My Internet connection on Tristan / Follow me to Tristan
In a few hours I will finally be travelling to Tristan da Cunha. The ship has suffered one delay after another but Cape Town is a big and beautiful city, and I cannot say I haven't been enjoying myself during the wait. I am sailing on the fishing vessel MV Edinburgh. I took S. A. Agulhas II, a research vessel, four years ago, and there was Internet on board, although sporadic. I was lucky to have it at all. The Edinburgh might be a different story. I have not asked anyone if there will be Internet on board. I do want to be surprised, as with the cabin situation. Will I have my own cabin? (I doubt it.) Will there be dorms with bunks? Will cabins have their own bathrooms and showers, or will the passengers have to share a common facility? I do not want to know anything before I board.
Once I am on Tristan, however, I will be back on-line. Or so I hope. My host family has already called me four times here at Tristan House. They are anxious to see me as I am to see them. Among the developments since 2013 is that WiFi is now available in private homes. I believe it only used to be available in the island's coffee-less Internet cafe before, from Monday to Friday only. Yet the WiFi connection is s-l-o-w. I wonder if dial-up is still as slow as it was. I am not encouraged by what the island Administrator, Sean Burns, said in the February, 2017 edition of the Tristan da Cunha Newsletter:
"We struggle to download the simplest of things and services like Skype/Facetime are impossible...In the meantime, I am told we now officially have the slowest internet connection in the world."
So, my travelogues will probably once again be without photos. I could not upload photos four years ago so my blog posts will be text only. I will blog whenever I can yet I feel most of my writing will be in the form of postcards. And a postcard always has a photo accompaniment.
Travel with me on the Edinburgh at this link:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:1297453/mmsi:312288000/vessel:EDINBURGH
You can see the Edinburgh's last voyage (from Tristan to Cape Town in July) and track its position in the south Atlantic by satellite. If there's Internet on board, I will see how close I am to Tristan day by day.
My wait is over. I travel to Tristan today.
Once I am on Tristan, however, I will be back on-line. Or so I hope. My host family has already called me four times here at Tristan House. They are anxious to see me as I am to see them. Among the developments since 2013 is that WiFi is now available in private homes. I believe it only used to be available in the island's coffee-less Internet cafe before, from Monday to Friday only. Yet the WiFi connection is s-l-o-w. I wonder if dial-up is still as slow as it was. I am not encouraged by what the island Administrator, Sean Burns, said in the February, 2017 edition of the Tristan da Cunha Newsletter:
"We struggle to download the simplest of things and services like Skype/Facetime are impossible...In the meantime, I am told we now officially have the slowest internet connection in the world."
So, my travelogues will probably once again be without photos. I could not upload photos four years ago so my blog posts will be text only. I will blog whenever I can yet I feel most of my writing will be in the form of postcards. And a postcard always has a photo accompaniment.
Travel with me on the Edinburgh at this link:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:1297453/mmsi:312288000/vessel:EDINBURGH
You can see the Edinburgh's last voyage (from Tristan to Cape Town in July) and track its position in the south Atlantic by satellite. If there's Internet on board, I will see how close I am to Tristan day by day.
My wait is over. I travel to Tristan today.