The Dragon's Blood Trees of Socotra

An intriguing natural combination of limestone cliffs, ancient granite massifs and red sandstone plateaus, Socotra is the largest island within the archipelago with the same name and home to a spectacular species: the Dragon Tree.

According to wikipedia, “the Dragon Tree is characterized by a single or multiple trunk growing up to 12 m tall (rarely more), with a dense umbrella-shaped canopy of thick leaves. It grows slowly, requiring about ten years to reach 1 m tall. Young trees remain with only a single stem; branching occurs when the tree flowers, when two side shoots at the base of the flower panicle continue the growth as a fork in the stem.”

Even though the road to the Dragon Trees located on the Yemeni island of Socotra is a rough one, the journey is well worth it. The landscape is quite unique and the scent of the frankincense trees is refreshing. And even if one doesn’t feel the landscape live, we believe it looks quite extraordinary and worth sharing.