The Final Frontier

30 degrees off the Equator and 80 miles from the nearest civilization (Tenerife), lie the southernmost reaches of Portugal: two inhospitable and weather-worn rocks, stranded in mid-Atlantic, closer to the Canary Islands than the archipelago of Madeira. Here one finds no telephones, running water depends on the rains, electricity is solar-powered and there are only two cottages. One belongs to the government, the other to a British couple. Welcome to the Savage Islands. You've just stepped ashore on the final frontier.