Delft Island

Delft (Neduntheevu in Tamil) is the most remote and atmospheric of the Jaffna islands, an almost entirely flat island of 50 sq.km in the outer Jaffna Lagoon where herds of semi-feral ponies descended from horses left by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century roam freely across scrubland and along the coral-rubble shores. The island also holds a handful of enormous baobab trees — African trees brought centuries ago by Arab seafarers — which are extraordinary in the Sri Lankan context and among the oldest trees of the species in Asia. Ruined coral-stone structures, ancient wells, a partially preserved Portuguese fort, and remnants of what was once a more populated and militarised island create a landscape of haunting, windswept history. The island has a small resident fishing population and basic facilities; the journey itself — a 2-hour public ferry crossing Jaffna Lagoon past smaller islands and through shallow channels — is part of the experience.