Here is a sample of our island stopovers…
We sincerely hope that our selection (but not limited to…) reflects, to the best of our assessment, the unbelievable insular diversity of our planet. These wonders can be accessed on our itinerary map just below.
5 examples of insular topics
La Gomera – SPAIN
The sound of Silbo whistles, snaps, hums. Deep in its plunging valleys, there is no telephone – only a most unique whistle-based language that chirps daily amongst the Gomerians.
(…) – TONGA
An island born of dust and salted mud, explosion and bellowing smoke – here an island is born; it has not yet been named.
Hokkaido – JAPAN
Not so long ago, In Hokkaido, women from the ainu tribe used to wear tattoos in the pattern of a mustache on their faces to reflect their marital status.
North Sentinel – INDIA
They know nothing of the outside world, we know nothing of theirs: in this Andaman archipelago, 250 individuals still refuse to welcome any integration attempt into their island.
Thilafushi – MALDIVES
Right in the heart of the Indian Ocean, an astounding 330 tons of garbage is being dumped daily on Thilafushi, an artificial and “refuse” island.
Why choose a project about islands?
Islands have long fascinated and intrigued us at the same time. They have their own proper world and their own specific identity.
When the word “island” comes to mind, it immediately conjures up, more than any other type of land, images and visions in our collective and personal imaginary realm; permissive, easy to take ownership of, safely protected from the scope of others, utopic and sometimes on the fringes of society…
By the numbers
7% of visible lands are islands.
¼ of countries in the world are true island states (45 out of 192 to be exact).
650 million persons live on an island (from Java being the most populated with its 136 million inhabitants, to islands dedicated strictly to scientific research, holding only just a few residents).
4 million persons live on coral reef type islands, with a surface of less than 1km2 , and an altitude of no less than 3 meters.*
*Islands on the verge of disappearing – Virginie Duvat & Alexandre Magnan
Islands can often boast of a good measure of the extraordinary, deriving as a result of:
We are aware that other spaces such as oasis, deserts or mountainous isolates often display similar characteristics, and feel sometimes even more remote than some islands. However, the island with its shores surrounded by water reflects by and in itself a pure sense of isolation, a topic much easier to tackle and delve into.
What defines an unusual island to Les Longs Courriers?
To be labelled unusual, an island must:
- Be unusual to most (as much as is possible, at least!)
- Display some element which differentiates it from its peer and the continent (through its history, its endemic bio-diversity, its customs and lifestyle of its inhabitants, its economic and political system, its territorial and developmental issues, its governing style, its ecological stakes)
- Make us dream, drool, shiver, laugh, cry, think, debate, react and act!
A reverse process to build our itinerary
- At first, we researched all documentation available, read the works of island experts, corresponded with island authors, contacted geographers, exchanged with seaworthy globe trekkers…
- Here we are 4 months later, with about thirty islands on our shortlist (having researched over one hundred!). This selection was created without taking their geographical location into account.
- We then built our itinerary taking into consideration navigational seasons and technical constraints (such as layovers, necessary supplies and provisions restocking…)