Anthrow Circus

MORE BY Rachel Pieh Jones

Rachel Pieh Jones writes about life at the crossroads of faith and culture for the New York Times, Christianity Today, Runners World, and more. Her work is influenced by living in the Horn of Africa, raising third-culture kids, and adventurous exploration of the natural world. She has lived in Somalia and Djibouti since moving to Africa in 2003. Currently, she and her husband run the International School of Djibouti. Rachel is the author of Pillars: How Muslim Friends Led Me Closer to Jesus and Stronger than Death: How Annalena Tonelli Defied Terror and Tuberculosis in the Horn of Africa. Visit her at www.rachelpiehjones.com or her Substack Stories from the Horn.

(Not) Climbing Djibouti’s Devil’s Island

STORY AND PHOTOS BY RACHEL PIEH JONES

Devil’s Island is a bulbous, volcanic island at the innermost part of the Gulf of Tadjourah, an area called the Ghoubet, in Djibouti. Everyone who drives the snaking coastal road from Djibouti’s capital city to Tadjourah passes the bay and comments on the black hill rising up out of the sea. It is tantalizingly close to shore, yet out of reasonable reach due to strong winds and waves.

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