I first booked this trip in 2019 for a 202 departure. COVID and lockdowns cruelled that and a 2021 booking. March 2022 saw my booking cancel when the once weekly charter flight to Socotra was comandeered by the ruler of Abu Dhabi to take workers down to the island for 2 months. No tourist seats. Rebooked for May 2022 I actually cancelled at the last minute due to illness and hospitalisation of my dear and now departed father-in-law. No other trip has been as long in planing for me.
Bright sunshine and terrible roads start my second day. Leaving Hadibo the roads rapidly deteriorate and when we leave the main road for a track up a mountain our driver has to skilfully negotiate potholes that appear as though they could swallow our jeep whole. As we climb ever upwards the vegetation improves. Now trees are aplenty. Squat thorn tree bushes abound at head height. Small baobabs with pretty pink flowers become more common place.
Suddenly, there on a ridge is my first sighting of a dragon blood tree. I am sorely tempted to jump out of the jeep run over and give it a hug. The dragon blood tree is emblematic of Socotra. Unique to the island it has a unique umbrella shape and is named for the blood red sap that oozes out if you scratch the trunk.
A 3 hour walk all downhill ensues and the vegetation does not disappoint. The track narrows and becomes steeper. We round the corner into a gorge and are rewarded with beautiful vistas down to the coast and the turquoise sea. There is a small rock pool fed from a spring and I go for a paddle. The scenery is ridiculously beautiful.
Back in the jeep we find our way back to the “main road” and head further out to our campground which is sited in between 3 massive sand dunes extending 100 metres up the mountain. After lunch we head off to an isolated beautiful white sand beach to a point that marks the confluence of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea.
Tonight its my first night back in a tent on the white sand facing the ocean with the sounds of waves rumbling against the shore.
2 replies on “Fifth time lucky”
It was fifth time lucky for sure and looks like a terrific time was had it was definitely worth the wait xx
What a pity you couldn’t bring back any saplings or seeds of those dragon blood trees or flowering boab trees for our gardens. Beautiful specimens of vegetation!