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Archive for the 'Yemen' Category

Socotra Day Two

November 22nd, 2010 | Category: Socotra,Yemen
27th October 2010
I was up at ten to five which was perfect as the sun rose 15 minutes later over the ocean. I’d taken my pen and pad down to the beach and wrote a few pages before the sun got too hot and I returned for breakfast.

Sunset over Omag Beach

Cheese, honey, jam and bread. Yemeni honey is as sweet and delicious as its reputation

Camel and crab tracks

Soon we were packed up and on our way eastward along the southern coast to Dagob Cave, a huge cave in the cliff in which a family lives and raises sheep. Apart from the overpowering stench of guano, it seemed very agreeable. And their noses probably packed up generations ago.

Medicinal plants on the coastal plain

Cave from a distance

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Socotra Day One

November 14th, 2010 | Category: Socotra,Yemen
26th October 2010

It’s early morning on my first full day in Socotra and I’m sitting on the crest of a sand dune watching the waves roll in on a long sandy beach.

Sunrise at Omag Beach, Socotra, Yemen

Sandstone and limestone cliffs like those throughout the Middle East run behind the beach into the horizon. Unlike those other cliffs, these are alive with life from the recent rains.

More Sunrise at Omag Beach, Socotra, Yemen

That’s the scene set, now for the journey. The flight from Sana’a was uneventful. Passed over the terraced mountain farms where qat and occasionally food is grown.
Then down across the Arabian Sea until Socotra came into view. the first sight is of the cloud-shrouded mountains, then the coastal plain.
I caught sight of what looked like a huge lagoon behind an enclosing sand bar. Ameer, who we’ll meet soon, tells me we’ll be visiting there later.
Banking steeply, we descend heading back towards the sea and land at the charmingly ramshackle Socotra International Airport.
It’s at the airport that I meet Ameer, my Socotri guide for the coming days, and wait by an amusing baggage carousel which is actually just a conveyor belt. If you don’t get your bag in time it is unceremoniously dumped in a pile on the floor.
Bag secured, we head out to the carpark and meet Salim the driver and all get into a flash newish Landcruiser which is to be my base for the trip. Ibn Battuta I ain’t.
We immediately start up into the hills behind the airport and onto the plateau above. It isn’t long before I spot my first Dragon’s Blood Tree, lifting it’s umbrella like canopy above the scrub.

Dragon's Blood Tree above wadi Dirhur, Socotra, Yemen

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Sana’a, pearl of the Middle East

October 26th, 2010 | Category: Yemen

or so my tour guide tells me. It is a pretty special city and I’m sitting here stuffing my face with mezza, samboush and an exquisitely marinated mixed grill of goat and chicken, while uploading today’s photos. Another lazy gallery

Contrary to expectations, internet here is fine so at least the beginning and end of my Yemen stay will see me well connected.

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Off to Yemen tonight

October 25th, 2010 | Category: Egypt,Yemen

No pictures today sorry, Last night I flew up to Cairo from Lilongwe via Nairobia (Kenya), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and Khartoum (Sudan). Tonight I fly to Dubai via Doha and tomorrow morning I fly to Sana’a in Yemen where I’ll be until early November before flying home via NZ. I have no idea about the state of internet in Yemen, but I imagine it’s not great, particularly from Socotra.

Never fear though, I’ll be taking lots of photos and will scribble a few notes while I’m there so in a week or so there should be something more up here.

I’m glad I got all that camping in while in Malawi as it will stand me in good stead for all the camping on remote beaches I’ll be doing next week. It’s going to be hard returning home after all this adventure but it will be good to see everyone again.

See you from the other side…

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