Port Smith,...desert, reef, clear water, two brothers and cattle
02 April 2010 | Eritrea
Lucia
We arrived in Port Smith yesterday after sailing for 48 hrs. The island is habited by two brothers (around 18 years old) and cattle (87). This island is part of Eritrea, previously a part of Ethiopia, and after a 30 year guerrilla, it's now an independent country. Here and there are evidences of the war and we could only see part of buildings in the island. We spoke (communicated with words and signs is a better definition) with the boys and they will spend one year looking after the cattle on the island.
Our friends from Magnum were here yesterday and they told us that would be good to take some biscuits to them. We did that and we also took some fish. They asked if we had water and we asked what they eat. 'We milk the cows". What else? They told us that they don't have anything else because our food finished last month. A boat will come sometime (not well defined when) with more food. We went back to the boat to get water, rice, flour and biscuits for them. We took some pictures of the shelter the boys made and the island that is very dry with not much for the cattle to eat.
One thing that surprised me today is that they are not good fisherman; they don't use the sea as a source of protein. It's very different than the places we have being before where the people were able to eat well with the fish they catch and the plantations.
We went for a nice walk to see the lighthouse and we tried to learn about them but it's not easy. From the top of the lighthouse we could see where the cows were and there is a bit of green there, the rest of the island is like a desert. It would be amazing to be able to speak their language and spend some time with the people of Oman, Yemen, and Eritrea to learn about their culture. Their life is so different than ours and they look happy and they are very polite and friendly.
We will stay here today for more snorkelling and Nina and Lucas would like to explore more the beach. The tide goes down after lunch and there are lots of little creatures to look at. Tomorrow we will sail/motor to Sheikh El Abu (16°02.26'N:039°26.95E).