here, now the area is filled with towering apartments and businesses. In addition to typical Dutch streets and narrow houses, there were canals, windmills and a wall. A wall where Wallstreet can now be found.
Wallstreet
Despite the fact that tourists only photograph one thing on Wall Street, the Stock Exchange, New York has tried to give this place something historical. In addition to the name of the street, a number of extensive wooden plates in the ground indicate that a wall once stood here. A wall that separated the city from the rest of the island, then pasture. Without knowing it, hordes of tourists wear their shoe soles on the spot where the wall of New Amsterdam once stood.
They don’t look at the picture on the ground for a second that refers to the history of this place. Logical, of course, you don’t go to New York for its history. Then you go to Rome or Paris. You go to New York for the entertainment and a few holes in the ground that indicated a wall are of course not part of that. I get it.
Fort Amsterdam
After a somewhat disappointing start, my search takes me to Broadway. Ever de Heere Straet. I stare at the Broadway sign and wonder if the Dutch who came here in the 17th century could ever have believed that New Amsterdam would become what it is today. A lady taps my shoulder. “Are you lost, Darling?” “No”, I explain to her “and still a little”. She looks at me a bit distracted and I don’t blame her. I explain to her that I am looking for New Amsterdam. “Hmm, then you have to be on Amsterdam Avenue” she responds. I tell her that’s not the New Amsterdam I’m looking for and that’s how we start talking about where New York once started. Had it not been for the English, New York would still have been called New Amsterdam. Madam was so interested that she wanted to walk with me to Fort Amsterdam. And so it happened.
Fort Amsterdam was where Battery Park is now. A beautiful piece of green with a view over the Hudson. The Hudson is named after the English skipper who sailed for the Dutch VOC and discovered Manhattan. From here one sails to the Statue of Liberty, or another island. Fort Amsterdam was designed by Cryn Fredericks and was built from hard-packed earth (kind of adobe). Earthworks could absorb the cannon fire without collapsing, like stone walls. Much of the construction was probably done by victims (slaves) of the Dutch West India Company. Here too, almost nothing can be found about the Dutch history of New York, except on a flagpole donated by the Dutch government. Madam promises to read me more about New York history and leaves me alone again from here.
A little further on I find a small piece of New York history. On New Amsterdam square there are a few stones on the ground with stories about the creation of the city. We wipe the stones to read what it says. The stories are beautiful, from Peter Minuit who turned New Amsterdam into a real city to the exchange with the English who renamed it New York. According to the stones, New York would never have become so multicultural without Dutch influences. The Dutch had their own way of governing, they let everyone in. In addition to the Dutch, French, Germans, English and Norwegians were also invited to come and live in the new country. This soon created a mixture of cultures, but also religions and languages. The English were not used to this and found it difficult to live together with different religions and cultures. Yet they succeeded. But would New York ever be what it is today without the Dutch?
There is also a map with houses, canals, Fort Amsterdam and a windmill. But this one also looks like it hasn’t been looked after in years. Gravel and sand fill the streets and canals of New Amsterdam. And again it hurts a little bit to see this.
The beginning
Even now I will not give up and a few meters from New Amsterdam Square is perhaps the most important place in New York. On the corner of Pearl Street and Coenties Alley, a city inn was converted into Stadt Huys. The city of New York takes February 2, 1653 as the date of its political foundation and that happened in this city inn. This was New York’s very first City Hall, and so it became the center of government and political life in the colony. The inn has always functioned as a town hall until it was declared unsafe in 1697. Now only some lines have been drawn on the ground that indicate where the Stadt Huys has stood, a number of wells have been opened and there is a stone with the story about the Stadt Huys. A small tribute to the beginnings of this metropolis.
New Amsterdam was only a small part of Manhattan and yet such an important beginning. Perhaps Manhattan would never have been what it is today without Dutch influences. And yet there is so little left of it. What if we never left. Would it have become as successful as it is now?
Hi there! We are Milene & Yuri. We are travelling the world together since 2015. Our endless curiosity and will to explore has resulted in many cool, and somewhat extreme, adventures. On MYgrations you'll read all about our adventures, you'll find lots of information about the countries we visit you won't find anywhere else and more. Enjoy!
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