The dragon's blood tree looks like an umbrella turned inside out, with a dense crown of branches spreading from a thick trunk, and it grows almost nowhere else on earth but the island of Socotra, in the Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia. Its red resin was traded in antiquity as a dye and medicine. Socotra has been isolated for millions of years, and about a third of its plant species are found nowhere else, including bottle trees with swollen trunks, desert roses and frankincense trees. UNESCO lists the archipelago for its extraordinary biodiversity.
Hadibu is the main town, on the northern coast, a dusty place of a few thousand people with a small harbour and a market. Behind it rise the granite peaks of the Hajhir mountains, and the plateaus of Homhil and Dixam, where the dragon's blood trees grow in forests, offer some of the strangest landscapes anywhere. The coast has white sand beaches, dunes and lagoons, and the sea is rich in fish and coral. The islanders speak Soqotri, a language related to ancient South Arabian tongues.
Riding here, honestly, is not something you can plan the usual way. Access to Socotra is limited to occasional flights and boats, and the island is affected by the wider conflict in Yemen, with political control shifting in recent years. Visitors typically come on organised tours with local guides and drivers, and bringing your own motorcycle is not realistic. The roads, where they exist, include a few paved routes along the coast and up to the plateaus, and many tracks of sand and rock. Monsoon winds blow hard from June to September, when access is particularly difficult.
In Hadibu, there are small shops, simple restaurants and a few guesthouses, and fuel is available, but supplies can be irregular. Food is simple: rice, fish, goat and dates, with sweet tea. Before even thinking of travelling, check official advice carefully, as the situation can change fast. If you do get there, stand among the dragon's blood trees on the Dixam plateau at sunset, with the wind blowing and the strange shapes silhouetted against the sky; it feels like another planet.