Socotra: Yemen’s Exotic Secret book published

Yemen Observer Publishing House issued a new book entitled Socotra: Yemen’s Exotic Secret.  The book, introduced by Abdul-Karim al-Iryani, Former Prime Minister of Yemen, invites the reader with his personal experience: “From my first visit to Socotra, I can say with all sincerity that it was love at first sight. The island rose dramatically in front of me from the blue-green depths of the Arabian Sea and ascended into the heavens as a fortress of jagged peaks.”

“Ringed with a belt of perfect, sandy beaches and sheer granite cliffs, the island was crowned in the mist and fog. Here was a place to discover, I said to myself,” al-Iryani expressed in the book’s introduction.

The Socotra Archipelago was officially designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thus making of Socotra the fourth World Heritage Site in the Republic of Yemen and the only Natural World Heritage Site in the Arabian Peninsula, stressed al-Iryani.

The book includes several magnificent photos comprised valleys and plains, lush oases and wide caves. The pictures taken by global photographers like Edgar Ueberschlag, Marita Schuler, Juliette Ueberschlag, Catherine Cheung, Nigel Pavitt and Tobias Siebert.

They showed that the coral reefs surrounding the island are extensive and pristine, and they are believed to host as many different species of sea life as are found in the Red Sea.

A description of Socotra 2000 years ago said “There is an island and it is very large, but desert and marshy, having rivers in it and crocodiles, and many snakes and great lizards of which the flesh is eaten and the fat melted and used instead of olive oil.”

“The island yields no fruit, neither vine nor grain. The inhabitants are few and they live on the coast towards the north, which faces the continent,” read the description. “There are foreigners: a mixture of Arabs and Indians and Greeks, who have migrated to carry on trade here. There is also produced on this island cinnabar, which is collected in drops from the trees. This island is subject to the king of the frankincense country,” states this old yet still applicable description.

Related Content

•  CSO issues award winning stat booklet
•  Divers launch first underwater cleanup campaign
•  Suzuki announces launch of new compact Splash in Japan
•  Between art for art and art for society: artist Zeinab Wafi speaks (VI).
•  Museum security thwarts attack on famous Yemeni statue
•  Yemen, Netherlands celebrate years of cooperation
•  THE FIRST OVS INDUSTRY STORE IN YEMEN
•  Republic of Korea celebrates its National Day
•  PM launches inaugural Felix Airlines flight to Aden
•  Egyptian Embassy celebrated October 6 victory