Before I came to Socotra I didn’t know much about the mountains of the interior of the island, and thus made a mistake in assigning one day here. First and foremost I didn’t know it took so many hours to walk to the top, my understanding was that it was a mere 2 hour walk, but that was based on miscommunication. On the way up I passed so many wonders, and I wanted to spend hours at these breathtaking locations. The scenery and vegetation changes throughout the ascent. My guide continuously indicated the camp was very close, but he was intentionally doing so as he thought I would not want to go all the way as I only had one day. On the way up I passed at least 3 spots I wanted to camp, so with more days available I definitely would want that. If I return I would want at least 4 days here.
I quickly realized I had to cancel the last location on my itinerary, but how to do that with no mobile signal? One of the porters was sent down to the village to contact our driver, fetch some food and then return back to tell if it was possible.
After some tense hours he turned up confirming I could stay one more night, but he forgot the food, so we had one more day with half the rations we needed. But the joy of being able to stay here one more night was soulfood – all that I needed!
On the second day I was lying down on one of the boulders, and during this time I was in close contact with goings on of the roof of Socotra. One bird couple was looking for nesting materials an arms length away – returning regularly during the entire time I was on this boulder. I think their nest must have been very close. A raven was chasing Egyption vultures, the sounds and acrobatics of falcons and other birds of prey was around me almost all the time. I saw large butterflies gliding on the updrafts. And of course I heard the song of Skand – the birds!
To someone who has been here this photo will mean so much more than those just seeing a photo, but I hope you find some joy in it.
Last updated on 30 January 2022
