A separate state of being, unspoilt and untouched by modernity; Delft Island offers a unique experience.
There is a Delft story that is not hard to find. Wild ponies figure in it. There is the giant Baobab tree with a hollow at its base big enough to house several people, the growing stone, the ‘giant’ footprint with the inevitable mention of a ‘twin’ in Nainativu (Nagadipa), the dove cote, remains of a colonial past, the fort, ruins of a Buddhist temple, and the Hindu kovil. Huge coral rocks fringe the shores of Delft Island. Scorching hot sunlight, wild winds, dry arid land with sparse water are what strike the visitor, but there is a wild beauty about the place that is haunting.
The waters surrounding the island are turquoise blue and one can wade up to about 300 m into the sea. There are also fascinating coral formations around. The residents have made their parapet walls out of chunks of these rocks. Huge expanses of Aloe Vera grow wild on the almost white sands. The water is brackish and good water wells are very difficult to find, but there is also the “Devil’s well” – so deep that one cannot imagine that humans dug it, a fresh water well that apparently does not dry-up even in times of drought. Monkeys, shore birds and land birds, the harmless sand boa python and other snakes can also be found here.
