Richard Turen
My travel schedule begins this summer, with me reporting from Spain and Portugal, and then Japan. But unfortunately, my current bucket list trip is still on hold.
In fact, “pending” is actually optimistic. I'm trying to meet up with a particular person who happens to live quite a distance away. His location is proving to be somewhat inconvenient.
To meet this person, you have to travel to the South Atlantic Ocean, just 1,200 miles off the southwest coast of Africa. To get there on the map, go to Angola and turn left to find Jamestown, the capital of St. Helena.
To be honest, I don't know why this person moved there. Most of the island is unsuitable for agriculture, has no minerals, and has virtually no industry.Two-thirds of the island's economy is financed by subsidies from the UK.
St. Helena and the neighboring islands of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are British Overseas Territories, and their residents received British citizenship in 2002.
The name of the resident I would most like to meet is Jonathan. This was before Cher and Prince popularized single names. Jonathan may have started the trend.
I read in Smithsonian Magazine that he arrived in St. Helena from the Seychelles with three friends as a gift to the Governor of St. Helena.
Dare I say, Jonathan is starting to get older, so there's a little bit of pressure to arrive quickly to interview Jonathan. As you know, he left Seychelles in his 1882 and traveled to St. Helena.
Jonathan the giant tortoise has been on Earth during the terms of the 40th U.S. president. He celebrated his 191st birthday in December. I want to meet Jonathan because he is said to be our oldest living land animal. Put another way, Jonathan has lived 110 years longer than Joe Biden.
Imagine the stories Jonathan could share. You'd think he'd find it amusing that some in the press say the 77- and 81-year-old presidential candidates are “too old” for office.
Jonathan is doing pretty well. I heard that he was living a full life on the manicured lawns of the island's governor's St. Helena mansion. He is hand fed once a week with nice fruits and vegetables.
In 1991, a French lawyer sent his friend Frederica to him, and the two reportedly developed a close relationship. However, there were no children, which, as it turned out in 2017, can be attributed to the fact that Frederica is a man. If you meet him, you must call him Frederick.
I would like to interview Jonathan because he is the ultimate survivor. Indeed, he has lost his sense of smell and is virtually blind. But he has a voracious appetite, described by veterinarian Joe Hollins at the Smithsonian as a “high sex drive.” “He is sometimes seen mating with another turtle named Emma, but of course he returns to Fred from time to time.”
But let's put this into perspective. I want to meet Jonathan because he has lived longer than almost every living thing on Earth. I also think that he may be well qualified to consider this age problem of ours in its proper perspective.
