Separated from the world six million years ago, Socotra is one of those “lost world” islands where undaunted travelers seeking exotic nature and wildlife. Socotra is a secluded island and through the process of formation of new and distinct species, a third type of plant life is found here and nowhere else on the planet.
It’s the world’s tenth richest island for endemic plant species, known for decades as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean. The unique and spectacular endemic flora is formed by the combination of isolation of Socotra’s group of Islands and their savage heat and dryness.
One of the most remarkable of Socotra’s herbs is the dragon’s blood tree or Dracaena cinnabari in the original language, which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree in the picture above.
At a time it was fearsome, with dangerous shoals, ferocious storms for sailors and residents who were believed to control winds and turn ships toward shore for capture and plunder.
Socotra is still relatively pristine and one of the last places on Earth where we can actually still protect a unique island environment, where we can still do something positive before it’s too late.
