Hello, my name is Anna. This blog is about all the beautiful islands around the world.

175 Fanø

This is another card that I've sent myself, and it's actually from one of my absolute favourite islands.

Located off the coast of southwestern Denmark, Fanø is a part of Wadden Sea National Park. The first things that welcome you to the islands are charming houses of Nordby village and ... seals, sitting on a sandbank just by the port.

One of Fanø's main attractions is its large beach with beautiful dunes, and because the island is quite windy it has also perfect condition for kite flying - each summer Fanø hosts an international kite flying competition, where you can see hundreds of huge colourful kites flying above the beach.

It is also a great place for bird spotting, and during low tide, you can also walk far into the sea to look at seals, or in the colder months - to pick up oysters. *But it's not only nature! There are many museums and traditional architecture, especially in the village of Sønderho (that is like a maze of colourful old houses). If you're ever in Denmark, I highly recommend visiting Fanø!

Fanø

country
Denmark
location
in the North Sea
inhabitants
over 3,400
biggest town
Nordby
postcard sent
distance travelled
~556km
sent from
Fanø

source: anna m.
source: anna m.

174 lamu island

Today's special card has travelled all the way from Kenya.

Lamu Island is nestled along the coastline of Kenya, in the Indian Ocean. It has preserved its Swahili heritage and architecture for centuries. The island's old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it boasts narrow alleyways, intricately carved wooden doors, and charming stone buildings that tell stories of its past.

Interestingly, one of this island's landmarks is a donkey sanctuary. Lamu has no motorised vehicles, so transportation and other heavy work is done with the help of donkeys. There are around 3000 of them on the island! The Sanctuary was opened in 1987 and it provides treatment to all donkeys free of charge.

I absolutely love the card and the stamps! Thank you Adam & Bartek!

LAMU

country
Kenya
location
off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean
inhabitants
over 25,000
postcard sent
distance travelled
~6610km
sent from
Lamu

source: Erik (HASH) Hersman
source: John Weiss

173 burano island

A sister postcard to the last one!

Burano island, also located in the Venetian Lagoon, but this time a bit further away, around 50min ferry ride from Venice. Burano is most known for its vibrant and colorful houses. The island's cheerful atmosphere and picturesque canals make it a perfect place for leisurely walks and exploration (and it's a popular backdrop for wedding photos and other sessions). Burano is also famous for its intricate lace-making tradition, and visitors can learn more about the craft in the local museum.

I visited the island early in the morning, when it was still waking up, and it was a very pleasant place, seeing all those colourful houses instantly puts you in a good mood!

BURANO

country
Italy
location
7km north of Venice
inhabitants
over 4000
postcard sent
distance travelled
~785km
sent from
Burano

source: Paul VanDerWerf
source: Lisa Elliott

172 murano island

A new postcard, this time from Italy!

Murano is a charming island located in the Venetian Lagoon, just a short ferry ride away from Venice. Famous for its centuries-old tradition of glassmaking, Murano has been a hub of unique craftsmanship and artistic skills since the 13th century. The island's narrow canals, picturesque bridges, and colorful houses create a unique and enchanting atmosphere, you can visit museums and galleries to learn more about the famous glass, and you can even have a peek into many of the glass workshops to witness the fascinating glass-blowing demonstrations.

I have sent this postcard myself, when I visited Venice and nearby islands this March. (I always send postcards to myself when I travel, not only to islands :)) (Unfortunately it doesn't have a cancellation from Murano, but instead it was stamped in Padova, which is a city on the mainland).

MURANO

country
Italy
location
1.5 km north of Venice
inhabitants
over 5000
postcard sent
distance travelled
~788km
sent from
Murano

source: Franganillo
source: Chris

171 marstrandsön

Another swedish island, and another beautiful postcard from my friend Natalia. The island's website describe it as "Sweden's sailing capital. Far out to the west, where the archipelago ends and the open sea starts, lies Marstrand. A haven for sailing and swimming, with quaint neighbourhoods and car free streets". Sounds quite idyllic, doesn't it?

In the right corner of the postcard you can see island's biggest attraction - Carlstens Fortress, built in 1658, but I must admit I find the tiny white lighthouse much more fascinating ;) It was built in 1868 and together with another lighthouse called Pater Noster, it replaced Marstrand's first lighthouse, that was actually situated on top of the fortress. They all helped sailors get safely to the harbour, and as we can read on island's website: "Marstrand was an ideal harbour, often ice-free and with mooring facilities regardless of the wind direction. It was for many years a major fishing centre and the starting point for international maritime trade. Directly to the west lies Skagen in Denmark, and the route from there was regularly followed by the old sailing boats."

map source: www.vastsverige.com

marstrand

country
Sweden
location
in the Västra Götaland
inhabitants
~375
biggest town
Marstrand
postcard sent
sent from
Marstrand

source: Cathrine Johansson
source: Cathrine Johansson

170 väderöarna (weather islands)

Hello! This time I come back not with one island, but a whole archipelago!

Väderöarna (which means Weather islands in Swedish) is an archipelago of 365 small hilly islands and rocks, in the west of Sweden, a 30 minutes boat ride from picturesque Fjällbacka. Vaderoarna.com calls them "The last outpost. A place far from the everyday noise. No stress, no must-dos, no hullabaloo. Way off the beaten track." Sounds perfect to me! They are sometimes even called "the most beautiful archipelago in the world", and indeed the islands look very charming with all the tiny red houses and the beautiful nature around them.

My friend Natalia sent me this beautiful map card from her trip to Sweden in 2016. You can read more (in Polish) and see more pictures from this region on her blog here.

map source: vaderoarna.com

Väderöarna

country
Sweden
location
in Skagerrak near the North Sea
postcard sent
distance travelled
~895km

source: sigfridlundberg
source: rennasverden

169 ishigaki

This beautiful card was sent by Tomoko from the island of Ishigaki, Japan.

Tomoko went there on vacation with her family in May, but as she described in the card, it was already as hot there as if it was summer. Ishigaki is one of the southernmost islands of Japan, and the climate, landscape and culture are different from the main islands of Japan. The culture of the island is actually influenced also by Taiwan, located just 300km from Ishigaki. Similiar to nearby Okinawa, the food here also differs from the main japanese islands. Meat is very popular on Ishigaki, and the island is famous all over the country for its beef.

The island is perfect for anyone who loves tropical paradises. Most of its area is protected as a part of Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park, and the most spectacular places are Mount Omoto and Kabira Bay. Tomoko confirms this in her card, and she also loved walking around mangrove forests :).

ishigaki

country
Japan
location
in the Yaeyama Islands archipelago
inhabitants
48,000
postcard sent
distance travelled
~9016km
sent from
Ishigaki

Thank you so much Tomoko for this beautiful card, I love the stamps and cancellations too!


source: Dolapo Falola
source: Dick Thomas Johnson

168 la maddalena


A card from island called La Maddalena sent by my friend Magda, how great is that :)?

Although Magda shares her name with this island, it has actually not always been called La Maddalena. The Romans called the island Ilva, Fussa and Bucina, in the Middle Ages it was known as Bicinara, in the 16th century it got the name of Santa Maria Magdalena, and only after that - La Maddalena. Interestingly, the island has also its own Sardo-Corsican dialect known as Maddalenino.

The Maddalena Archipelago is located just 2 kilometres from Sardinia. Magda went on a sailing trip there, and the area was supposed to be full of dolphins (it is a part of national park), but at that time there were not too many of them. I am sure though the beautiful views and crystal-clear waters made it still an amazing holiday.

Thank you Magda for this beautiful card!


map source: etineris.net

la maddalena

country
Italy
inhabitants
11,407
biggest town
La Maddalena
postcard sent
distance travelled
~1450km



source: SantiMB.Photos
source: piermario

167 hornos island

This card has travelled from very very far away, from Cape Horn in the southern tip of Chile. As you can see, it was not sent from the island, but "posted at high sea" onboard the Selma Expeditions ship.

It was sent by mr Bruno Salcewicz, whose dream was to see Cape Horn. Some time ago I came across his crowdfunding project and I decided to contribute a small sum, and got this card in return. :) The island is best known for being the location of the already named Cape Horn - the southernmost part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago and place where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans collide. Hornos island is often considered South America's southernmost island, but there are islands located even further south - the Diego Ramírez Islands.

There's a Chilean Navy station on the island, with a couple of buildings including a chapel and a lighthouse, and a memorial, with a sculpture of an albatross, in honour of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn".

source: http://www.caphorniers.cl

hornos island

country
Chile
location
at the southern tip of South America
inhabitants
at the Chilean Navy station
postcard sent
distance travelled
~14,150km
sent from
posted at sea, near Cape Horn

source: Daniela Goulart
source: Wikimedia

166 curaçao

This next card has travelled from the island of Curaçao, which together with uninhabited Klein Curaçao makes up a country (Curaçao) in the southern Caribbean Sea, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

For me this island is all about the colours! First of all I associate its name with the bright blue liqueur (and only now I realised that I've always read the name wrong, the pronounciation should be /ˈkʊrəsaʊ/ kur-ə-sow). Then there's of course the amazingly colourful Dutch-style houses in the capital's harbour. I must say that even with the colonial history of Curaçao, I actually did not expect to see such architecture on a carribean island, and when I first saw pictures from Willemstad it just seemed unreal! And then, it turns out that lots of houses on the island are not only unusually colourful on the outside, but also on the inside. Apparently many traditional homes have kitchens with red walls and white dots, to repel flies and mosquitoes. What a creative way to deal with bugs, isn't it?

The card was sent by Telenn, and as she wrote "Curaçao is very warm and dry. There are lots of cacti and lizards and the marine life is amazing" She saw a turtle swimming by already on her first day on the island, how cool! There's also a smaller uninhabited island nearby called Klein Curaçao, which Telenn was planning to visit after she sent the card, hope she liked it as well :)

I really love this card, what a beautiful map, big thanks to Telenn for helping with my project!<3

curaçao

country
constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
location
in the Caribbean Sea
inhabitants
~158,000
distance travelled
~8755km
sent from
Curaçao

source: PROBabak Fakhamzadeh
source: Anyul Rivas

165 l'ile noire

Hello! First of all I am sorry to everyone who has contributed to my project and is waiting for their postcard to be published, I know it's taking ages, but I've been extremely busy recently and I promise I'll try to publish all of your beautiful cards as soon as possible. And if any of you hasn't recieved cards from me - please let me know, and I'll send them again!

Today I have something special for you - a card from an imaginary island - The Black Island ( L'Ile noire) from the world of Tin Tin! :)

It was sent by Eva (of course! she always has such fantastic mail ideas :)) She found it while visiting the Museum of Comics in Brussels, and she only wished she could send it from the Black Island (although it looks small and there's probably no post office there ;)). I like comics a lot, so I was really pleasantly surprised with this card, although I must admit I've never read Tin Tin's adventures (I guess it's time to change it :))

Eva also asked if I thought of including literary/imaginary islands when I started my project - I actually have not, because there are already soo many real islands in the world, but it's actually a lot of fun getting to know those imaginary ones too :) So if you ever come across any other fictional islands, be sure to let me know :)

l'ile noire / black island

country
Scotland (fictional)
inhabitants
a gang of counterfeiters
postcard sent
distance travelled
~959 km
sent from
Brussels

Followers

My big dream is to receive postcards sent from every island in the world (at least those that have a postbox). If you would like to help me, please contact me at letters.from.islands@gmail.com.

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