Socotra holiday in Yemen
Description of Socotra holiday in Yemen
Socotra has been described as having some of the most alien landscapes on earth, perhaps most notably the famed dragon’s blood trees of Homhil, whose red sap is used by local people for everything from dying wool to toothpaste and lipstick. Our Socotra holiday in Yemen (weekly flights from Abu Dhabi take two hours) explores the island’s fascinating natural wonders, with ample opportunities to get a feel for local culture as well.
Highlights of this week-long tour include a day spent in the Ayhaft Canyon National Park, where you can hike trails, swim in freshwater pools, and keep an eye out for birdlife including vultures and buzzards. Other hikes might take you between the steep walls of the Dirhur Wadi, and up to Hoq Cave, with its spectacular limestone formations where tiny underground creatures dwell.
One day takes you to the small fishing community of Qalansiya where you’ll catch a boat out to the Detwah Lagoon to tour its mangroves – it’s not unknown to encounter pods of spinner dolphins en route. And in Dihamri Bay you can swim and snorkel over a coral reef where parrotfish, moray eels, turtles and rays are among the inhabitants.
Your base throughout this trip is a locally owned hotel in the tiny coastal town of Hadibu. Given the remoteness of this island in the Arabian Sea, Socotra doesn’t see a great deal of tourism, so a group tour such as this, hiring local guides and visiting local restaurants, can have a fantastic impact. You’ll take a short walking tour of the town, perhaps being invited into a traditional low-rise home to get a sense of urban living here, providing an interesting contrast to the natural landscapes you’ll admire elsewhere.
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Planet
We spend a significant proportion of this trip exploring the natural landscapes of Socotra, including its beaches, lagoons and caves. When visiting these areas on foot we take care to stick to the trails (where they exist!) and not to damage any of the flora, in order to preserve the unspoilt beauty of these places. We operate a strict no litter policy on our tours, including drivers, and ensure that any rubbish is taken back to the city in order to be disposed of properly. Socotra is also home to rare and endemic wildlife, and it is particularly important these are protected.Our travellers are specifically briefed on not to buy souvenirs made from endangered species – people in Socotra do not always have the same respect towards wildlife as most travellers will have, and can sometimes
offer such things for sale.
Travellers are fully briefed on how to behave while in sensitive ecological areas such as the shorelines and reefs surrounding Socotra, so that the endemic flora and fauna, much of which exists nowhere else, is not disturbed.
Our local partners are strongly involved with conservation in Socotra, and in helping to educate local people about the benefits of this. In addition, bringing tourism to these areas helps to show local people that there is economic benefit in maintaining wildlife populations, as we employ the services of local guides and rangers in the parks / reserves where appropriate.
People
On all of our tours we strive to include a strong focus on local communities and we are firm believers of tourism having the capacity to make a positive impact on the places visited. We stay at a locally-owned hotel in Hadibo and where appropriate employ the services of local people in order not only to gain a greater insight into the complex traditions here but to ensure that they gain financial benefit from our visit, rather than just being ‘exhibits’.We try to employ the services of local guides, from the areas that we visit; not only are they able to offer greater insights and a more intimate connection with the place, but this helps to ensure that some of the income generated by our visit filters back to local communities rather than just being funnelled to centralised institutions. This also helps to show local communities that there is a financial benefit for them in preserving the natural environment.
Some of the areas that we visit are quite traditional with certain codes of behaviour, and the people here are not that accustomed to outsiders. We ensure that our travellers are appropriately briefed in order so as not to offend local sensibilities.
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