Socotra ; A Hidden Planet With In Our Planet

We invest billions and billions on space exploration where as there are places in our own planet , planet earth that seems to be from another planet , another from world and Socotra is among these places.

The first time I read and know about Socotra , the small Yemeni island or rather archipelago was in the top 10 strangest places in the world at “Creative World” blog and since then I began to search and read more about Socotra till it has become among my top 10 places I want to visit in the Arab world.

From Wadi Diksam by Alistar Lyon

Socotra seems to be like that island of hit TV series “Lost” , in fact it looks more mysterious with its trees and plants that look as if there were from faraway planet  or its famous Halah cave or its beautiful beaches. UNESCO declared this wonderful place an a world natural heritage site
I think it is a bless of God that archipelago was forgotten due to political reasons in the area by tourism companies.
During my search I found out that this huge beautiful land also produces something very ugly : The Socotra poison which is extracted from its plants , I have read and heard about this poison before but I did not know where it came from , I thought it was its name. This deadly poison was often used in secret services’ assassinations in the past century 
To read more about the hidden planet in a plant especially the conditions of its people , that mix of Yemeni and Somali ethnics I recommend that you read this blog “ Stories from Socotra”
Photos from amazing Socotra : 

By Diana DRZ

By Martin Sojka

By Osama El-Eryani

By Jan Vandorpe

By Sallam

The Socotra mega slide show

A little video from there

Socotra - The Lost Island by Jillise

Links :

• Socotra Native flora Flickr Group

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Yemen,Socotra,islands,archipelago,World,Nature,Envirnoment,Mideast,Middle East,Indian Ocean,Somalia,Red Sea