SOCOTRA ISLAND: INDIAN OCEAN'S GALAPAGOS PART III

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DAY 7:

After the rain last night the sand dunes have a bit of crust at the top, I climbed up one to get a good sunrise foto but the clouds hover over . We did not have bread for breakfast so we drove straight to Di Hamri beach, still cloudy and a bit of wind. This place is full of red rocks, the sea is choppy and so not a great day to snorkel. Ali told me we stay here couple hours so I went for a walk. IT was a bit of a low tide and rocks along the coast have plenty of crabs and oysters and slugs. I took advantage of the situation and had a great buffet of fresh oysters and slugs for breakfast. If I can only eat the snails raw..there's plenty of them too. There were 2 red rocks jutting out from the ground, I went around one and hiked another, i noticed a fisherman line fishing. I waved at him.

After taking so many fotos of the area i got tired and so started heading back, the fisherman was walking that way to and he called me, i saw him with a number of fish skewered on a stick one was humongous! He was walking fast as it was quite heavy, i caught up with him at the camp and took fotos of him there. He offered me lobster, a big one for $25! I said no thank you i can get 3 mid sized for $10 in Fortaleza, Brasil. They gave Ali one of the fish for him to bring to his family during Eid which starts tomorrow.

We drove back to Hadibou and Ali dropped me off at this unnamed place owned by a very nice family, one of the brother is the head of the Botanical garden across the street. Ali fetched him as no one was in the lodge. Ahmed was his name very kind man with good English, an Aussie guy was there as well, came to visit Ahmed who became his friend when he stayed here before. Josh the Aussie is a botanist here to document plants indigenous to Socotra, Ahmed is the same so they speak the same language. Over tea and hearthy lunch and some qat, we spoke about the native plants in the island and how Ahmed is working towards getting funds to help and protect them from extinction like in his botanical garden he has thousands of Dragon blood tree seedlings, in the wild hardly you see young ones because the goats eat them, he is looking for funding to help him plant these in the wild and build fences around them for protection. I wanted to volunteer my time as I dont have money to fund this, seems like a noble cause really.

After lunch we went for a walk in the almost dried up wadi 10 minutes from the lodge, we wanted to see and hopefully catch huge crabs, yes word got out that I eat crabs. We saw lots of holes in the oasis full of date trees. We found lots of crabs but we need to dig to get them. One of them was outside and Josh and Ahmed wrestled with it until we caught it, it's big! We cooked it for dinner. Josh left to head back to town his flight leaves early tomorrow for Makalla in the mainland, we agreed to meet up in Sanaa couple days from now and travel together to Haraz mountains.

3 women from Cataluna in Spain arrived, they are leaving tomorrow, we chatted up with them. They told me about how pretty Qalansiah beach is my destination tomorrow. off to bed for me quite tired. The Spaniards already left when i woke up, i had breakfast and waited for Ali a long time since its Eid he is having a big meal with his family, I met most of the members of Ahmed's family, sisters, sons, father, they brother actually owns the place but is in Aden at the moment caring for a sick child so Ahmed is the current caretaker.

DAY 8:

Ali arrived and we left for Qalansiah, we stopped at Hadibou to get some water and qat for Ali, not a big fan of it as it doe s not have an effect on me. Ali whispered to me that 2 guys in the jeep in town are Italian journalists from a famous Italian magazine, I couldn't really care less! i just wanted to get out of this dirty place. People are dressed to the nines, it's holiday after all, men from Sana'a wear their jambias, Ali pointed them out to me.We drove about an hour past the airport straight on and before we turned left to the mountains we passed turtle beach where these creatures nest around March I was told.
The drive up the mountain was cool, and we saw frankincense trees, Ali pointed them out to me this time. we drove through the town of Qalansiah and up a hill along the way I saw old British tanks so I took fotos, Ali told me not to because at the top of the hill there is a police station. too late.. Getting up the hill the view opened up to this marvelous bay, 1st words came out of my mouth, "holy s..t" the view was spectacular!! Took tons of fotos as usual, the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, yes better than San Blas, Panama! Ali told me he will drive towards the protected area camp, I can walk down and take my time he said, but with a little help from another driver, Ali's english is almost gone by now.. The beach has a few people the sand is powdery white, the water turquoise blue, emerald green, the pictures really does not do justice, incredible colors!

I had a swim, wonderful tepid temperature, I see lots of fish swimming about. then i walked towards the lagoon, at low tide it presents a lot of texture and color great for photography so I climbed up one of the hills and just sat there until I got hungry, walked towards the camp and Ali asked me to sit for lunch, the lunch once again is huge but I finished it, as usual fish again either fried or grilled is how they cook it here with some spices, not much variety, its great delicious fish but after more than a week I am getting sick of it. I took a nap after the meal, a group young Americans/Brits sat next to me and they were annoyingly loud, they left after lunch good thing, When I woke up Fred a nice Scottish man asked me if he could get a lift to town with us tomorrow as one of the guys from his jeep returns to town, Federico an Italian dude, who just arrived today wanted to organize in town longer trips, I gave him some tips where to go on a short 5 days he have. Then I walked around again towards the mucky lagoon, I chased some crabs and ended up getting stuck in the mud.

I came back to claim my tent, same price whether you have your own or to use theirs, I was lazy to set mine up so I waited for them to put up one for me. Ali yelled at the caretakers when the tent was not ready yet when I got back, everyone is busy chewing qat, big balls in their cheeks made it obvious, they slacked a bit. I was still full from lunch so I begged off on dinner and had snacks instead. the wind picked up and it was quite gusty they put rocks to hold my tent on the pegs. A big group of Yemeni tourists came, as I was walking the lagoon the elder gentleman asked me where I was going and if I have a permit to walk around I shouted but of course and he burst out laughing. In the mainland we need permits out of Sana'a if not you get turned back at check points. the walked to the beach for sunset fotos was worth it, great colors and shades, locals play soccer on the other end of the beach near the hill to get up the panoramic viewpoint.This is the 1st time that a camp is so crowded with people, Qalansiah is the most popular spot here so everyone stays here the night.


DAY 9:

Though windy I slept pretty well. Got up early to see the sunrise and already people are walking around having the same idea as me, padlocked my tent and started walking in the direction of the beach soft light bathe the beach and Detwah lagoon which is still at high tide, crabs are already busy running around, Walked slowly to the top of the hill viewpoint and sat there at the top for couple hours taking enormous amount of fotos of the most famous beach in Socotra and for me the most beautiful in the world. When I got tired of the scenery I made my way towards the Detwah lagoon, the tide is receeding so I tried to get close to the crabs and birds and what not by wading through it and got stuck in mud, sand and muck, took me ages to get out of it and into solid sand, the exercise took it's toll on me and was exhausted, I have to go around and avoid the rest of the lagoon to get back to camp and have breakfast, damn, by then already almost 10am, no dinner the night before so am really famished.

Sat in the hut and I got served breakfast of the usual fare of flatbread, honey, laughing cow cheese and marmalade and of course the cardamom tea. I had an interesting conversation with Fred the Scottish guy who works for a big oil company in Sana'a. He related to me his life in Yemen, quite interesting and he said there is a lot of expats he mingles with mostly at the British club or something. Power outtage is common in Yemen and they are not allowed legally to drive in the country so they must have drivers provided by their company. They are trying to Yemenize the oil industry here but will take years of training. He kindly offered his pad for me to crash when I get back to Sana'a but I already committed to Josh to share a room in Golden Dar hotel. We decided to go for a last swim before heading back to Hadibou.

The beach is deserted, just me and him and the colors are just amazing, I could not believe how pretty this place is and yet not crowded at all, where were all the gringos from the night before, I later found out they all went by boat to Sho'ab, another great beach place but expensive to go by boat, maybe another time when I come back here. Fred went back to camp while I walked up the hill to yet again make fotos. Walking back is difficult as the sun was quite strong, the hut was crowded when I get back, there was a group of American expats and from what I can hear of their conversations they are from the American embassy. We got served lunch of fried fish, I got heaps with rice! Good for 3 people really, but I finished the whole lot! Whiling away the time Fred's driver turned up with new passengers so he really has to take a ride with us.

Settled the bill, $5 for camping and $7 for every meal, breakfast is $4. The ride back was smooth and we did not stop for fotos, I fell asleep and woke up when we neared Hadibou, we tried to get to a bank to change money but they are all shut, we dropped Fred off at Taj Socotra hotel in town then me at the Botanical garden campsite. I reminded Ali tons that my flight is on Monday so he will remember to pick me up for the airport. Ahmed was happy to see me and he said some person from the British embassy was there for lunch and some officials from Yemen mainland. Got the same room as before and we planned on what we will do tomorrow. Ahmed wanted to show me the Botanical garden so we went across the road and lo and behold Fred turned up with his suitcase and all, some confusion as to where he will be staying, now his guide put him up at my camp as well. We both did the tour of the garden, beautiful, well maintained and care for by Ahmed, he showed us the nurseries of dragon blood trees, bottle trees and 7 different specie of frankincense and also myrrh plants, among other things.

Ahmed has a mission he wanted to replant all the seedlings of dragon blood trees back to the wild but has no funding, you need to water them consistently and keep an eye on them for the next 5 years until they get deeper roots and even goats cant kill them by then. I feel for him but I have no money only volunteering is what I can offer him. So if anyone is interested..
Dinner was heavy again, 3 Frenchies arrived, young dudes working in Hadramout, here on holiday as it is Eid they have a break. They want to shar a big room to save money and Ahmed find it weird, I have to explain to him how backpackers travel..
I went to bed and the frenchies were just about to have dinner which annoyed Ahmed, mumbling how Europeans always eat late.
Slept well again, and woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, another day in Paradise, actually the last for me.

DAY 10:

As promised Ahmed after breakfast took me for a walk to see the old British airport and maybe see the body of an old fighter plane. It's a long hot walk and we did not see no plane, he suspects they locals have torn it apart to sell as scraps, he mumbles about how since the Sana'a people opened business in Hadibou, they buy anything, scraps and all. We decided to walk to the dry wadi again and maybe we can find scraps of the plane no luck but I saw the dry wadi and how it normally is full at this time of the year, the drought is really bad says Ahmed, people are crying because goats are dying and they have nothing to eat. we walked in the dry wadi and into the small village where there was a ruin of a British church and apparently there is a tunnel under that village built by the Brits, unfortunately we can't go there for some reason.

I saw the project that the Frenchies started here, helping the community plant their veggie patch and be self sufficient and maybe add more veggies to their diets, I saw a malunggay tree! Only Filipinos can relate to me on that, I wonder where they got them from though. Beans, eggplants, watermelons, okras, sweet potatoes, all planted here, very lush. Walking back to camp Ahmed saw some dudes in a truck he stopped them and talked to them, then he explained these guys have something in their village that I might be interested, back in the camp he explained that in the village of Dalisha, where I camped my 1st night, there are tablets that has ancient writings they are keeping it there but he wasnt sure if it was true cause he has not seen it himself.

We have to go to town first to change some money so we hopped on his old clunky truck donated by the Japanese ambassador, his son has to push it to jump start, i have to pay for gas which is only $5, the truck is falling apart and I have to hold on to dear life fearing the door might just sling open any moment. We stopped at the gas station and we tried to chnage money there but bad rate and they wanted $15 commission! loco! Meanwhile Japanese tourists in a jeep arrived and started taking fotos of anything moving! We drove on to town and was difficult to find changers, we found one with $5 commission but better rate so i agreed, we went to the man's place and he gave me the money. Then off to Dalisha, locals hitch hiking everywhere, no good transport here in the island, occasional collectivos but since it's Eid, quite difficult to come by.

At the town of Dalisha an old man lead me to the ancient tablets, hollow block walls surrounded it which they made themselves to protect the tablets, It was covered in dry palm leaves. Soon as he cleared it I saw 4 tablets I think 2 were coral tablets and the others could be limestone, not sure, a couple of tablets were already fading, but 2 were in excellent conditions, one, the coral tablet has red colors really in excellent condition, I was impressed, scientists and specialists could not make out which people wrote these they cant interpret it, they have not seen anything like it in the world(apparently), to me they look like Sanskrit writings as from what I read, Indians first settled here after Christ and then the Greeks, whoever left them here, they must have lived here or were merchants. Later Ahmed told me the old man said he found them exactly where they are now, he dug them out of the sand and erected a wall to protect them, but needs funding to better preserve them, i.e build a roof to protect it from the elements. Really cool find! meanwhile the kids again followed me wherever I go.

back at the camp we got ready to go crabbing in the mangroves, lots of holes, burrows makes for gazzilion land crabs! We met a bunch of young fellas chewing qat in the palm studded mangroves, we brought a digging instrument we look odd to them but never asked questions as they were high on qat anyway. We immediately saw heaps and started digging, chasing the crabs, i opted to just gather the claws as the crabs are quite muddy inside so I'd rather have just the claws, so hard to catch them, we did this for couple hours until sundown and was rewarded with a number of claws, that is dinner for me folks.

The cook prepared the meal for me, great dinner especially if you catched them yourselves, well with the help of Ahmed, he did most of the work, i just took fotos and poke some holes every now and then. That night it rained again but did not really care now as it is my last night in paradise tomorrow I fly back to Sana'a. Showered in the morning sun poking from the clouds, had breakfast, Ali was here early, he took me to the airport, Ahmed went as well to pick up a tourist he will guide in the mountains, unfortunately i did not get to say goodbye properly to him I thought we'd meet again at the airport but I need to check in right away. I will definitely go back here again, such a fantastic place!

TIPS ON SOCOTRA:

-Felix Airways RT to Sana'a costs me $231, I heard Yemenia is cheaper by $80 at least!

- arranged my program with Ziad of Ziad tours prior to arriving, good guy very reliable

info below:

P.O.Box: 5791, Sana'a - Republic of Yemen
E-Mail: [e-mail]

E-Mail: [e-mail]
Mobile: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Skype: ziad.tours

Web: ziadtours.com

**did a 10 day Socotra trip, jeep hire costs $60/day(max 3 people in the jeep), was alone so more costly(NOTE: apparently you can just turn up at the airport and haggle with drivers and lowest quote is $50, but on peak months if you dont find a suitable driver you may have to wait a bit and may cost you a few days hanging around in dirty Hadibou)

** allot $10/day for meals which you either buy supplies in Hadibou, some drivers provide cooking equipments so better check or eat at campsites(average prices for meals at camps is $6 and its a huge meal)

**best to bring your own tent, sleeping bag and mat, you can rent also in town , Protected area campsites provide it to use only in their camps

**bring torch, snacks, sunscreen, snorkel gear if you have, toilet paper, lots of memory cards as you will take heaps of photos


** buy lots of water in Hadibou, as you get further out it gets a bit difficult to find stores to buy them


** free camping is possible everywhere except a few protected areas namely, Qalansiah and Homhil areas, the rest you can camp in beaches, campsite fee in protected areas is ($5) and you cant cook so you have to buy meals from them or bring your own snacks

** bring cup a soup or 2 minute noodles things as you will get sick of fish after awhile! they cook it either fried or simply char grilled


** remember don't litter this place is a paradise, don't add to heaps of trash you already see

** when you start or end your trip in Hadibou the main town, try not to stay within the town its dirty, there is a cheap eco lodge place and you pay ($5/night), friendly family run, speaks English,good food though you dont have to eat there , you cant cook either but you can bring your on supplies I guess, sandwiches and snacks, at the moment still unnamed but tell your driver to take you to the Botanical garden and look for Ahamed or say eco lodge, they should know it, its just in front of the beach

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Photos

Di Hamri
slugs for breakfast

Di Hamri
oysters for breakfast!

Hadibou
Ahamed and the huge claw