Caravan-Serai Tours - Yemen - Handbook

Tales of Socotra

Bob Burrowes
Yemen Expert
University of Washington

December, 2006

Part I

Yemenis make the most outrageous claims, only some of them in jest, and none is more outlandish than their claim to Shakespeare and the most revered plays in the English language. The claim, usually in jest, goes like this: Shakespeare is really Shaykh (Sheik) Zubair, a Yemeni poet-playwright whose plays were stolen by the Brits and translated into English in the earliest days of imperialism. I laughed at this claim for years, but maybe should do so no more: I have been to the Island of Socotra. Shakespeare (aka Shaykh Zubair) wrote The Tempest, a play set on an exotic, otherworldly island, populated by strange animals and stranger growing things. After my recent visit, I can not but conclude that that island may have been Socotra, a place known to and visited by Yemenis for millennia before the first Brit set foot on this place some two centuries ago. Ergo, maybe, Shaykh Zubair and his justly revered plays, among them The Tempest.

This is by way of introduction to the most improbable, otherworldly beautiful place I have ever had the good fortune to visit, Socotra Island. Socotra is a large chunk of limestone thrust up from the bottom of the Arabian Sea and part of, I think, the geological formation that includes the Great Riff Valley of East Africa and the Red Sea separating Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. It lies east-west, is 200 kms long and maybe 50 kms wide at its widest, and in terms of both distance and geology is closer to Somalia than to my Yemen, the country of which it is now a part. Dwarfed by its neighbor to the south, Madagascar, Socotra is still a sizable island, five times the size of the island of Bahrayn and one-third the area of Lebanon. Its population is only 50,000 to 60,000.

The limestone base of the place is significant. Viewed from the ground or, most strikingly, from the air, the island is completely rimmed by dazzling whitish, green, green-blue, blue-green and blue waters, the effect of the underlying limestone. The surface of the island reveals almost no soil, much less rich topsoil; instead, it is almost all limestone, in varying stages of transformation from seemingly endless slabs and great chunks to boulders, large and small rocks, pebbles and, finally, sand. The wonder of Socotra are the plants, birds, animals and insects which grow or live on, in or under this limestone. Simply put, the small island of Socotra is one of the most bio-diverse and bio-unique places on our planet, making it the improbable, exotic, otherworldly beautiful place that I visited for four days and nights in early March 2004.

GOTCHA--wait for the next exciting installment, Pt. II.

Part II

First, the Socotran flora which to this nature novice is the most mind-blowing thing about the place. Of the 900 plants counted on the island, 300 have been found only there, and many of the plants are just plain weird. The recognized symbol of Socotra is the Dragon's Blood tree, so named for the dark red sap collected for millennia as a dye. It looks like no other tree I know and, in fact, it isn't a tree; though botanically akin to grass, it can stand 20 feet tall, sport a trunk 12-inches in diameter, and provide enough shade for 20 goats or 10 persons. Its "limbs," at the top of the bare trunk, are like the ribs of an umbrella and fan out from the top of the trunk; depending on the way it grew, the tree looks like either an open umbrella with no ribs exposed or an umbrella blown inside-out with ribs fully exposed.

Perhaps the second most bizarre and common plant, one of several that my friend Selma al-Radi calls Socatran "fatties," is the Socatran Desert Rose. Standing as tall as eight feet, it has swollen, often grotesquely pear-shaped trunks, often three feet in diameter, which apparently serve to store water; it is topped by very undersized branches on which appear small but beautiful pink flowers. The tree looks like a giant version of what we call the bottle or pitcher plant in the southern part of Yemen. The Socatran name translates as "huge-butted woman," and the name fits perfectly.

What else among the big plants and small trees? With a skinny four-foot trunk and a tiny top of green leaves, the Socotran Crotan is one of what Selma calls the "skinnies;" it is the most widespread shrub/tree on the island, and cover the landscape like whiskers on an unshaven face. There are several kinds of frankincense and myrrh trees, some unique to Socotra and some known and highly prized as incense and for other purposes since ancient times. Prick the skin of a frankencense tree, let the bubble of sap dry and harden, and you have a small lump of incense. There are also many varieties of aloe plants, exported for centuries for their medicinal properties and used today in many skin lotions. The island is also covered with many varieties of often huge, cactus-like euphobias and succulents.

As improbable as the appearance of much of the vegetation on Socotra is the growth medium in which they thrive. As indicated, there is little by way of soil on the island. Imagine a Dragon's Blood tree with a trunk six inches in diameter seemingly growing right out of the middle or edge of a huge slab of limestone. Most plants on the island seem to thrive on, to love, adversity, growing out of rock being only part of it. In addition, much of the island receives a miniscule amount of rainfall annually.

Next time: some fauna and the fun we had, Pt. III

Part III

The fauna of Socotra, at least as seen and experienced by me, will disappoint those seeking the unique and exotic. There do not seem to be much, if anything, in the way of large wild animals on the island; the place may be crawling and buzzing with unique bugs, insects and little flying things, but I don't know and I don't care about them. I don't think I was bitten by anything, not even by any of the mosquitos I saw and heard.

Birds there are, and many of those who make Socotra their home are unique to the place; the island is also a stopping point for a large number of migratory birds, some rare and some spectacular. But here again, I don't much care, since I'm almost of the opinion that if you've seen one bird, you've seen them all. With one exception, that is: the Egyptian vulture. Now here is one Hell of a bird! Common throughout much of the Middle East and maybe elsewhere, the Egyptian vulture is more ubiquitous on Socotra than anywhere else in the world. They seem to be everywhere and are appreciated by the Socotrans as the island's chief scavengers; they seem to eat everything. They are very big, and they really do look like vultures with their prominent beaks and claws. They are also very powerful and graceful, going with and fighting the strong air currents. They are also very beautiful and noble in appearance; the mature birds have orange beaks, golden necks and black bodies and wings with traces of yellow and white. Most important, when it's not riding the currents, the Egyptian vulture likes to be around people; it loves either or both people or the garbage they produce. They are not afraid of people and do nothing to frighten them in return. For every person or small group of people, there are usually several vultures nearby, perched or walking. Right now, they are my favorite bird.

And then there are the Socotran goats. The basis of the Socotran economy, goats and, to a lesser extent, sheep are everywhere. The Socotrans seem less to herd or even raise them than to live with them in their cave dwellings, crude stone houses, streets and alleys of the villages and towns. One's way is often blocked by them, even at the entrances of houses and shops. The adult goats unique to Socotra have slightly bizarre, cork-screw horns and are lean, limber and very agile; they are, I think, short haired. And then there are the frolicking, jumping, nosey kids who act like, well, kids--children. I want one of these baby goats.

We flew to Socotra's capital, Hadibo, at the center of the north coast, on one of the two weekly flights that go by way of al-Mukalla, the port city on Yemen's southern coast. Two nights we stayed in one of two no-star hotels in Hadibo; the two other nights we camped out, once on the red sand beach at da-Hamri on the north coast and once at about 3,500 feet on the Diksun plateau in the interior. We swam twice in the Arabian Sea and once in a deep wadi in a stream with pools scooped out of the limestone. We traveled in 4-wheel drive Toyotos over roads about half of which were paved; some were just crude rock and dirt one-lane tracks. We went by motor-powered boats to a great coastal sand dune and to the town of Qalansiya and its beautiful lagoon at the western end of the island. We ate well--too well--of food cooked for us most often over open fires. The food seemed to appear out of no where three times a day. We chewed qat brought with us from the mainland, and we had a couple of whiskies brought from the same place.

The weather the first week of March on Socotra, only several degrees north of the Equator, was perfect. It was very warm and sunny during the day and cool at night; the air was crisp and dry, and it was often quite breezy. Such weather does not hold the year around, I'm told, especially May to October. During these months, the heat and humidity can be oppressive. The air and sea around the island becomes quite turbulent; indeed, these conditions make the place quite inaccessible by sea at this time of the year and help account for its isolation over the millennia.

The trip was graciously hosted by my friend and age cohort, Dr. Abd al-Karim al-Iryani, senior adviser to the president and, among many other things, former prime minister and foreign minister. His generosity and consideration were matched by the fun he had and the enthusiasm he showed. The trip was organized and managed expertly by Abd al-Rahman al-Iryani, an environmentalist deeply involved in efforts to save the environment of Socotra as the place is opened to tourism and development. Among the several others in the group were Mutahar al-Iryani, the poet and brother of Dr. Abd al-Karim, and Tony and Christiane Besse. We had a good time and much fun together.

So, go to Socotra----but CARRY OUT WHAT YOU CARRY IN.

BOB BURROWES