Green Mountain, Ascension Island

Ascension is very new, as island's go, and has a very volcanic landscape. It's barren, rocky and mountainous, but as it was a useful stopping point for ships, the British decided to make a go of it anyway! In an attempt to make the island more habitable, in the 19th Century they started a programme of rainforest building - importing trees and plants from all over the world and planting them on a mountain in the centre of the island. It grew very quickly and served to attract and collect water to the island.

On my second day on the island I went for a hike around the summit of the mountain. The forest, being made up of thousands of non-native plants for many different countries, is like a rainforest with multiple personality disorder - you could be walking past Norfolk Pines, then bamboo, then forest vines! The view of the island from the mountain was also pretty spectacular. In the distance you can see several satelite domes used by the military bases on the island.