Located between the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, socotra mentioned by David is the largest island in the Arabian Peninsula, with a total area of 3,769 square kilometers (including five affiliated islands). Because its name means "Blissful Island" in Sanskrit, it is called "Suhadala". In 2008, UNESCO said: Suodao was born in Gondwana supercontinent period (360 million years ago), separated from the African plate about 65.438+0.8 million years ago and was pushed to the Arabian Sea bit by bit in the plate movement. The main island is 240 kilometers away from Somalia in Africa and about 380 kilometers away from Yemen.
Due to long-term isolation, coupled with hot climate, hurricanes and sparsely populated factors, Suodao can still properly preserve a large number of biological species tens of millions of years ago, including dragon blood tree, bottle tree, giant succulent tree, cucumber tree and so on. Once sought after by the Roman and Egyptian royal families as something more valuable than gold, they fought for the island.
From 65438 to 0992, the United Nations sent a team of biologists to Stéphanie Sokolinsk Island for a two-year systematic investigation, and finally counted more than 700 unique species that did not appear in other parts of the earth, namely, 37% plants, 90% reptiles and 95% snails. In 2004, it was once again confirmed that 22 species of birds on the island 192 are unique, in addition to 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of offshore fish, 300 species of shrimps and crabs and other rich species.
The United Nations initially considered establishing a separate species reserve on the island. However, due to external factors such as the increasingly severe situation in the Middle East and the rampant piracy in Somalia, species on the island have been destroyed on a large scale. At present, 33 species are endangered, and 6 of them have been upgraded to extremely endangered.
Therefore, after being listed on the World Heritage List in 2008, the safety level of Suodao was upgraded to "IV", that is, any alien species were prohibited from flowing in, including fresh, plants, fruits, seeds and even vacuum-packed food. What's even more outrageous is that you have to apply for a pass in advance to fly to Suo Island in Yemen. If your passport has entry stamps for Israel and Jordan, it is likely to be refused.
I wanted to give up, but with the strong encouragement of the tour guide, I decided to give it a try. In order to increase the pass rate, I chose a local travel agency. Fortunately, this 100 dollar is well spent. After waiting for three days, I received a confirmation email. Before leaving, the travel agency called to remind me to change cash and bring emergency medicine. There is no ATM on the island, so you can't buy antidiarrheal and analgesic drugs.
On the plane, the tour guide briefly introduced the existing population and ethnic information: Suodao was upgraded to a provincial administrative unit in 20 13, and its capital is Hadib in the north. According to official statistics, the island has 60,000 permanent residents, but the actual number is less than 30,000. Most of them live in three cities on the main island, and most of them are indigenous people with unique ancestry. In 2009, it was confirmed as a rare Y chromosome DNA haplotype (unique genetic variation characteristics) in the world.
However, the reality of Hadib is so broken that I am dumbfounded: there are no tall buildings on the island, perhaps because of frequent hurricanes, but it can't be as broken as a remote mountain village. Every passing car can bring up a "road sandstorm", which is extremely disproportionate to its reputation as "Elysium Island".
The tour guide said that the reason for the dilapidated buildings in downtown Hardyber was related to the weather. Wet sea breeze and sunlight can easily crack the walls. There are no high-end hotels on the island. In order to distinguish the family hotel from the residential building, you can paint the outer wall white and follow the small white wall to find a place to stay. Although the hotel is very old, it is clean as a whole. There are no large power plants on the island, and the voltage of small diesel power plants can only barely drive window air conditioners. The TV can be watched during the day, but the electrical appliances can't be started at night.
Suodao infrastructure is definitely the worst world heritage I have ever been to. I have never seen decent buildings and roads around the city, and I am extremely lacking in public facilities and health awareness. There is only a small clinic in the huge capital, and there is no market or business circle. The city hall is full of plastic rubbish. Through the tour guide, I talked to a fruit stall owner and said that if no one cleans up the garbage, it will fly all over the sky every year in the hurricane season, and most of it will be blown to the Arabian Sea.
It only takes 10 minutes to walk from the city hall to the seaside. The only school on the island is near the sea. Judging from the number of children playing on the beach during recess, there are about fifty or sixty students. Seeing us with cameras and drones, the children immediately gathered around and made faces, looking quite happy.
Dinner in the hotel for two people, grilled fish, roasted wings, crabs, sea rainbow, plus a pot of potato stew rice, the external price is 20 yuan, tourists are 30% off, the cost performance is quite high, the only drawback is that there is no dining table and tableware, so you can only sit on the floor and have a good meal. It's really disgusting to see the owner's dark feet dangling in front of his eyes, so he has to do as the Romans do.
Although the infrastructure is backward, the sea water in Suodao is still very clear. After being listed as a World Heritage Site in 2008, Suodao ushered in a wave of tourism boom. However, with the continuous turmoil in Yemen and the Middle East, the tourism industry in Suodao has returned to its original shape. In 20 18, only 3000 foreign tourists were received, including many scientific research experts.
The tour guide turned out the guidebook and said that on 20 12, Suodao announced that "diving, littering and trawling are prohibited at 12 beach" and so on. Hadib, the capital, was first listed as a pilot project, but in reality the Yemeni government has no financial resources and strength to manage it, and islanders are even more afraid to expel them in order to retain a small number of tourists. As a result, the previous ban became a "travel guide", but tourists flocked to the places in the ban. This beach in front of us is one of the bans, but now there are small wooden boats serving tourists everywhere.
After breakfast, I went to the mountains to look for the legendary "tears of the Arabian Sea". The tour guide explained the history and allusions of Suodao all the way, from the stone culture to the Greek civilization in the period of 1 century, the Par Miao Lei (Syrian civilization) in the 3rd century, the Indian Bromi in the 6th century, the Ethiopian Expeditionary Force and the Orthodox Church at the end of the 9th century, with the emphasis on 16-65438+. Simply put, the cableway has been a battleground for military strategists at the peak of all ethnic groups since ancient times.
There are actually two so-called "tears in the Arabian Sea". One is a canyon backwater river discovered by French colonists on the highest peak of Suo Island, Daksum Mountain. It is said that the French colonists decided to colonize after discovering the Danshui River, which was named after being considered as the purest water source in the Arabian Sea after testing. The second is Daktan, overlooking the Arabian Sea. Legend has it that "Poseidon" witnessed a tearful heart of fishermen swept by hurricane waves. Locals think this is the real "tears of the Arabian Sea".
When I went down the mountain, I met two little brothers selling dragon blood corpses. They hold the "dragon blood" that emperors and nobles are crazy about. The local old man said that "dragon blood" is a tribute that only the emperor can enjoy. Its resin can be used as medicine to treat various diseases, and can also be used as a dye to make clothes and bedding, which can be accompanied by day and night, and can disperse and promote blood circulation, repel insects and avoid harm.
Because the growth cycle of Dracaena is extremely long, it can survive for thousands of years in the environment of high temperature, high humidity and high mineral soil, and it can be called "living fossil of plants". Only Cape Verde, Morocco, Madeira Islands and Canary Islands in the world can meet the above conditions. But unfortunately, even after improvement, the dragon's blood tree planted in these places can't reach the quality of the ropeway, because the older the dragon's blood tree is, the higher its efficacy and the higher its yield.
This creates another source of income for local people. From the streets of the city to the entrances and exits of various scenic spots, people are selling "dragon blood fat" in almost every place, and the price ranges from 50-300 US dollars per kilogram.
At Beipojiao, an old man showed us the process of taking "Dragon's Blood". Between the trunks of the adult Dracaena dracunculata (1.5-2m), we found the swollen knot scar, and slowly chiseled it away with a sharp stone until the "blood vessel" of the whole bark was chiseled into a wound that was difficult to heal. When the resin flows into droplets, it can be taken off with a light break, and it is kneaded into a ball by using the viscous characteristics of fresh resin to ensure the internal non-volatilization to the greatest extent.
In Yemen, where medical resources are scarce, the first choice for the elderly to fight aging syndrome is "Dragon's Blood", which is usually mixed with goat's milk and drunk directly, but the guide does not recommend it, because although the effective components of "Dragon's Blood" can heal wounds, clear blood poison, dispel wind and dampness, gastrointestinal ulcer and diarrhea. It is the drug resistance developed by local people since childhood, so novices had better purify and dilute it first, otherwise it will stimulate the increase of gastrointestinal burden and cause excitement.
In addition to the dragon blood tree, there is also a very special bottle tree on the island. Although it belongs to the kapok family with the common spindle trees in South America and Africa, this bottle tree does not have so much water, and its annual leaves are far below the average level of spindle trees.
The tour guide explained that the climate in Cautrat is very different from other areas. The vase tree was the same as the spindle tree when the island left the African continent. However, with the evolution of time and climate, the bottle trees on the island have evolved special genes, which are the most suitable growth habits for the local environment. The water originally stored in the tree body is transferred to the non-volatile roots, and the leaves are transferred to the flowers, thus achieving the optimal propagation scheme.
I stayed on the north slope until dusk, and finally I photographed the sunset and the dragon blood tree. The tour guide looked at the photos in the camera and said, Maybe it won't be long before I see such a scene, because islanders are grazing besides fishing. Dragon's blood tree is cut down in large quantities to make furniture and beehives, and its seedlings are often eaten by goats. At present, the total amount has been reduced by 45%, and some experts predict that it will be listed as an extremely endangered species in 2080.
In fact, if there were no war in Yemen, the economic environment in Cautrat would not be so bad. Not to mention tourism, the local unique fishery resources are enough to feed tens of thousands of residents, and there are more than 1000 kinds of fish, shrimp and crabs in the offshore. If you really walk along the coast, you can fill a basket.
Several fishermen fishing at the dock told us that they dare not go out to sea often, because there are too many pirates, and they dare to go out to sea only when neighboring countries tell them that warships pass by. At other times, they can only cast nets along the coast. Although the harvest is not much, it is no problem to meet household consumption, and occasionally catching valuable seafood such as lobster can also sell money.
After visiting the so-called "market", I found that the local hard currency is fish, cattle and sheep besides "dragon blood fat". Generally, families will cast their own nets when they eat fish. Most people who buy fish in the market are foreign tourists and local restaurants, and the price is basically kept between $0/-2 per kilogram.
Another highlight of the island is the white sand beach, one in the northwest and the other in the northeast of Suodao. These white sands are actually the products of sea water grinding shells, which have accumulated on the coast with the help of wind and waves for many years. At present, the highest dune height exceeds120m. However, the state of this sand dune is extremely unstable. Although there is no instant sinking bunker, it is easy to drift sand when the tide ebbs, and it will be covered with hundreds of tons of sand in an instant when you step on it, so it is too late to rescue it with an excavator.
There are dozens of Soviet tanks on the southeast coast of Suodao. 1967 After the British troops retreated, Suo Cautrat was taken over by "South Yemen". 197 1 year, the Soviet union was allowed to establish a naval base on the island by assisting South Yemen. It was not until 1990 that Yemen was unified that these old-fashioned modified tanks were of little value, and they were exposed to the wind and the sun.
Visitors who don't have a guide can take part in a group tour and experience go on road trip on the 3rd. The price includes tax of $388. They basically go to places worth going on the island, and the overall cost performance is quite high. If they don't like it, they can buy some seafood for them to process.
If you ask me about the overall evaluation of Suo Cautrat, I will probably answer: I will live a hard life with Jinshan.