Kesselai swaps sandy paradise for cliffs and orchids

Estonian travel journalist Siim Karnö says Kesselaid island offers striking cliffs, abundant wild strawberries and 17 orchid species, but visitors should bring hiking boots rather than expect the sandy, palm-filled paradise shown in Nublu’s music video, ERR reported.

Karnö, who has devoted his work to exploring Estonia, said he began discovering more of the country after the coronavirus pandemic prevented him from travelling abroad. He had planned to visit Iceland but instead started looking for similar experiences in Estonia.

“We have places here too, although they are not as powerful as those in Iceland,” Karnö said. He cited springs that erupt in spring, a bright-blue lagoon in the settling ponds of a power plant and an ash mountain at Kukruse.

Karnö had heard of Kesselaid before Nublu’s song brought wider attention to it, but the island had not initially appealed to him. He said reaching small islands such as Keri and Aksi can be difficult because weather conditions may prevent boats from sailing.

Before visiting Kesselaid, Karnö researched its history and discovered that Nublu was not the first artist to mention the island in a song. Reet Linna wrote lyrics in the early 1990s for a song titled “Nõnda on saare peal hea”, which also refers to Kesselaid.

The island is mainly home to summer houses. Only one person, island warden Elsa Vatter, lives there year-round, while the number of summer residents is around 20.

“The powder-soft sand that comes to mind from Nublu’s video is naturally not found on Kesselaid. Nor do palm trees grow there,” Karnö said.

Instead, the island has an 8.5-metre-high limestone cliff. Karnö compared the landscape to an art gallery, saying the cliff has numerous contours that resemble the faces of Lydia Koidula and, below her, Gustav Ernesaks.

The island is also covered in many stones, making it suitable for climbing and scrambling. “You should not look for paradise there; you need to put on hiking boots,” Karnö said.

Most of Kesselaid’s centre is forested. The island has 17 different orchid species, and Karnö visited in late June, when wild strawberries were flowering.

“Wherever you looked, everything was red, as if you were walking through blood. I ate my fill of wild strawberries there for the first time in my life,” he said.

Karnö recommends arranging a boat trip to Kesselaid with a boatman from Virtsu.