Before this morning, I had never heard of Socotra. Now, it’s on my “places to see before you die” list.
For those, like me, who never heard of it before: It’s an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, just 150 miles off the coast of the Horn of Africa. One third of its plant life is found nowhere else. It’s the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, for lack of a better metaphor.
The natural formations and flora look like scenes from Avatar. It looks like an alien landscape. Roads were only built on the island, which belongs to Yemen, in 2006.
Accommodations on this island of 40,000 are, as you might suspect, quite limited. As per Wikipedia, Yemenia and Felix Airways fly from Socotra Airport to Sanaa and Aden via Mukalla (RIY – Riyan Airport). The Sanaa service is everyday, while Aden flights are available only Mondays (as of December 2009).
There’s an amazing set of photos over at Dark Roasted Blend, so I just suggest browsing over there and looking at the whole thing. If anyone has been there, I’d love to hear about it.
Thanks to reader J for the tip!
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July 29th, 2010 at 12:53 am
Very cool! Too bad Yemen is currently not the safest place to travel to/through. Could go by boat, but then be prepared for Somali pirates. But yeah, I’ll add it to my bucket list.
July 29th, 2010 at 9:41 am
It’s a UNESCO world Heritage site, and unfortunately, we only heard about it after leaving our Dubai life!
A reporter from Abu Dhabi’s The National paper recently went there and wrote this article:
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100424/TRAVEL/100429929&SearchID=73398266864218
Omar, a Yemeni blogger, has been posting about Socotra for some years. Through Omar’s blog is how I first heard about the island:
http://hadhramouts.blogspot.com/search/label/Socotra%20Soqotra%20Sogotra%20Sokotra
July 29th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Wow, simply amazing!
July 29th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
This place looks so cool, the flora and fauna is completely unique! I think I am also adding this to my list of places to travel…..thanks for sharing
July 30th, 2010 at 10:25 am
It’s simply breath-taking beauty of nature. I wish the people in the world would have more peaceful attitude toward one another.
Pirates in the 21st century? Some are still living before middle ages. I wish this could be a place everyone on this planet could go to. I don’t think there could be anything comparable to the beautiful natural settings.
July 30th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
So many places. So few lifetimes. The bucket list gets longer. Thanks for the tempting introduction.
August 1st, 2010 at 4:25 am
Brilliant pictures and i cannot believe i have never heard of this place before. Great post
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
nice spot, looking awesome,The natural formations and flora look like scenes from Avatar. It looks like an alien landscape. Roads were only built on the island, which belongs to Yemen.
August 5th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
What kind of Tree’s and plants is that?.
Great i will also add it in my travel list.