Socotra a and Socotra h

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Socotra a

   At the western tip of Socotra, near the fishing village of Qalansiyah, the island ends in a lagoon of almost unreal beauty. Detwah lagoon is a shallow basin of white sand and turquoise water, enclosed by dunes and limestone headlands, where fishermen pull up their boats on the beach and dolphins sometimes swim in the bay beyond. Socotra lies in the Arabian Sea, about three hundred and fifty kilometres off the coast of Yemen and closer to the Horn of Africa, and it has been isolated for so long that a large share of its plants and animals exist nowhere else on earth. UNESCO listed the archipelago in 2008 for its extraordinary biodiversity.

   Read the complete Socotra a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Socotra a is where the day begins. Next is Socotra c.

2. 2. Socotra c

   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.

   Read the complete Socotra c write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Socotra c comes up 70 km in. Next is Socotra h.

3. 3. Socotra h

   Socotra looks like the set of a science fiction film. On this island in the Arabian Sea, about three hundred and fifty kilometres off the coast of Yemen, the dragon's blood tree spreads its branches like an umbrella turned inside out, desert roses swell from the rocks with fat, bottle-shaped trunks, and frankincense trees cling to the cliffs. Around a third of the plant species here exist nowhere else on Earth, the result of millions of years of isolation, and the archipelago became a World Heritage site in 2008.

   Read the complete Socotra h write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   141 km in you reach Socotra h. Next is back through Socotra c.

4. 4. back through Socotra c

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Socotra c write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Socotra c, late in the day. Next is Socotra a.

5. 5. Socotra a

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Socotra a write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Socotra a. That is the ride.