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“After driving for an hour up into the mountains, passing the forests of dragon trees, winding through villages made of roughly cut rock we descended into a valley. There isolated from the rest of the world by a towering gorge filled with flowers we bathed in a series of crystal clear pools. It was the land that time had
forgot. Lying on the rocks, drying in the sun it was paradise. We never think paradise exists, or that we have destroyed all the paradises, but there we were. Its difficult to explain. We found it, it does.”
Sandra Williamson, England.
“Early in the morning the boat took us out around the headland. We had been told we might see some dolphins. We were happy to try, but prepared for disappointment. We needn’t have been. Rounding the headland, still engrossed in the towering rock formations, we came across a shoal of dolphins. A “shoal”? It was more like
a herd of dolphins. There must have been 200 of them. Jumping, somersaulting, small babies flipping after their mothers, larger males excelling themselves in their height. We were speechless. Breathtaking. Then a second shoal of maybe 50, crossed t is impossible to describe the feeling.”
Hans Kisielski, Germany
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Cities and region
Socotra is one of the most isolated bits of land on Earth of continental origin (i.e., not of volcanic origin). The archipelago probably detached from Africa as a fault block during the Middle Pliocene (ca 6 million years ago), in the same set of rifting events that opened the Gulf of Aden to its northwest.
The archipelago consists of the main island of Socotra (3625 km² or 1400mi²), three smaller islands known collectively as "the Brothers" — Abd Al Kuri, Samha, Darsa — and other uninhabitable rock outcrops.
The main island has three geographical terrains: the narrow coastal plains, a limestone plateau permeated with karstic caves, and the Haghier Mountains. The mountains rise to 5000 feet (1525 meters).
The climate is generally tropical desert, with rainfall being light, seasonal (winter) and more abundant at the higher ground in the interior than along the coastal lowlands. The monsoon season brings strong winds and high seas.
Flora and fauna
The long geological isolation of the Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora (which may, therefore, be vulnerable to introduced species such as goats and to climate change). Surveys have revealed that more than a third of the 800 or so plant species
of Socotra are found nowhere else. Botanists rank the flora of Socotra among the ten most endangered island flora in the world. The archipelago is a site of global importance for biodiversity conservation and a possible center for ecotourism.
One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon's blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari), which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree. Its red sap was the dragon's blood of the ancients, sought after as a medicine and a dye. Another unusual plant is Dorstenia gigas.
The island group also has a fairly rich bird fauna, including a few types of endemic birds, such as the Socotra Starling Onychognathus frater, the Socotra Sunbird Chalcomitra balfouri, Socotra Sparrow Passer insularis and Socotra Golden-winged Grosbeak Rhynchostruthus socotranus.
As with many isolated island systems, bats are the only mammals native to Socotra. In contrast, the marine biodiversity around Socotra is rich, characterized by a unique mixture of species that have originated in far flung biogeographic regions: the western Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, Arabia, East Africa and the wider Indo-Pacific.
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People and economy
Almost all inhabitants of Socotra live on the main island. The principal city is Hadiboh (estimated population 43,000 in 2004). Abd Al Kuri and Samha have a population of a few hundred people between them; Darsa is uninhabited.
Traditionally, the archipelago has been inaccessible from June to September due to monsoon weather. However, in July 1999 a new airport opened Socotra to the outside year round. Most Socotris still live without electricity, running water or a paved road.
The Semitic language Soqotri is spoken only in Socotra, although it is related to other Modern South Arabian languages on the Arabian mainland such as Mehri.
The chief products of the island are dates, ghee, tobacco, and fish. Also, cattle and goats are raised.
At the end of the 1990s a United Nations Development Programmed was launched with the aim of providing a close survey of the island of Socotra.
History
Socotra appears as Dioskouridou ("of the Dioscurides") in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st century A.D. Greek navigation aid. In the notes to his translation of the Periplus, G.W.B. Huntingford remarks that the name Socotra is not Greek in origin, but derives from the Sanskrit dvipa sukhadhara ("island of bliss").
A local tradition holds that the inhabitants were converted to Christianity by Thomas in AD 52. In the 10th century the Arab geographer Abu Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Hamdani stated that in his time most of the inhabitants were Christians. In 1507, Portugal landed an occupying force at the than capital of Suq, to "liberate" the assumed friendly Christians from Arab Islamic rule. However they were not welcomed as enthusiastically as they expected and abandoned the island four years later.
The islands passed under the control of the Mahra sultans in 1511. During the late 1700s Socotra was part of the Austrian Empire for a short amount of time. Later in 1886 it became a British protectorate, along with the remainder of the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra. For the British it was an important strategic stop-over. The P&O ship 'Aden' sank after being wrecked on a reef near Socotra, in 1897, with the loss of 78 lives.
In 1967 the Mahra sultanate was abolished. Upon its independence, Socotra became part of the People's Republic of South Yemen (later to become the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen). Today it is part of what is known as the Republic of Yemen
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