The mysterious and wild island of Socotra is famed for its unspoiled natural beauty and breathtaking landscape. With its warm climate, pristine white sand beaches, mysterious trees, majestic jagged-fanged mountains and vividly bright coral reefs, it is easy to understand why several ancient texts suggest Socotra is the original location of the Garden of Eden. The island has enchanted adventurers from Alexander the Great, to Marco Polo and the legendary Sinbad, with its dragon’s blood trees, its rare species of frankincense, cucumber trees and pink desert roses.
Just 80 miles long by 25 miles wide and forming part of an archipelago of four remote islands and two rocky islets, it lies in the northwest Indian Ocean, off the Horn of Africa. Socotra ranks among the world’s top centers of endemism and is often called the “Galápagos of the Indian Ocean.” In 2008, UNESCO declared the islands a world heritage site. No matter where you stand, from sea level to nearly a mile high in the central Hajhir Mountains, you’re within sight of something found nowhere else on earth. A remote location and relatively low human impact have kept the island’s ecosystems in a remarkably good state, one of the world’s most significant and well-preserved island habitats. It is a Noah’s Ark where ancient flora and fauna, as well as an associated unique culture and traditions, have survived until the present day.
The island’s 60,000 inhabitants speak Soqotri, a language older than Arabic. These isolated people have their own myths and legends and indeed their own governorate. Very few people on the island have ever even travelled to the rest of Yemen, let alone further abroad. A strong belief in the power of magic and witches ‘djinns’, persists since ancient times.
Socotra has an archeological history that dates back to some of the earliest civilisations, complete with fascinating cave art and 2000-year old tools. Once at the heart of ancient silk and spice trading routes between the Arab world, Africa and Asia, today the island lies in the middle of one of the world’s most important oil trading channels.
In the past 150 years, Socotra has changed hands between the Mahra sultanate, Britain, South Yemen and modern Yemen. It is currently the only part of the Yemen to escape the current civil war, but this has in turn, only increased the island’s isolation.