FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - 9JAN DL 201 JNB-ATL diverts to the Ascension Island
Old Jan 10, 2013, 1:40 pm
  #12  
roknroll
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: San Jose, CA
Programs: DL DM, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Plat
Posts: 2,874
Originally Posted by Down3Green
In my Navy flying days before Delta, I spent a fair amount of time on Ascension Island....trust me, it's not going to become a tourist mecca anytime soon.

The airport (Wideawake Field) is a military field. The only way for non-military to get in there is aboard a biweekly Royal Air Force transport flight that they reserve a handful of seats on for paying civilians. There's no Skyclub there. There's one 'hotel' in Georgetown (see the link in the post above) which has a dozen or so rooms. There is no public transportation, but I believe the hotel operator has a few rental cars. The majority of the people on the island are military/contractors. There are some 'workers' who are imported from the island of St Helena a couple hundred miles away.....Ascension itself had no indigenous population when it was discovered.

The island is formed almost entirely by red volcanic rock and dust. A while back they imported mesquite and prickly pear from the US just to get some scrub brush to grow there. At higher altitudes on Green Mountain, there is a lush rain forest and that's worth a trip. There's very limited beach area as a lot of the shore is clifflike and rocky, but there are at least two small coves where you can swim and the snorkeling is very good. Of course when I was there the male to female ratio was about 20-1, so the beach was a little light on "scenery". There was a also a stretch of sandy shore that was a famous nesting ground for sea turtles.

The final highlight of the island was its Golf course which had been voted the "Worst Golf Course" on earth for something like 20 straight years by some magazine. Its fairways were completely made up of the same red volcanic rock and dust that characterizes the whole island. When you started play, they would hand you a small square of 'astroturf' that you could carry with you and place your ball on to limit damage to your club. The greens were volcanic rock and dust, but they would mix in some diesel oil and tamp it down to give it a smother surface.

I think there might be one small bar in Georgetown. I remember a few decent nights knocking back a couple at the 'Volcano Club' bar on the military base playing shuffleboard with my crew. Those detachments made a good story to regale my future grandkids with, but I surely wouldn't pay to go there.
^^^ Great post!
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