Open an atlas and look carefully at the Atlantic Ocean, in the south of the equator. Notice anything?

In the middle of the ocean, nearly midway between Africa and South America you can spot a dot. Completely lost in the infinite expanse of water, here is Tristan da Cunha the ultimate dream of every romantic, as this inhabited island is the most inaccessible of the world. According to many historians and this travel blog, the island is of volcanic origin and it was sighted for the first time in 1506. Its shores were explored in 1767 but it was not until 1810 that a single man, Jonathan Lambert went as a refuge there declaring it his property. Lambert however died two years later, and Tristan was annexed by Great Britain. Tristan da Cunha became for a long time a stop for the whalers of the South Seas and for ships travelling around Africa to reach the East. Then, when the Suez Canal was opened the isolation of the archipelago became almost absolute.

The first to get there were some Italian sailors that did so because of a storm that got them shipwrecked. In fact, in 1892 two of the shipwrecked sailors decided to settle in the island and they gave birth to two new families (which still bear their name, Repetto and Lavarello) that were added to the five already existing on the island, thus completing the picture of the relationships that exists today. After the two Italians no one else did stop at Tristan da Cunha for a while. As time went by, life on the island was marked by the rural simplicity. Among the tranquil fields of potatoes and low houses of stone, stories of a Great War were spread. Tristan remained peaceful though, protected by its desert of water; a dry land inaccessible that even the industrial progress could not handle.

Then, in 1961 the volcano erupted in the middle of the island and the inhabitants were evacuated. They were taken to South Africa and then some of them even got to Great Britain. After two years, the islanders had had enough of the noisy modernity and they got permission to return to Tristan and take care of their farms.

And even today, Tristan remains a mythical and a Remote Island: it is only accessible by sea and if you get the necessary permission to land, even though is not very simple. Additionally, there is a port on the island which can be reached by small boats that can defy the violent ocean waves.

The inhabitants now are just over 260 and they are proud of their loneliness. They are slowly opening up to new technologies (for a long time the only access to the internet was left only inside the island’s office). They live in harmony and serenity with no trace of crime. Private ownership was only introduced in 1999. Cruise ships getting to Tristan are very few (less than a dozen throughout the year) and the only boats that go there regularly are those of the lobster fishermen of South Africa. In a few words it is just a quiet, peaceful and pure paradise!

Guest post by Nikos K from Trip & Travel Blog

Author bio: Nick writes at the Trip & Travel Blog and has been to many places around the globe, seen many amazing things and enjoyed his trips to the fullest! Visiting a new place, he like to try all traditional dishes, go out at night to explore new ways of having fun and expand his horizons. He can’t do away with his gadgets and can show you many useful technological advanced things that has helped him.