Abd Alkuri c and Abd Alkuri a

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Abd Alkuri c

   Abd al Kuri is a small, dry, wind-scoured island in the far west of the Socotra archipelago, in the Arabian Sea, closer to the coast of Somalia than to the mainland of Yemen. There are no roads to speak of, and no real place to ride a motorcycle; you reach it only by boat, with permission and with local help, so this is a stop of the imagination for most travellers. The archipelago is listed by UNESCO for its extraordinary biodiversity, and the main island of Socotra, with its bottle trees and dragon's blood trees, draws the most attention. Abd al Kuri is the quieter sibling, with a flat limestone surface and a long, empty coast.

   Read the complete Abd Alkuri c write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Abd Alkuri c is where the day begins. Next is Abd Alkuri b.

2. 2. Abd Alkuri b

   Abd al Kuri is a barren, wind-scoured island that sits closer to the Horn of Africa than to Yemen, to which it belongs, one of the outlying members of the Socotra archipelago. The archipelago is a UNESCO natural site because it has an extraordinary number of plants, reptiles and birds found nowhere else, partly because the islands separated from the mainland millions of years ago. Abd al Kuri has its own endemic bird, the Abd al Kuri sparrow, and lizards and plants that evolved in isolation, and it is largely a limestone plateau with low scrub and dry watercourses. The village of Kilmia, on the coast, is a small fishing community.

   Read the complete Abd Alkuri b write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Abd Alkuri b comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Abd Alkuri a.

3. 3. Abd Alkuri a

   Socotra is the island everyone has heard of, with its dragon's blood trees and its upside-down umbrella shapes, but the archipelago has other members, and Abd al Kuri is the most western and the least visited. It lies about a hundred kilometres west of Socotra, closer to the Horn of Africa than to Yemen, and is a long, narrow slab of limestone and rock roughly thirty kilometres from end to end. Together with Socotra, Samha and Darsa, it forms a group that has been cut off from the mainland for millions of years, and that isolation has produced a remarkable number of species found nowhere else.

   Read the complete Abd Alkuri a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 48 km into the recorded legs you reach Abd Alkuri a. Next is back through Abd Alkuri b.

4. 4. back through Abd Alkuri b

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abd Alkuri b write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Abd Alkuri b, late in the day. Next is Abd Alkuri c.

5. 5. Abd Alkuri c

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Abd Alkuri c write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Abd Alkuri c. That is the ride.