Socotra, Fourth and Final

And now for the last installment in our serial....Sheikh Isa's village! We took a leisurely drive up a mountain and down the Wadi Dhiaho, through the Dragon's Blood Forest (names don't come much cooler than that) and abreast an amazing canyon. Here are some shots from the drive.























































When we arrived in the village, the Sheikh, who reigns over all the villages in the Wadi (about 400 people in total) gave us a hearty welcome and prepared a feast of goat for us in the shade of a large tree. This was a very special honour as it was during Ramadan and he had cooked a meal for us during the time of fasting. He spoke very limited English but his nephew was a good translator. The goat was boiled and then seared on the fire and they didn't waste one bit. The ears, skull, brain, eyes and eye-sockets were served as appetizers and then came the main course of the meat and rice. I was able to avoid gnawing on bones and brain by pleading sickness, as even the smell was making me feel a bit naseous. Sean had an eye socket (eyelid still attached) and a very rubbery ear. The socket was not bad but he could live without eating another ear.

In the evening Sheik Isa insisted that I have some bread and honey (he was very concerned that I hadn’t eaten anything all day). The honey was from bees pollinating the dragon's blood trees; it was rich and deep red; I ate a little of it, much to his delight. In the eyes of a Yemeni, honey can heal absolutely anything.

We stayed the night in a one-room stone “guest house”; this was the view from our door in the morning - all saddled up and ready to go.

Tanya and I took the first shift on them to the base of the mountain. Unfortunately, after about five minutes of climbing I realized that I wouldn’t be able to make it up the mountain let alone complete the six hour hike/ride to follow - my sickness wasn't letting up any. Sean accompanied me back to the village thereby sacrificing his chance to ride a camel.

The Sheik and his family were convinced that my sickness was due to pregnancy (it wasn't) and so it was with knowing smiles that they very happily watched me lose all the honey I’d consumed the day before. We traveled back to our hotel and returned to Mukalla two days early, but this was no great loss
as we'd packed so many things into our first few days on the island.

We are now comfortably back into the swing of teaching, about which we will soon post just to prove to you that we work.