It is considered “the most isolated piece of land in the world”
THE “GHOST ISLAND”: where the LOCKDOWN is FOREVER
Are you thinking about an escape from the oppressive society? Do you think the consequences of your actions are irreparable and you want to escape where no one could ever find you? Are you looking for a place to spend an eternal lockdown? The answer to all your wishes is Bouvet Island.
# Bouvet Island: the most unreachable island on the planet
Bouvet Island is a Norwegian island where no one lives and no one decides to go, not even on vacation. It is considered “the most isolated piece of land in the world”, in fact it is completely uninhabited and covered with glaciers. You may be thinking: how is it possible that there is no one who wishes to move there? Probably the desire unites many, but getting there is almost impossible: there are no ports or landings, only anchorages offshore. Not to mention the quay that crumbles, creating a layer of ice that surrounds the entire island. The only way to reach it is to jump from a helicopter and well… not everyone is willing to take the risk.
# It is the only unreachable island but not the only uninhabited one
Although this is the most isolated place in the world, it is not the only strip of land that does not have inhabitants. In fact, even the South Sandwich Islands have no permanent population but, unlike Bouvet Island, they are not an unreachable territory. To discover them was James Cook, an English explorer who landed there first and made it the symbol of British domination. Human presence in these uninhabited areas was mainly destructive: were killed whales or fish that couldn’t be fished in Great Britain.
# The ghost island: between explorers and nuclear tests
But let’s go back to our Bouvet Island. The Norwegian island takes its name from the French explorer Jean Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier who discovered it in 1739. However, Bouvet didn’t circumnavigate it and is jokingly defined as “the explorer who discovered an island and lost it 5 minutes later”. Why he lost it? Because the island was so covered in ice and surrounded by fog that it was also difficult to see and was for that reason called “the ghost island”. Its precise geographical identification was made years later, in 1808, by the captain of an English whaling ship. Despite this, it was the Norwegians who made the first prolonged stay there in 1927.
A secret regarding Bouvet Island? In 1979 there were two flashes of light due to a nuclear test for which no nation has ever taken responsibility, even if the alleged perpetrators are Israel and South Africa.
If you ever decide to take the risk and launch yourself from a helicopter to pass an eternal lockdown on the most isolated island in the world, what would you take with you? Due to climate change, temperatures are also rising on Bouvet Island: just in case, bring a swimsuit, maybe soon it could become a tropical island.
ROSITA GIULIANO
