“Visiting Socotra Island, Yemen, Kim, requires deliberate dumbness; Disregard our government’s ‘Level-4 Do Not Travel’ warning and just soak in the Galapagos-like beauty.”
A Yemeni soldier with a baseball-size cheek full of qat, and his rifle taped up like a baseball bat, jumps into the bed of a Toyota truck and mans the 50-caliber machine gun—the kind that shoot down warplanes—and leads our taxi convoy from our knock-off Marriott hotel to Aden International Airport.
You’re right, Sis, this is a blatant attempt to suck our readers in with a killer hook.
Our Socotra Island adventure is already over, these are the final two hours of our eight-day tour. This Aden to Cairo flight is the last leg of our trip. Prior to this pre-dawn, five-minute drive through a bullet-hole-riddled neighborhood of Aden, on Yemen’s mainland, the only danger has been dehydration, sun burn, and alcohol withdrawal.
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Who ignores the US State Department’s “Level 4 Do-Not-Travel” warning for terrorism, war, and kidnapping? And who pays three thousand dollars to go camping way off the beaten path in the Horn of Africa? With fifteen other gringos (targets?).
Yes, Kim, that would be … moi.
Am I a thrill seeker or just an idiot? That’s a good question. Mom and dad think I’m a fool, but I think I’m just another country counter. And among the most traveled members of our Socotra group, my current tally of 154 is puny.
My goal is every country. Create a Kim’s View in every country on the planet.
“Our Kim’s View goal isn’t many countries. It’s e-v-e-r-y country.”
Naturally, there will be some tough places. Thankfully, our government does a lot of my travel planning homework.
The US State Department lists countries based on travel advisories ranked from level 1 to 4. Level 1 means travel as usual, take normal precautions. Level 2 points out places that you need to be extra careful, or exercise increased caution—in travel warning talk. Things get more dodgy (interesting?) at Level 3 when you’re advised to reconsider travel. And Level 4 means do not travel to this country, only dumbasses go there.
We still need a Kim’s View in these Level-4 countries; Syria, Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Venezuela, Belarus, and Russia.
Sudan and South Sudan aren’t at war anymore and guided tours are plentiful, albeit godawful expensive. Part of Somalia is totally safe—Somaliland, a “country” that nobody recognizes. Safari tours visit Central African Republic and Venezuela just kowtowed to Chevron, so I’m hopeful Americans can get visas soon. And we should be able to visit Belarus and Russia when a cease-fire is finally called in the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The toughest Kim’s Views will be in Syria, Libya, and Iran.”
Americans can’t get visas for Syria or Libya now, but these are hot destinations for the adventure tour companies with amazing UNESCO sites. Eventually the almighty dollar will help us get in. Insha’Allah.
For Americans, Iran’s visa application is a three-month gonad-buster. And I’d rather take my chances being kidnapped for money than “arbitrary detention” by a hostile government.
Level 3-4 Countries Nov 2022
(hover for Level-3 & 4 country names)
Which countries come to mind, Kim, when someone says, “that place is dangerous?”
North Korea tops many Americans’ list. Luckily, we visited North Korea in 2016 and checked off our first Level-4 country by scoring a heinous American Kim’s View in Pyongyang. Americans can’t join North Korean tours now after Otto Warmbier’s death.
So far in 2022, we’ve scored Kim’s Views in four Level-3 & 4 countries; Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.
“This is the most difficult part of our Kim’s View journey.”
Our travel style has evolved accordingly; No more hopping on a bus and cruising down a continent, like we did in West Africa and South America. Land borders are often lawless, “armed conflict” areas. So, now we take guided tours to stay safe; fly in and fly out.
* * * *
An all-male battalion of friendly, hard-working Socotri guides, drivers, and cooks make sure we’re all happy campers; we circle the whole island and every day our cooks feed us yummy Yemeni food including local fish and lobster.
Vultures and goats join us at every camp site, but I haven’t seen any dogs. Rumor has it there isn’t a single dog on Socotra Island. Completely dogless? Wow.
Our cooks feed leftovers to orange-headed vultures after each meal. Our guide points to one of the vultures and says, “Egyptian.” Three thousand years ago these ugly bastards—known as Pharaoh’s chickens and featured in hieroglyphs—were loved and protected by Egypt’s royalty, hence the name “Egyptian vultures.” These days, vultures aren’t so loved. Around the world many vulture species are heading toward extinction. But not here.
“Socotra’s ubiquitous Egyptian vultures are thriving.”
In Arabic the Socotris call them baladiya (the municipality) and soeydu (garbage bin) because they clean up the garbage and have earned the locals’ respect.
Two young girls wearing pink and yellow dresses chat up our tour group at the nursery for dragon blood trees in Dixam Plateau. They stand out from all the other Socotri women wearing black, head-to-toe hijabs.
The next day the same girls meet us again about twenty kilometers south at Ameq beach. The boldest, chattiest girl is wearing jeans and a pink blouse and shows off her makeup and jewelry.
She strokes her hair and proudly says, “Can you see my braids?”
She holds hands with our Aussie Anna and walks away, ditching us men for their girls-only beach party. Poor girl, soon her only outdoor wardrobe choice will be a black parachute.
Everywhere we drive the village kids smile and wave at our 4×4 convoy. Socotris might have the world’s toughest feet; all the children and most adults walk barefoot on the rocky roads.
Socotra is a fisherman’s paradise; At Ameq beach four boys show us their haul, each carrying six or eight fish. None of them have a fishing pole. Fishing in the Indian Ocean looks like a piece o’ cake for Socotri boys.
In Socotra’s main town of Hadibou we take a breather from our 4×4 convoy and walk to a restaurant for breakfast. The gravel sidewalks are littered with trash and iron doors sport colorful designs. I greet some local men, “Salaam-Alaikum” (peace bro).
“Their faces light up with big smiles, ‘Wa-Alaikum-Salaam’”
I find Kim’s View–Yemen in the Homhil protected area overlooking the Gulf of Aden. When there’s rain, this spot is a natural infinity pool. I take so many photographs that Socotra’s blazing sun toasts the back of my hands.
Sixteen Level-3 & 4 countries still need a Kim’s View. Let’s learn something in each country and, most importantly, find something to enjoy while visiting the world’s least-visited countries.
Level-4 travel warnings sound scary, Kim, but in reality, Socotra is Yemen’s peaceful little oasis. This “Socotra Highlights” tour is worth every dollar; I’m enjoying the delicious Yemeni food, getting a crash-course in Socotri culture, and scoring a unique Kim’s View among dragon blood trees.
The sun sets at Ameq beach on our last night in Socotra. I pine for a glass of wine while our driver picks qat leaves from their stems. He needs a kick-start. His cheek is the size of a golf ball as we start our three-hour drive back to Hadiboh. KV
