Even Charles Darwin wasn't too encouraging when the Beagle stopped briefly at the island in the early 19th century. "I saw a land not lying before me smiling in beauty, but staring in all its naked hideousness."

The Sisters, the highest peak is 1463ft

Hell, damnation and the devil feature prominently in place names such as Devil's Ashpit, Dead Man's Cove, The Devil's Riding School, Breakneck Valley and The Devil's Punchbowl. "That not a place you'd be wanting to stay too long, Sah" said the cabin steward "It be like going to the moon."

Making our landfall near Mars Bay we saw a landscape of lava flows, black basalt and conical ash cones. As we steamed around the island, the moon-like comparison did seem appropriate, especially as the place bristled with antennae and satellite dishes, neatly added as an afterthought in a watercolour landscape brushed with ochres, muted reds and sandy yellow. Viewed through binoculars, we might well have been looking at another planet floating in a sky of tropical blue water.

The island may not have been smiling at us, but surely the place had evolved in the hundred or more years since Darwin's visit? Waiting for the ferry in Clarence Bay off Georgetown, we could see the hint of lush vegetation on Green Mountain, white trade wind clouds snagging the highest peak.

On the evening before our arrival, standing on the aft deck, Captain Martin Smith, master of the RMS St Helena had said, "Ascension is a weird place. From there, they can talk to a man on the moon, and measure the accuracy of a missile, but you still have to land at the pier built in the 18th century." It was a keen observation, which rang true the moment we stepped ashore and began to explore.

Tramping around on the basalt gravel in Georgetown is like walking on broken china plates. The town is a mix of historic buildings and barrack-like bungalows. St Mary's church, built in 1843 and painted white, stood in stark contrast to the red-oxide cone of Cross Hill. Inside the church one can read the following plaques:

"Lt. Oliver Lang, killed by a fall from the bridge while coming to anchor off this island, 1865." Equally intriguing is this one, "To the memory of Private Thomas Jenner, accidentally killed while driving the daily cart to Green Mountain, 1908."

Another old building, formerly the naval barracks, now houses the Exiles Club, with Union Jack and cannon either side of the door. The place was closed, otherwise we might have been tempted in to slake our thirst and escape the heat.

Click image to view enlargement

We were just as happy cooling off in the waters of Comfortless Cove. Swimming with the piranha-like black fish (luckily no sharp teeth) took some getting used to, but the azure-blue water was too much of a temptation.

Nearby we investigated the Bonnetta Cemetery, burial site of fever victims off the HMS Bonnetta, which was quarantined there in 1838. The former slave ship, Black Jake (1830), and HMS Archer (1865) also buried crew here under similar circumstances. It was this association which saw the name change from Comfort to Comfortless Cove.

These were the times when Ascension, like sister island St Helena, provided strategic stopovers and a sanatorium for the West Africa Squadron engaged in suppressing the slave-trade.

Sitting on the sun-warmed beach, we see the waves roll in as they have done year after year. That has not changed, but how does one measure events in the timewarp of this island?

Yes, it is true: Charles Ackland, 1st Lieutenant of HMS Scout, died of fever at the age of 26 fighting the iniquity of slavery. He is buried a few yards from here together with three shipmates. Without moving, I look to my right, where a huge golf-ball antennae is perhaps guiding a satellite, maybe a missile.

Ascension Island places one in a predicament. What exactly is significant? The human evidence provides one timeframe and the geology of the place another. Tonight we eat the closest approximation to a MacDonald's at the canteen of the Volcano Club. If anything, we move further from any answers but we have come under the allure of this place.

We hope to climb Green Mountain, but tonight the moon is full, so we will return to the beach in search of turtles.