Saturday 29th January 2022 • Promotional Content


Worldwide travel Te Travel Guide 37


World’s oldest land animal turns 190


2022 is a year of celebration on the remote St Helena Island — its oldest resident is turning a whopping 190


T


hat resident also happens to be the oldest known living land animal on Earth. Jonathan is


no stranger to international attention, but this year’s birthday celebrations could make 2022 the biggest year yet for the giant tortoise. And everyone is welcome to join in


on the celebrations. Jonathan has resided at Plantation


House on St Helena Island since the late 1800s. It’s there, on the remote volcanic outpost (pop. 4,439), that birthday celebrations will be held throughout 2022.


Veterinarian Joe Hollins is taking a


mould of Jonathan’s foot (the first time this has ever been done), so that life- size Jonathan footprints can be placed on official 190th birthday certificates, available exclusively for those who visit the ancient creature during 2022. Events will highlight what Jonathan


has lived through. For generations, as ships and people and (since 2017) planes have come and gone from the remote island, Jonathan has been the constant rock around which a shifting cast revolved. He survived his voyage to the island without being consumed,


So, if you’re thinking about a 2022 holiday, what could be better than visiting a record- holding animal during a historic birthday on a Covid-19-free island?


as many of his species were, as food; he watched 28 different governors come and go; he saw Boer prisoners of war, Zulu exiles, King Edward and the Duke of Edinburgh pass through; he has frequently grabbed international headlines for his age, his relations with his paddock-mates and the regenera- tion of his beak; he’s been the centre of major scientific research, including a current study at Vanderbilt Medical Centre that aims to understand why Jonathan neither ages nor gets cancer in the same way humans do. Truly, Jonathan is one of the most incredible creatures on Earth today. But one thing Jonathan hasn’t expe-


rienced during his incredible lifetime is the ‘new normal’ that has eclipsed the rest of the world. Tat’s because St Helena is one of few places on the entire planet to have remained Covid- 19-free throughout the pandemic. Most of its residents have never put on a mask. So, if you’re thinking about a 2022


The earliest known photo of Jonathan was taken in the same paddock he still resides in today. Taken circa 1886


holiday, what could be better than visiting a record-holding animal during a historic birthday on a


Jonathan being hand-fed by the local veterinarian, ensuring a good diet and healthy beak


Covid-19-free island? Although quar- antine measures are still in place, the remote British Overseas Territory is a bucket list destination worth the journey. It’s English-speaking, accepts the pound and is a bit like taking a step back in time into small- town Britain gone by; though with a difference. In St Helena, Sunday roasts come served alongside curry; the smell of the fresh air is overwhelming; and the sounds of the ocean lapping up against the shores and the fairy terns nesting at sunset are unforget- table. While on the island, Jonathan’s birthday visitors can also tackle the island’s 21 ‘post box walks’, see the


endemic St Helena wirebird (plover), swim alongside marine life like whale sharks and dolphins, stargaze from the same spots as Edmond Halley and enjoy the world-renowned St Helena Coffee at a tenth of the price it is in the UK. All of this, of course, alongside celebrating the big 190. Schedules


and news about the


190th birthday year are available via St Helena Tourism.


Official 190th birthday certificate, including a to-scale print of Jonathan’s footprint, available exclusively for anyone who visits Jonathan during his 190th birthday year. sthelenatourism.com T: +(290) 22158


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