Socotra Day 1

The map below shows the areas that we explored on this day.

We boarded the direct Air Arabia flight to Socotra from Abu Dhabi at 6:00 a.m. on Monday, 18 April 2022. There is only one flight per week, going to and from the destination. Most visitors come for only one week, but we decided to stay for two weeks. This allowed us to explore Socotra at our leisure, and we had ample time to enjoy each of its beautiful sites fully.

The flight is ± 1.5 hours. The airport on Socotra is tiny. Looks more like a bus terminal. There is only one luggage carousel, which is approximately 10 meters long, so finding your bags was easy. Everything arrived in good shape. Our trek organizer, Adnan, was waiting for us. After a ± 20-minute ride, we arrived at our first hotel in Hadiboh. It seemed like the city was mostly under construction, and the streets were pretty much deserted. There were very few people on the roads, and almost everything appeared to be closed. It was a cloudy but hot day. The hotel we arrived at can be rated as one star (on a good day), which was somewhat expected. However, people were friendly and tried very hard to accommodate our needs, such as changing our room to one that had running water. There was no WiFi, and the tiny TV did not work, which was great because we wanted to be off the grid. Water in the straightforward shower (with only one tap working) is hot during the day, as the tank is located on the hotel's roof.

After some rest, we went for our first short trip to the beach. Bathing in the Arabian Sea was super lovely, and the scenery was terrific. We stayed there until the sun began to set.

After we returned to town, we went for a meal to what turned out to be our regular dining spot —a roadside restaurant featuring chicken or goat meat with noodles and some vegetables, as well as fresh-squeezed mango juice and water. The chicken was very crisp and tasty.

After the meal, we went to explore the city. After sunset (approximately 6 pm), the city comes alive, complete with open stores and services, and busy with people. A soccer game just finished at the local playground, and the excited crowd of men and boys spilled onto the streets. The busy life of the city begins here after sunset and continues at full steam until about 2 or 3 in the morning. Way past midnight, kids are playing various games, and everyone is very active. Jerodé and I played two games of pool. The boys were ecstatic as they had never seen a girl (or a woman) playing pool. Additionally, as an experienced player, she defeated me in the game. That was extraordinary for our spectators.

Out of respect for local traditions, Jenny and Jerodé had to wear a scarf covering their shoulders and neck. All local woman wear black burkas/hijab, and one can only see their busy eyes. Doing this is essential only in towns. At the beach, girls can wear bikinis with no problems. There is nobody there to watch you anyway...