Sokotra

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Socotra is one of the most unexplored and isolated islands in the whole world. Tourists practically do not come here, the total number of visitors per year barely reaches a couple of thousand. But this is not a reason to say that Socotra is not interesting! Fantastic, unlike earthly landscapes, amazing representatives of the fauna, rare flora, excellent conditions for diving and surfing are just a small list of what this distant island with a desert and semi-desert climate can attract.
Tools of labor of the Olduvay culture were found in Socotra, which indicates that the island was inhabited a half million years ago. For the first time Europeans visited Socotra in the second half of the nineteenth century – the expedition was headed by the Englishman Isaac Balfour. The researchers were going to collect a collection of flora and fauna found here. The results of the first two months of work plunged scientists into shock: on Socotra, about two hundred unknown types of vegetation were found. So the island began to magnify the botanical paradise.
Several ancient legends are associated with Socotra. So, according to one of them, in the dragon tree that grows here, real dragon blood flows, which has healing and even magical properties. This comparison is not surprising: the resin of the tree really looks like blood – due to the characteristic cinnabar color. Resin is used for cosmetic, medical, veterinary purposes.
All the rest on Socotra is somehow connected with nature – ecotourism, water sports, the study of amazing landscapes of the area, after all, photography. Here you can stroll through the green valleys, on the snow-white moving sands of dunes and deserts, see mountain ranges, steep hills, cliffs that hang over the plains or even over the noisy waves of the Arabian Sea.
The study area will necessarily be associated with familiarity with local plants. In total, there are 825 species of various plants on the island, almost 40 percent of them are unique, not found anywhere else. You can easily recognize the red dragon flower, known by the legend as the Draconian Tree: a tree in the form of a mushroom with a green hat, reaching a height of ten meters, is not confused with anything.
Another unique representative of Socotra’s flora is the cucumber tree – it cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The tree is somewhat similar to baobab, the trunk reaches a hundred centimeters in diameter, and thin branches stretch upward and create a rare crown. The tree is obliged by the name to the fruits similar to the cucumbers completely covered with sharp thorns. Another surprisingly local plant is Adenium corpulent with pink and red flowers, also known as the desert rose. Grow on Socotra and numerous species of aloe, from ancient times recognized by medicine, and giant dorsten, which can only be found here.
Exploration of the animal world on the island is another chapter of the journey through Socotra. Only here you will be able to meet such rare birds: the Socotransky long-tailed starling, the nectar, the Socotransky sparrow, the golden-winged finch, the local vulture. Frequent meetings with Socotrian gazelle, civet and numerous bats. The world of insects is also represented on Socotra by rare species, mainly belonging to the order of beetles.
The coasts of Socotra are narrow, but surprisingly picturesque: snow-white sands, bright turquoise of the sea, rare green accents in the form of desert vegetation. The sea here is an excellent opportunity for surfing, windsurfing, as well as diving and snorkeling. The underwater kingdom is replete with a variety of forms of living creatures and bright reefs, but pay attention to the existing ban on collecting corals on the island. Locals gather on the coast of amber, formed in the digestive tract of sperm whales, which is used to create persistent perfume.
Rest on Socotra from the series “not for everyone.” Yemen is not a safe country, there is a high crime rate here. In addition, there is not a single high-class hotel on the island (of those with air-conditioning in every room, a pool and a restaurant). You will have to choose: stay in a hotel with a level of service below average (there are only a couple of such mini-hotels in the capital, Khadibu) or go to live in a campsite. But what could be an obstacle for true adventure lovers? You don’t even need to take your tent with you; you can rent everything you need to live in a tent camp right in the capital.
To get to Socotra can only be through the air. There is a small airport, which receives flights of domestic airlines from the capital of Yemen – the city of Sana’a. To get over land to Yemen can only be from Oman, while international transport, plying between countries, no. You’ll have to get from the Omani town of Salalah to the border post by taxi or minibus, then cross the border, and then still travel by car to Al-Gaida, from where it will not be difficult to take an intercity bus to Sana’a.