Tristan Da Cunha is a remote group of British islands in the South Atlantic. Only Tristan Da Cunha is inhabited, with 237 people living there. Basically it is a volcano which last erupted in 1961, when the inhabitants had to be evacuated to one of the nearby uninhabited islands. Other islands in the group include Inaccessible Island, Nightingale Island and Gough Island – all important bird sanctuaries.

This area is also known for it’s stormy weather – strong winds, rough seas mean that landing on Tristan is not guaranteed. We were lucky as Day 1 it was fine weather but a high sea swell meant it was too difficult to land, so we headed off to take a look at Inaccessible Island and Nightingale Island. The sea around these islands was a mass of birds – petrels, prions, shearwaters and albatrosses all busy looking for food. Although it is possible to land on these islands, the high swell would have made this unsafe.

The weather forecast for Tristan Da Cunha the following day was promising with the winds coming from the opposite direction – this gave more shelter for landing. Apparently our ship was the first cruise ship to land passengers since Covid lockdown. Once on the island we joined other passengers in search of two endemic birds – a thrush and a moorhen. The Thrush wasn’t seen and I didn’t see the Moorhen.

After visiting Tristan, we missed out Gough Island and it took our ship 3 days to reach Cape Town.

Enjoy the following photos of the Tristan group. Try to find these islands on a map of the world – good luck. Don’t forget to leave a comment.