First sunset on Esper, taken from Sadla Island

The moment we stepped ashore on Sadla Island our senses were on fire. Liz stopped there and then, staying put to collect incredible shells. If the Cowrie crew are reading this: you would have been in your element!

View looking back towards Dudo

The following couple of shots were taken from the dinghy (surprisingly in focus!) as we made our way ashore.  Just look at the colours in that rock!

The rest of us, in walking boots with bins and cameras at the ready, marched on and went to inspect the beach on the east.

There in the sand were many turtle tracks, leading either up to a nesting spot, or away from it back to the sea.

Although we didn’t see any nesting turtles that day we did see two mischievous turtles copulating in the shallow water’s edge!

Here’s a shot of the west side of the island. To put the magnitude of the volcano in perspective, look in the centre of the pic: there’s a group of yotties having a picnic!

Ospreys galore, of course. Ospreys are as common here as sparrows are back in the UK and Sadla Island had a number of nests dotted around the sharp volcanic rock. We climbed up to a few of them and sat next to a disused one. They were enormous and made of some of the strangest objects!

Tony, Fiona and osprey's nest

Here's that nest again. Huge!

Here's another osprey's nest

On the southern edge of the eastern shore Tony had spotted some graves. We can only assume that they belonged to fishermen. There were five of them. Tony has reserved the sixth plot.

Continuing westerly we traversed the highest peak on the southern side of the island (we’d attempted the north side but it was too dangerous) to get some amazing views of our anchorage, nesting osprey chicks and Dudo.

Tony, with Roam 2's anchorage to the left

Cilian of 'Cobble'

Fiona of 'Roam 2'

And now for the sunset pictures. These were actually taken on the first night at anchor here but I’ve saved the best till last. I took so many I’m unsure which ones to keep in and which ones to bin, so I’ll post a few up to keep everyone happy. Whenever I look at these shots I am reminded of some of the most desolate yet beautiful landscape I have ever viewed.

Sadla Island looking SE

In this podcast we take a trip ashore and start by crossing the isthmus from the west towards the windward side on the east. We’re looking for turtles but we find a bit more than what we bargained for!

You can download the podcast here.

The entrance required navigating around a rather nasty looking shallow reef but once in, tucked up next to some rally boats we hadn’t seen for a long while, we could relax and enjoy a most excellent place indeed. This anchorage was another reason for rating Eritrea as ‘fave country’.

Before hooking up with a few others to take the dinghy to the spit I went ashore myself with my tripod to get some snaps. Alas it was too late in the day and the midday sun was bleaching out all my shots. I did manage to capture a few birds though and it is at times like that that I wished I had a decent zoom. Still, just spotting herons, ospreys, crows and pelicans in their natural habitat, all within a few hundred metres of each other, was a treat enough.

We spent a couple of days here, BBQing on the beach, working on the boat and taking the dinghy out to the spit at the end of the anchorage where Leah of ‘Storm Dodger’ took Mutley for a well deserved walk. With him chasing the wading birds he gave me an opportunity to capture some pics. Thanks Mutley!

Some yotties were still affected by the dreaded fever so it wasn’t such a great spot for them. There was growing concern for Michel, the Belgian skipper of ‘Shelter’ who was completely incapacitated, whilst Dan was into his fifth day of high temperatures. Liz, fortunately, had made a good recovery.

Freedom Bay was hot though, and we were there in February. We learned from the locals in Massawa that come summer even they retreat to the mountains where it is many degrees cooler under the cover of cloud. I could feel the heat in that one hour of photography radiating off the volcanic rock and burning my body. I had to get back in the water to cool down so god only knows how the sailors with fevers were coping.