… I did it anyway. Socotra | S8, EP56
Come on little friend Socotra, Yemen Season 8 - Eps.56 Good morning Internet It is 6:20 in the morning and welcome back to the channel I just had a shower in a small stream that's coming off the mountain So that's fresh water and that drains right here into the sea That was really, really nice and now I'm going to have breakfast They're already preparing breakfast for me which is great So this is for breakfast. This is a like Shakshuka Eggs and then what is this? Soria. Made of beans And then this is.. mango Ooh, this is bread Very nice So this Soria is kind of.. it's kind of like a paste, see And it's made of beans, so the same, kind of same I believe the same beans that they used to make foul But here they add fish in it I think it has tuna in it Let's go Yee hoo! Okay, today I'm going to see a lot of really cool things, I think One of which is a cave Pretty cool cave So I'm looking forward to that Oh, we have this hurdle Oopla! No problems! See from this side the dunes seems even more impressive Wow. Wild!
What's your name? Your name? - Huh? - Idris Idris - Igris? Idris - Idris Idris. This is Idris And he's going to show me the way to a very amazing cave I believe it's about an hour walking something like that So see these are these Bottle trees, that I saw in the last video as well We're getting closer now One more climb Through these.. Little trees Wow, the cave is kind of looming now right in front of us It's a lot bigger when you come up close Look at this I can hear water dripping down So we walked all the way, all the way up So this is really the entrance It is enormous, in the past people used to live here Which I can totally understand because it's so nice and cool down here Look at the sheer size of this cave. Wow Look there are stalactite everywhere And also stalagmites here Wow And it's still all natural light That is coming in And you can just here water It's like a circle It's hard to capture the size or the sheer size of this cave But it's probably 100 meters wide At least and then it runs about 3 kilometers deep So this is a natural pool Deep, deep in the cave and you can drink this water It's safe to drink because there are no bats on Socotra And there's no animals or anything coming here You see how incredibly clear the water is I'm going to drink it because I'm getting very thirsty So this cave Hoq cave is million years old And it's formed by the slowly and gradual dissolution of limestone by slightly acidic rainwater So the rainwater takes up carbon dioxide becomes slightly acidic and that dissolves the limestone Creating the caves, creating the stalagmites, creating the stalactites But it's also very important archaeological site and they have found traces of visitors to Socotra here Dating back to the first century BC Up until the 6th century AD there were people here Okay, I am back on my little friend Hiked down from the cave And now we're off to the next place So many palm trees There's a wadi down below here So of course, you get all the the palm dates Oh, I think I see a track going up the mountain there Really steep I don't know if I can complete this whole track on this motorbike 'Cause I've heard that it gets really rough And it's mostly I think the ground clearance that's the problem That it's so low That I just beach myself on rocks Climb begins, let's see if I can make it Come on, come on, come on! Another hairpin Oh We got it, we got it Come on little friend This is very steep Oopla! But just don't stop And as long as the rocks don't get too big I can manage First gear Oohh Come on come on It's definitely a little rough Ain't no mountain high enough! Oh, but I'm not there yet We did it! We did it! Yeah, that's the thing down is probably going to be trickier again than up But we'll see I don't actually know if are we coming back the same way Or if it's a one way This is for lunch A lot of fish and then rice with vegetables These are more vegetables, I think Oh! So much food And dates So I am on a hike with yet another local guide Fais - Yes Yes To an amazing natural pool What a pretty spot and on this hike This is the first time that I see the amazing Dragon Blood trees They only occur here on Socotra And what is so amazing about these trees is that Normally, trees of course they take up water from the soil and transport it through the roots to the leaves But this Dragon Blood tree can do the reverse as well So it can take moisture from the air, in fog or clouds and inject that into the soil So that makes that that tree is extremely well adapted to the dry conditions here on top of the mountains in Socotra And that process is called horizontal precipitation capture So one single tree can actually inject more water into the soil than the surroundings can capture by rainfall So that makes that the trees are a very important part of the hydrological system on the island Now unfortunately it's not going very well with the Dragon Blood tree population here on the island And that has a few reasons The first one is that there are more and more droughts And of course, if it's an adult tree it can deal with that But the saplings they can't deal with the extreme drought so they die And the second thing, is there are more cyclones passing Socotra and in 2015 in one week time, two cyclones hit the island and 30% of all the trees on the island were wiped out So that was extremely devastating And then the third thing is all the goats on the island, they eat everything in their path including again the saplings So it's hard for young trees to reach adulthood before they're eaten by a goat So the Dragon's Blood tree is the national tree of Yemen And it got its name after the blood like red sap that the tree produces And the locals will collect it and dilute it with water Because it has several medicinal properties that they use it for See even from here, right at the top I can see several.. Dragon Blood trees That was an amazing place But now..
I have to.. Ride that same mountain again We're going the same way back So it's the same track but now I will mostly ride steep down If my memory is correct Then soon we'll begin a very, very steep descent Oh This is very, very steep Oh Now I don't know if there's more coming Now I can't get the bike.. started without.. Immediately losing control Maybe I'm just gonna walk the bike down 'Cause this is.. Yeah, you won't be able to tell on the footage As always Steepness disappears but Can't get the bike to start Just rolling Rolling, rolling, rolling It is so incredibly steep And you know, I only have half my brakes I only have the rear brake Which of course is..
Nice to have But if you can break both front and rear It can be a bit better But Oop! So rough Okay, I think that was the worst part I think Oopla I've had this so many times now I always fall for the same mind trick That I think going up is really difficult and impossible And then somehow I do it and then on the way down You're like.. this is way harder How did I do this? Okay, that was it I think Peace be upon you That's it I did it! This is a nice and fast track I'm right back at the ocean as well Those are some big octopus Wow So I am back in my own little home, in my tent For another night of sleeping next to the waves It's a really nice spot.. this one So yeah, it's going to be nice. I'm pretty shattered obviously That hike up to the cave was pretty, pretty tough And then another hike and then also a pretty bumpy ride up that mountain But I loved every second of the day They are just preparing dinner now but I'm going to end this video That was it for today. I really hope you liked it
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2025-04-27 04:09
