Many ancient legends (some more dubious than others) reference Socotra:
- An ancient Egyptian tale dated to 2200 BC describes a shipwreck on an island believed to be Socotra, where a 30 cubit talking snake welcomes the lone survivor to the "isle of the blest"
- Socotrans in the first millennium claimed that their ancestors were baptized by St. Thomas the Apostle while he was shipwrecked on Socotra in the first century AD. His wrecked ship was used to build a long-gone church
- Marco Polo wrote of his visit to Socotra, accusing the locals of using witchcraft to control the winds against him
- In The Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor landed on Socotra, where his ship was attacked by giant boulder-dropping birds-of-prey
- The Phoenicians believed that their phoenix nested on Socotra
- Aristotle allegedly advised Alexander the Great to colonize Socotra to secure its aloe supply
Over recorded history, Socotra was controlled by Greece, Egypt, the Mahra Sultanate, Portugul, Britain, South Yemen and [Unified] Yemen. Most historical accounts of the islands describe Socotra as a paradise on earth; its name is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit for "isle of bliss." However storied its past, though, Socotra at present is really only a paradise if you don't care much for electricity, edible food or temperatures below 110 degrees.
I stayed in Dihamri, at the lovely hotel pictured at right. I received many wonderful four-legged and winged guests each night. While it wasn't very cool to wake up to a goat eating your blanket, I loved being able to walk out of bed into one of the most amazing reefs I've seen. Underwater photos to come soon!The diving and snorkeling in Socotra was great. Sharks thrive in the warm water, but they're sharks of the awesome variety, not the eat-you kinds you see further south.
The mountains on the biggest island are full of really cool caves to spelunk, and covered with the famous Dragon's Blood trees. Down by the water, there are entirely surfable waves and several sea turtle nesting sites to the west and good fishing spots to the east. All of this recreational stuff will draw very curious looks from the locals.
