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Local crafts on St Helena are limited due mainly to the fluctuating market demand. However a limited amount can be bought from the Art & Craft Centre and Souvenir Shop in Jamestown. Special items of craft can also be purchased from the individual producer. Souvenirs, such as T-Shirts, Caps, Key-rings, etc are on sale in a number of shops in Jamestown. St Helena stamps on First Day Covers make excellent souvenirs of St Helena.
The island could never be described as a sporting Mecca. Nevertheless, a wide variety of sporting activities takes place on St Helena and the participation of visitors is welcomed by almost ail. Cricket, golf and rifle shooting were introduced to the island in the late 1800s. Other sports and leisure pastimes enjoyed are football, tennis, rounder, basketball, badminton, skittles, table tennis, darts, euchre drives, water sports, line dancing and aerobics. There are no sandy beaches but swimming is possible from the Wharf and a few other coastal areas. There is also an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Jamestown, open daily. The St Helena Diving Club offers the opportunity to enjoy some excellent snorkeling and scuba diving with superb wrecks to explore. There are many interesting walks, ranging from gentle strolls along country roads to climbing up through flax and pastures to appreciate the dramatic contrasts and spectacular scenery of the island. For the fit, but not faint-hearted, there is ample opportunity to discover more isolated parts of the island - Lot’s Wife Ponds, Sharks Valley, Prosperous Bay or the Barn.
There are no train or scheduled bus services on the island and most visitors explore the countryside outside of Jamestown by taxi. But, by arrangement, special bus tours are laid on for ship's visitors. The tours are well planned and enable one to view not only the surprising flora found in the island's interior, but to visit Longwood House where Napoleon spent the final six years of his life. The property is maintained by the Government of France and the house is filled with Napoleonic memorabilia. Plantation House, the Governor's residence built in 1792, is another favorite stopping place on the tour, where visitors are fascinated by the giant tortoises who live in the grounds, one of which is reputedly 171 years old ! On the trip into the interior, a bird unique to St. Helena can often be seen running through the long grass on wiry legs that have earned it the name of the wirebird. The countryside of St. Helena consists of astonishing contrasts. In its 10½ miles by 6 miles the terrain ranges from wind eroded desert with multicolored ridges and valleys, to flax and tree covered hillsides, soft pasture, lush vegetation-filled valleys and large areas of prickly pear scrub. Towering high above Sandy Bay are two huge basalt columns named appropriately Lot and Lot's Wife. The most spectacular feature of Jamestown is Jacob's Ladder : 699 steps leading from the floor of the valley, on which the town is built, to the top of Ladder Hill. Exploring Jamestown is a delight rather akin to a treasure hunt. By far the greatest number of buildings in the town are of eighteenth or nineteenth century origin. The Consulate Hotel with its old colonial style wrought iron balconies and the historic Wellington House are the two hotels in Jamestown. Next to the Consulate Hotel is a massive Victorian warehouse known as The Malabar. Further along Main Street is Essex House, built in 1739, with its interesting colonnaded extension at the rear.
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