Socotra, the Island of Dolphins

The trip to Socotra came about almost as a game, from an argument among friends about which might be the most beautiful island in the world. So many destinations came up, but two, above all, vied for first place for their uniqueness: Fernando de Noronha, off the Brazilian coast, and Socotra, an island of Yemen in the Indian Ocean. As it happens, I had just returned from a trip to Brazil and Peru and, as it happens, I had spent a week on Fernando. I absolutely had to see with my own eyes the island that could compete with the beauty of the Brazilian island, for me a true paradise. And so I proposed to my travel companion a trip to the unknown Yemen, destination Socotra Island. We book the flight to Sana'a with Turkish and even manage to have a wander around splendid Istanbul; in the evening we fly to Sana'a and arrive in the middle of the night in the Yemeni capital.

We sort out the visa formalities and meet Mohammed, the owner of socotraguide, whom we had contacted via the internet through his website. The next day we visit the marvellous city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a magical place that projects us into a dimension without space or time, into an atmosphere of the Arabian Nights that awakens in us the desire to visit the rest of the country. But that will be for another time; we have to find out which is the most beautiful island in the world! From the plane window (by the way, sit in the row on the left as you board) the first impression was not the best. We are faced with an enormous island, a desert plateau with no vegetation, a landscape totally different from the lush, very green Brazilian island.

But we barely have time to exchange our opinions when suddenly, among the clouds, a turquoise gem set among the mountains and a very white beach appears before us: the Ditwah lagoon, one of the most beautiful spots on the island. The excitement grows and we can't wait to arrive. From the airport to Hadibu, the island's main centre, we made Mohammed stop at least ten times for the first photos of the villages, the mountains, the glimpses of turquoise sea, the incredibly shaped plants, the palm groves... Hadibu is not much to look at, so we quickly leave our luggage at the hotel and with the jeep reach the nearest beach, Delisha, where we take our first swim in the waves of the Arabian Sea.

The beach is full of corals and enormous shells (don't dare take them away..), we photograph the most beautiful ones and walk towards the very white sand dune that rests on the cliff..what a sight! We enjoy the first day at the beach and see a pod of dolphins passing in the distance. A good sign, it will surely be a wonderful holiday. The next day we set off on the island tour with the jeep loaded with food, water, the tents and even table, chairs and parasols that will prove very useful for avoiding sunburn that would have ruined the holiday.. in short, everything needed for a week of spartan life in contact with still unspoilt nature. The island's ecosystem is certainly very fragile; new resort-style constructions are taking shape right on the beach and the rush for tourist development could cause irreparable damage.

The small local eco-tourism agencies like ours are aware of the danger and fight so that tourism remains niche, for real travellers who are not looking for the comforts of a resort but prefer a tourism that is supportive of the local populations and in close contact with nature. The standard tour offered by the agency includes as its first stop the beach of Ahrar with its beautiful dunes and the freshwater stream that recalls a mountain landscape. We arrive towards Ras Ersel, the eastern tip of the island where the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean meet. Here Mohammed practically commandeered a boat belonging to fisherman friends of his to take us to see the dolphins up close, which, by the hundreds, performed acrobatics and pirouettes.

A spectacle never seen before! Night in a tent at Ahrar and in the morning a very early wake-up for the climb up the dune, exhausting...but the panorama you enjoy from up there more than repays all the effort. We throw ourselves headlong down towards the sea for a swim in the crystal-clear waters until we hear Mohammed shouting "quick quick, get your masks.." and he has us climb back onto the fishermen's boat. We reach a pod of dolphins and without a moment's thought we jump into the sea. Below us dozens of dolphins danced in the clear waters of the bay, so close that we could hear their song... the emotion was so strong that, back on the boat, we threw our arms around our guide's neck to thank him, forgetting that we were in an Islamic country where such displays of affection are definitely to be avoided.

Perhaps the fishermen, seeing our tears of joy, understood; Mohammed was certainly terribly embarrassed, poor thing.. We set off again towards the protected area of Dihamri where we snorkel among hundreds of colourful fish, corals never seen before, 2 turtles, a yellow-spotted moray eel and even a large manta ray. We enjoy a beautiful sunset and spend the night in the campsite after a dinner of fish, rice, vegetables and excellent Arab bread. In the morning an early wake-up, another snorkelling session to say goodbye to our turtle friends, and we set off for Homil where we walk among hundreds of incense trees, bottle trees and dragon's blood trees and descend towards the natural pools where we swim surrounded by a natural environment truly unique in the world.

We have lunch under an enormous tree shaped like an upturned umbrella, the dragon blood tree, the symbol of the island because it is endemic, and listen to the legends about the origin of its name that the guide tells us. In the evening we arrive at Qualansya where another beautiful sunset awaits us. We sleep in the campsite of the protected area of the Ditwah Lagoon, and in the morning the jeep takes us to a panoramic spot from which we enjoy an incredible view of the lagoon. The turquoise set between sea and mountains that we had seen from the plane here takes on its best shape and colours, hard to describe in words. It is precisely here, in front of this spectacular view and after a brief, emotional consultation, that we decree that..yes, the island of Socotra is the most beautiful island in the world.

Its uniqueness lies not only in the beauty of nature, but also in its variety of landscapes, ranging from very white deserted beaches to mountains reaching 1500 metres, deep canyons, desert, caves, waterfalls, and villages of shepherds lost in the middle of nowhere.. It is an island that reveals itself little by little, that unveils every day a part of itself so different, so moving, so unique.

The days that follow confirm the uniqueness of this pearl in the Indian Ocean: the boat trip to Shoab beach, again accompanied by hundreds of dolphins; the Diksam Plateau with the forest of dragon's blood trees, there are said to be 6 million of them, some thousands of years old; the very long turtle beach and Omak beach on the Indian Ocean where you walk for hours without meeting anyone; the swims in the natural pools set in deep canyons where bottle trees cling, splendid during their pink flowering; the white desert, the caves, the curious children.. and the dolphins.. the friends who accompanied us at all our stages on the sea. A pity we weren't able to visit the other islands of the archipelago and so many other places unknown to most tourists who, like us, stay on the island for only 10 days. The island is certainly worth a second trip and we are already agreed