Island where Napoléon was banished adds flights

One of the remotest islands in the world is about to enter the modern tourist age.

When the British exiled Napoleon Bonaparte to St. Helena in 1815, it took the conquered emperor a full 10 weeks to reach the island. Two centuries later, it’s still a five-day trip by mail boat — assuming you happen to be starting from somewhere as close as Cape Town, South Africa.

But on Oct. 14, the tiny British territory will get its first-ever scheduled flights. Two weeks later, St. Helena’s first luxury hotel, a 30-room property, will open its doors.

About 1,200 miles off the western coast of Africa, St. Helena is best known as the place where Napoleon was banished after being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo. The house where he lived — complete with the original furnishings — is one of the island’s main tourist attractions.

But it’s not the only draw. The small tropical island offers mountain biking, sport fishing and scuba diving in waters where visibility is up to 100 feet. St. Helena is one of a handful of places in the world where humans can swim with massive (and passive) whale sharks. It’s home to a 185-year-old tortoise named Jonathan, the world’s longest straight staircase, and a double-hole golf course that players go around twice, trying not to hit any goats along the way.

Because of the limited transportation options, only a couple of thousand tourists make it to the island each year. A combination cargo-passenger ship, makes the trip just a few times a month. And until now, the airport was able to accept only private flights.