Finally now that the Covid-19 pandemic issues have settled somewhat, I was able to get back to international travel and my first destination was the little island of Malta.

Malta in September is still very warm and humid with day time temperatures generally reaching 32-34degC and overnight minimums falling to only 22-24degC.

This means you need to either sleep with air conditioning on all night, or do as I did, sleep in a mosquito/sandfly proof (No-See-Um) mesh tent on balconies and rooftops to really take in the nocturnal balmy summer ambience. Perhaps the locals could take a leaf out of my book and save electricity and the environment.

Sand flies are a significant concern in much of the Mediterranean and this includes Malta and Sicily as these sand flies are true sand flies of the Phlebotomus genus (not the biting midgee “sandflies” found on Australia and NZ beaches), and they can carry the amoebic parasite which causes Leishmaniasis which is hard to prevent (without ensuring no sand fly bites) and not easy to treat – not something anyone wants to catch! The sand flies live in storm water drains and are active overnight so having skin exposed whilst walking at night or going to restaurants is a significant risk especially in September when they are at their peak activity.

Valletta is the main old town in Malta apart from Mdina and is a great place to explore although very touristic and so the restaurants and cafes do target the tourist trade.

Here are a few images that I captured on my first night there wandering around.

Next up will be the old town of Mdina.