March 9, 2013
Flight: Sana'a, Yemen (SAH) to Riyan, Yemen (RIY), Felix Airways, CR7
Flight: Riyan, Yemen (RIY) to Socotra, Yemen (SCT), Felix Airways, CR7
Hotel: Homhil campsite; Socotra, YemenMy sleep schedule still wasn't in sync and I woke up about 2:45 and could not get back to sleep. We had arranged transfer to the airport at 5am for our 7am flight. We went downstairs just before 5am and managed to share a ride with a bunch of Russians also going to Socotra. The standard taxi fare from airport to town and v.v. seems to be $20 or 4000 rials for the 20 minute ride. We were at the airport quickly and had to wait until 5:45 before we were able to checkin. No problems carrying our backpacks on.
Once through to the gate area at Sana'a airport there is nowhere to change money. There is the ubiquitous duty free shops and a small cafe. There is a Yemenia first class lounge upstairs but I did not check it out. We had awhile to wait for our flight, during that time I met a Somali guy from Puntland who was currently working in Dubai. Another guy was from New York but had family in Yemen and had been visiting for a month.
Boarding the flight was via bus (no jetbridges at Sana'a airport). Once at the plane there was a mad rush for the doors as there is open seating on these flights. We were flying Felix Airways (Saida in Arabic) CR7. Even though we had boarded late we managed to depart only 5 minutes late. The flights to Socotra first make an intermediate stop in Riyan airport, about 50 minute flight. We had the wrong side of the plane for the sun angle, but there were amazing views out the windows as we crossed Wadi Hawdramat consisting of huge gullies and canyons eroded in the plateau. Unfortunately the Wadi is pretty off limits to tourists these days but I would love to visit the town of Shibam (not the one we visited near Sanaa), known as the 'Manhattan of the desert'. Very densely packed town of 6-8 story mud 'skyscrapers'
Highly eroded plateau, Wadi Hawdramat
We landed ok in Riyan and picked up more passengers, including more Russians, one was a very loud woman and talked the whole flight. I still managed to fall asleep for the next 50 minutes flight to Socotra. We were on the wrong side of the flight for the approach but I could catch glimpses of turquoise water and white sand below. We landed to the Northeast and we were in Socotra! The airport was only constructed about 10-12 years ago, before that the island was very isolated. During May to September, near constant gale force monsoon winds blow, making approach by dhow or airplane very difficult.
Felix Airways in Socotra
We met our guide and driver and since our time was short we set off immediately towards the town of Hadibo. The main town on the island is some distance from the airport. Socotra is a very dry island, few trees other than palm trees or the native Dragons Blood and Bottle trees. The road clung to the northern cliffs with gorgeous blue water below us. We stopped in Hadibo, a very dusty town just for a few minutes to change more money and pickup some batteries (my headlamp AAAs had died already). Socotra is very different from the mainland, the dress style is different, locals do not carry the jambiyah knife, and houses are simple blocks of stone and coral. Qat chewing is also less prevalent here as it must be brought in from the mainland.
Hadibo town
Landscape
We continued driving east along the northern coast road, turning off the road at one point. I checked out my GPS and it actually had the dirt track we were on. We were heading towards the Dihamri Marine preserve. We stopped here for awhile for lunch and snorkeling. The coast here was rocky and there wasn't any sand. There were a few sun shelters setup here and a toilet. I'd hoped to go diving in Socotra but given our short time I didn't want to waste the time to do it. Snorkeling was amazing though, just off the shoreline was a corridor of coral, and tons of fish. Saw parrot fish, surgeon fish, angel fish, giant clam, etc. For lunch we had fresh caught fish and rice.
Beach near Dilhamri
Typical Socotri village
On the usual 7-10 day itinerary most people would just stay and camp here. We continued east, driving nearly all the way to the eastern tip of the island. There are some amazing sand dunes, 150m+ high powdered white sand. The landscape was all broken coral and limestone that had been uplifted from the sea floor ages ago. We stopped at a natural spring where some workers were filling up a water truck. Our guides had given us the option of exploring Hoq cave in the morning, or heading inland to the Homhil area. Socotra has perhaps the worlds largest unexplored cave system. I've been in caves before though and would rather spend the time seening the other sights of Socotra.. especially since the hike to/from/through the cave takes nearly a half day by itself.
White dunes and blue water
We headed back inland then up a wadi before hitting a real 4WD road up the hills to the Homhil plateau. This area has many bottle trees, Frankincense, and Dragons Blood trees. Dragons Blood trees were known back in Roman times for its medicinal properties, it got its name from the red sap the tree oozes when cut.
Bottle tree
We finally made it up to the campsite, a gorgeous setting on a hill overlooking a stream below. There were several tent pads and a shelter structure. We sat around drinking small cups of Socotra tea, which is delicious. They add spices to it, almost a chai. Socotri men have a unique sitting style. They use the bandanas they wrap around their heads as a leg brace when sitting cross legged.
Having tea
The sun was getting ready to set as we hiked 15 minutes down to a pool at the edge of a huge rockslide, an entire chunk of mountain ridge had collapsed. I had noticed the gap in the ridge from below as we were driving past the dunes. At the top of the rockfall was an 'infinity pool'. It was pretty warm and I would have loved to have gone for a swim! One of the local kids from the village did exactly that.
On the hike
We walked back to the campsite where dinner was ready, basic spaghetti. Socotri people sit on the ground.. which meant that so did we. The shelter had a padded mat to sit on but we had to take our shoes off everytime we sat down. We were in bed by 7:30 after another long day. I had hoped to see the comet tonight as there was abosulutely no light pollution in Socotra, but unfortunately the skies had clouded over right at sunset.
March 10, 2013
Hotel: Detwah campsite; Socotra, Yemen
I still wasn't sleeping very well and kept waking up during the night. Finally the sunrise fortold a gorgeous clear day. Dean and I walked down to the creek and wandered around the large limestone boulders. There were many bottle trees here, all shapes and sizes. Bottle trees are bizzare looking, with swollen trunks that store water similar to baobab trees on the mainland. They have small waxy yellow or green leaves and pink flowers. There were some tiny ones here growing out of cracks in the limestone. There was another tree that looked like the lower half of a woman complete with bellybutton and legs sticking up.
Razor sharp limestone
Campsite
For breakfast we had fresh baked flatbread with honey. Delicious. The Homhil campsite is run by the local village and they provided the tents and did the cooking for us. So that is good that tourism dollars in Socotra are going to help the local communities.
We were walking through the campground and nearly walked through a huge spiderweb.. luckily my friend saw the spider! The spider had been there awhile apparently, all the surrounding bushes were full of old cobwebs. The silk looked greenish in the sunlight. Above the campground was another hill formed by razor sharp eroded limestone, similar to 'tsingy' formations in Madagascar and other places. We hiked up the hill a bit, then came back down through the village.
We were driving to the Dixam plateau today, a few hours drive away. We set off in 4WD down the mountain roads again. As we were passing a village, there were some women in the distance, 200m or more away. I was taking a photo of the village and they screamed and ducked!! I'm not even sure they could see the camera at that range!
We continued again past Hadibo town and stopped for a minute at a place by the road that had a Cucumber Tree. These trees also have thick bulbous trunks and large dark green leaves. The only member of the cucumber family that grows as a tree. In the dust surrounding the area there were hundreds of ant lion traps. I didn't see any ants so I guess they maybe oversuccessful.
Looks great for a swim
Cucumber tree
Soon we turned off the coast road and headed south up into the mountains. The temperature started dropping and finally we came across a lone Dragon's Blood Tree standing at 3200' on the plateau. Really couldn't have asked for better weather today. We stopped for awhile to get good photos of the tree. Then continued south then turned off onto a side road. We passed another tour company setting up camp, it looked quite large group (15-20) and they had chairs!
Lonely Dragons Blood tree
We finally stopped at an amazing grove of Dragons Blood trees spread across a stony field. The trees look like something from Dr. Seuss, huge green mushrooms dotting the landscape. There was a dead Dragons Blood tree here that had fallen over.. the wood is more fibrous than woody so it does not make a good building material. We sat here for awhile having tomato+tuna pita for lunch with ever present tea. There were several vultures in the area scouting us out, as soon as we stood up after lunch about 5-6 of them moved in and started pecking the ground!
Dragons Blood tree grove
After lunch we drove back to the northern coast and headed west to Qalansiyah. Along the way we saw several old Russian tanks standing on the beach pointed northward. I guess these remained from the civil war. I had been looking forward to visiting Qalansiyah, photos show Detwah lagoon as amazing gorgeous stretch of white sand and blue water. The trip led through a flat-bottomed valley, it almost felt like a glacial valley but it was formed from fault slips.
Old Russian tank
We arrived at the lagoon and stopped on a hill to get some photos. The water definitely looked inviting! We drove from there down to the Detwah camp. This was a bit of a disappointment though. We saw our first tourists here, the Russians that came in on our plane, a couple of Swiss women, and that huge group (Germans). There are a few shelters set back from the lagoon, but the sand/soil here is muddy and it is not really possible to swim in the lagoon, either too shallow and there are stingrays. It is nearly a mile walk out to the ocean and once there there is absolutely no shade.
Detwah lagoon
The campground was definitely busy but subdued. Yemen is a dry country which meant the Russians and Germans would be going without.
Indeed everything quieted down by 10PM and we fell asleep, our last night in Socotra.