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The Covid-19 pandemic restricted travel worldwide, leading to the rise of virtual travel. Travel enthusiasts could only satisfy their wanderlust from home through videos, photos, or articles about destinations around the world. However, even during periods of unrestricted travel, reaching Tristan da Cunha (or Tristan for short) – the main island of the archipelago of the same name – was not easy due to its remote location. There was no airport on the island, so visitors could only reach it after a long and arduous sea voyage. Therefore, not many people could visit Tristan. Before embarking on this journey, you can explore the island and its life through the photographs by photographer Andy Isaacson that we present below.
Tristan is one of the world's most remote inhabited islands, with a population of around 250 British citizens. Their ancestors, including Scottish soldiers, Dutch sailors, Italian soldiers, and an American fisherman, first arrived on the island about 200 years ago. Discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha, it wasn't until 1816 that the British established a garrison to ensure it wouldn't be used as a base to rescue Napoleon, then imprisoned on St. Helena. The garrison was removed in 1817, but a legion led by William Glass and his associates remained. They brought their families from Cape Colony (in present-day South Africa), built houses and boats from salvaged timber, and drafted a constitution for a new community based on equality and cooperation.
At first glance, the island—a conical volcano over 2,000 meters high—appears like a solitary iceberg drifting on the surface of the sea. But, incredibly, beneath the towering slopes of this still-active volcano lies a small town of red and blue tin-roofed houses built on a narrow meadow overlooking the ocean, known as Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, but popularly called The Settlement by its inhabitants.
The locals left the island to retrieve supplies from a ship anchored offshore. Tristan's harbor was too shallow for seagoing vessels to dock.
Over the years, the island's population has gradually grown, but the town's current residents are all connected, belonging to seven families: Glass, Swain, Hagen, Green, Repetto, Lavarello, and Rogers. The sense of community that persisted on the island during its years of near-total isolation has survived.
When the sea is calm, a bell rings in the town at dawn, and the men go out to catch lobsters. At the end of the day, the lobsters are brought back to the processing plant for the women to handle.
The Tristan people live by farming and trading with the world, under the leadership of Chief Conrad Glass, who later became Chief. The island's remoteness keeps them completely in control of their lives. Even the Covid-19 pandemic or war bombs haven't reached them. The locals feel those things are far removed from them and irrelevant; their lives revolve around marking their sheep or the yield of their potato crop.
Historically, the people of Tristan relied on potatoes to ensure food security during periods of isolation. Potato cultivation remains a vital annual task.
Livestock farming is the most common occupation on the island. Several animals are raised for meat and milk, including cows, sheep, chickens, and geese. Sheep's wool is used to make yarn. There is a factory on the island that produces wool, carrying out the manual processes of combing and spinning. The lobsters here are considered beautiful and delicious, and are a major export product, providing income for the island's inhabitants. Besides exploitation, the people combine conservation to maintain a sustainable livelihood. In addition, they earn money by selling rare postage stamps from the island to collectors around the world.
Lobsters, also known as Tristan rock lobsters (Jasus tristan), which are sold in hotels as far away as Las Vegas and China, are abundant around the Tristan archipelago and are a mainstay of the island's economy.
To mark the start of summer (mid-December), the entire island community gathers for a sheep shearing ceremony. Both children and the elderly participate in farming, with only those of working age allowed to do paid work. The number of livestock is also strictly controlled. Each family is only allowed to keep two cows to preserve the grassy hillsides, prevent the accumulation of personal wealth, and avoid creating a wealth gap between families. No outsider can buy or sell land here unless the entire village agrees to put it up for sale.
A traditional Tristan house, using soft volcanic stone from a local quarry as a building material to withstand New Zealand's wind and cold. This type of house has been in Tristan since the 19th century.
With its humid, temperate climate and average rainfall of 15-17 days a month, the island is home to a variety of flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world, such as elephant seals and yellow-nosed albatrosses. Several species of seabirds that live on the island also provide meat and eggs for the inhabitants.
The Atlantic albatrosses breed in large numbers on the island of Tristan.
There are no official tourist activities on the island. However, many people come to experience the secluded life. Visitors can go hiking, observe animals such as penguins on nearby uninhabited islands, or chat with and learn about the lives of the local people. To get to the island, visitors need to register on the local website. There are no hotels on the island; visitors stay in self-catering accommodations or homestays. The British pound is the only currency in circulation here.
Hiking here is a wonderful experience for nature lovers.
For visitors, Tristan offers very few recreational activities. One travel guide listed activities visitors can participate in on the island including: playing golf (a challenging experience with obstacles such as chicken coops and strong winds) and a full-day hike to the summit of Queen Mary volcano (also the highest point on the island), which is often obscured by clouds.
Sheepdogs also assist men in competing during Raving Day, a traditional annual event held to ward off rats that destroy potato crops.
Every Saturday, the entertainment center, Prince Philip Hall, comes alive with dancing; meanwhile, Albatross – the world's most remote pub, of course – is a draw for out-of-town visitors and some local lads who come to drink and seek the admiration of the crowd by boasting about the number of penguin eggs they've collected. The island has internet access, a grocery store, a café, a hospital equipped with X-ray machines, an operating room, and dental care facilities. Patients requiring specialized treatment are transported to South Africa or England. Supplies for the island need to be ordered about a month in advance and shipped from a small port. Meanwhile, tourists from cruise ships have to wait for a suitable time to dock.
A local man bathes his sheepdog.
