A 10lb, 79cm tuna was caught on this trip, which was nice. We had planned to head towards an outer island to spend a quiet night before continuing on, but it was Nadeesh’s 20th birthday and all the other boats were now in one anchorage. We changed course and we were so glad we did. Freedom Bay was yet another stunning nature reserve!

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.