Socotra is like Jurassic Park.
Socotra is a Yemeni-owned island located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia. It is one of the world’s most isolated islands of continental (non-volcanic) origin; it separated from Africa about 6 million years ago.
The long isolation of Socotra and intense heat and drought, hurricane seasonal monsoons from May to September, noticeable climate softening in the winter months, as well as special climatic conditions in mountainous regions have formed a unique flora and fauna on the island. For this reason, Socotra is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The main threat to Socotra’s nature is represented by alien species, climate change, and anthropogenic impact (it is known that goats eat young shoots of bottle trees and the dragon tree, which harms the endemics of Socotra).
The symbol of Socotra is Dracaena cinnabari (Dragon tree), which looks like a huge mushroom or umbrella. From the bark of this tree, when cut, red sap begins to flow, which quickly solidifies. Since ancient times, local residents have used the resulting crimson gum for medical, veterinary, and cosmetic purposes. Locals say that the juice of Dracaena cinnabari can stop bleeding during menstruation in women.
To watch more videos about this incredible place, you may visit my Instagram. Most of all, I liked the kilometer-long dunes on the shores of the azure Indian Ocean, puffer fish, and bottle trees blooming like sakura.
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My journey as a photographer began at the age of 14 when I started learning photo editing software and making collages on my own. At 16 I got my first camera and I couldn’t stop shooting. I’ve been shooting for 18 years.
The trance I go into when I create, besides other stuff, is probably the main thing that makes me interested in photography.
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A friend showed me the island and at the same time, we were invited there by a local travel company. You can only get there with a package tour, since tickets for charters from Abu Dhabi can only be bought from Socotra Island, and the plane flies only once a week. And at the airport on this day, there was a real stir from the inhabitants of the island – they come to look at the tourists standing in line for registration.
No, there were no difficulties. There was one episode with a trip from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, it was April 2021, and strange coronavirus restrictions caught up with us. We traveled from one emirate to another in our GPS bracelets. Like prisoners so that they don’t run out of the taxi into the street, apparently. But they were removed at the airport, and we flew to Socotra. On Socotra, they also did tests using blood sampling.
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The most challenging part of shooting and the only difficulty there was the lack of electricity. The island is wild, and you can only live in a tent, so we tried to keep mobile and cameras charged. Well, it’s hot, but it’s hot in a lot of places in the world. And, I also recommend that you always close the tent, on the island, in addition to scorpions, there are harmful goats that eat just everything. Including endemic trees – Dragon trees and Bottle trees.
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What fascinated me the most about the island were small bottle trees and huge white kilometer dunes. From May to October, hurricane-force winds blow on Socotra, blowing these mountains of sand from the deserts of Africa. Unique place. And of course the Dragon’s trees with red blood instead of juice.
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I always have many projects in parallel, and they are again about the beauty and uniqueness of our world. About the fact that the world is more magnificent than everyone can photograph it!
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