Waiting in line at Sanaa International Airport, getting ready to check in for my flight to Socotra island, I noticed the little girl in the picture playing with something in that box.
Carry-on kids? Inside that Pall Mall box happened to be a baby.
Naturally, the child’s mother was a tattoo broad…
As shown by the man puffing in the bottom half of the picture, the “NO SMOKING” signs are just a suggestion at SAH.
Guards at Socotra Airport
Socotra veggies
It appears that when boats get washed up on Socotra’s shore, they’re just left there to rot.
Rest in pieces, Al Safir
Socotra resident
Sunset
Some peeps campin’ on the beach – looks like a professional car ad, doesn’t it?
Sometimes being on Socotra made me feel like I was on another planet
Local tree by night
My non-English speaking driver cautiously eyeing a pack of goats while sipping his morning “chai,” or tea, at breakfast.
Socotra landscapes are legen… – wait for it, wait for it – …dary. Legendary.
Bird native to Socotra
Local man taking a morning rest
Flag of Socotra painted on a shoreline boulder
The road leading to Diksam Plateau, home of the otherworldly “Dragon’s Blood” and “Cucumber” trees.
“MOCK…Yeah!…ING…Yeah!…BIRD…Yeah!” On the way to Diksam, we picked up some hitchhikers. When I went to take this photo, the woman on the left ducked down in panic out of the shot. Women in Yemen really didn’t like to be photographed.
Hitchhiker boy
Up ahead on the right are a couple of the first Dragon’s Blood trees I saw on the island
One of the ubiquitous island goats posing for me in front of a pond
Now we’re fully immersed in Dragon’s Blood territory
Bunch of goats seeking shelter in the shade of a DB tree
Sweet
This is what a Dragon’s Blood tree looks like when dead
My driver, Mohammed
Think I could walk a tightrope across that valley?
The underside of a Dragon’s Blood tree
View of the valley from a shady spot – out of the unforgiving rays of the Indian Ocean sun
Mohammed, the driver, chillin’ out
SUCK IT! Dragon’s Blood tree!!!
Mohammed doin’ a SUCK IT!!!
The oh-so-bizarre cucumber trees
Trifecta
The hike through this valley led to a natural swimming pool
A cucumber tree in front of the aforementioned natural swimming pool
Mohammed stayin’ cool
Green river
View of above from where I decided to lay down after lunch
Another one of those local birds
Kids selling spices
Carpenter dudes
Kids playin’ soccer
One of my favorite parts about Yemen were the over-packed truckbeds containing 10+ Yemenis as they sped down mountainous highways at dangerously high speeds.
Shell of a station wagon ditched on the side of the road
Mosque
Front door of someone’s house featuring a Dragon’s Blood Tree and an Islamic crescent moon
Socotra Bro #1
Socotra Bro #2
Mountains as seen during my pre-dinner hike
Very few Socotra natives spoke English but despite the language barrier, these guys made me laugh – especially the goofball on the right.
Socotra girls, pre-hijab age
Couple dudes hangin’ outside a shop who greeted me warmly and gave me a free chocolate bar
Dude I met towards the end of my hike who offered to drive me back to my hotel.
Getting into a car with stranger Arabs in a country known for kidnapping wasn’t the best idea, but this dude took me exactly where I needed to be.
Third and final day on Socotra. The road that leads to Qalansiyah, an area of the island famous for its pristine beaches
Qalansiyah to my right
Qalansiyah to my left
Seafaring bro
Fisherman in training
Boatsmen
The captain of my boat chatting it up on a cell phone…
…and his co-captain.
Heading on our way to a secluded beach, a ride that’d take about an hour each way
Am I crazy or does this look like the arm and hand of some giant, mythical rock creature giving the thumbs up?
A flock of seagulls
This scenery made me rock hard
Clearest water I’ve ever seen
Docking the boat on a beach to ourselves…time to get gay?
Where the swimsuit models at?
I got crabs…
“Hey, SUCK IT! all you people on helicopters and airplanes!!”
A school of dolphins…unfortunately didn’t see Dan Marino – laces out, Dan!
Back to the village from where we’d set sail
Kids playin’ on a boat
Beach babes
Boat bros
After I ate lunch, this goat wandered up and started eating one Kleenex after another from this box.
Then, a second one came up and they started fighting over the delicious Kleenex.
MMMMM!!! Kleenex is so good!
So, yeah, next thing ya know, ten goats have completely surrounded me and are all feasting down on this gourmet box of Kleenex. It was totally bizarre.
Socotra really was a beautiful island. This and the next two pictures were all taken from the same vantage point. This is a view to my right.
View inland
View to my left
Somebody’s home?
Two kids?
Fuzzy haired kids playing on the side of the road
One last SUCK IT! from Mohammed
To me, this tree looked like three witches leaning back and laughing – perhaps I’d been chewing too much qaat for my own good…
