Delft Island

Delft — known in Tamil as Neduntivu — is the most remote of the inhabited Jaffna islands, lying about 25 kilometres off the peninsula's northwestern coast. The ferry from Kurikadduwan takes roughly 50 minutes and runs twice daily, usually at eight in the morning and two in the afternoon.

The island is flat, treeless in most parts, and exposed to the wind from both the Palk Strait to the north and the Gulf of Mannar to the west. Its most visible feature is the population of semi-wild horses that roam freely across the scrubland — descended, according to local legend, from animals left by Dutch traders. They are not domesticated, but they are not skittish either.

Delft also has a baobab tree near the centre of the island, thought to have been planted by Arab traders several centuries ago. The baobab is singular in a landscape of palmyra and scrub — barrel-trunked, enormous, and somehow out of place. There are also ruins of a Dutch fort near the ferry jetty; a large natural pond where migratory birds gather; a coral-stone wall that stretches improbably across one section of land; and a gopuram that was transported from the mainland and re-erected on the island.

Take food and water for the day — there is very little available on the island. The afternoon ferry back is at 2 p.m. and will not wait if you miss it.