I'm Back!

I went to Socotra. We went around the island by boat. It was so awesome. I had to keep a journal, and then I had to put it into computer, so here it is. Don't read all of it if you value your time...

Day 1
It all started at 6:15 ish at the dome at SIS. I fooled around in the dome for 10 minutes or so before I realized that Mr. Stanton wanted us all in his room to help pack “gorp” and other necessities. When we finished packing things, we all went in and watched the Matrix. I had been trying to watch the Matrix for a long time, and it lived up to my expectations with the exception of the cool fight scene effects. When that finished, we went to the dome and stacked all the mats up and then knocked them down while on tip of the ten to twelve foot pile. After that, everyone except Jonathan and I watched Gladiator, while we discussed the perversities of Battlefront before going to sleep.
Day 2
I had slept for maybe half an hour before the dome erupted around me. Jeremy and Luke had the mats stacked up again, and they had somehow convinced the girls to try it, something I found quite amusing to watch. I tried to sleep for a while, but I gave up after a while, and joined the mayhem. Two rolled around and we loaded all the stuff into the bus, and we drove to the airport. Some hours later, we boarded a 737 and took off for Mukulla. The plane took off and I fell into a coma. We landed in Mukulla what seemed like several minutes later, and then took off again, and I again fell asleep. When the stewardess came by with coffee, I gratefully accepted some, but instead of tasting nice like it usually does, it tasted as if they had been half charcoalized before grinding. I downed it anyway in an attempt to wake up, but I fell asleep again anyway, and woke up just over Socotra. We got off of the plane and collected our stuff before loading it all onto three land rovers which took us to breakfast which took forever to arrive tasted wonderful and burnt my tongue. We stopped by for supplies in Hadibo before loading everything into three boats, which took a while to start moving. Everything seems to take longer here.
Once moving however, things changed a little. I am afraid I started a burn today on my arms and neck because all my bags were in another boat along with my sunscreen. What really captivated my interest however, were the mountains. AT the airport, the mountains were sheer and green, with strangely rounded tops for a Yemeni mountain. (As we drove to the restaurant, I observed that the mountains were green because of shrubs that from the car appeared to be roughly four feet tall on average. We passed through one pass, and spattered evenly over the other side of the mountain were cucumber trees that our driver ID’d for us.) When we got into our boat however, I observed that the mountains were roughly the same shape, but less green. They changed steadily from that to giant rocks to the mountains I know in Sana’a. The only problem with our campsite is that it seems to have been a boat sealing place, because there is tar everywhere, especially between my toes.
I hope this pen has waterproof ink, because some of our stuff got very wet in the boats today. At the moment, we have our tent set up to dry out so it won’t mildew; a phenomenon that I have heard fantastic tales of, but have yet to observe…
Day 3
Today wasn’t quite what it was planned to be: we overshot by a goodly distance before we realized our mistake and set down to camp. Our tent had gotten wet the night before, so we set it up and slept in it to dry it out. Breakfast consisted of a large bowl of Museli: So large an amount that Mr. Stanton implied that I couldn’t eat it all. (I was very hungry: breakfast is a main meal for me.) Once we got clear of the surf in the boats, we could see straight to the bottom. We saw dolphins once off a ways away from us before we stopped for lunch.
We stopped for lunch on this beautiful beach. The beach was perfect, and there were no rocks or anything in the sand. The beach was incredibly level: the waves washed ten to fifteen meters straight in. I read somewhere that you can calculate the average particle radius from the slope of a beach, and vice versa, and that the flatter the beach, the smaller the particles. Whether or not that is true, I don’t know, but the sand was remarkably fine and soft.
After our lunch, a sand castle, attempting to build a human pyramid, and chicken fighting, (something Jonathan had never done) were set off again. The water was still clear as a crystal, and blue as sapphire when we spotted a pod of fifty or so spinner dolphins ahead of us. We could see them breaching surface for air and on occasion, leaping out of the water for the glory of it. After a while, I could see them breaching all around us: one did so between two of our boats, not eight meters away from me, and if you looked down, you could see the dark shapes of their lithe bodies as they sway underneath us. Unfortunately, like all good things, they passed, and we could see them leaping behind us. Abraham caught one on photo leaping. I hope it turns out well.
Dinner was a mess. Team 3 (my team) was responsible for cooking, and we were having baked potatoes and fish. Our team however, being comprised completely of ignorant young men, although ready enough, was far behind Mr. Stanton’s expectations. Nobody (including the fishermen) had ever grilled fish before, but regardless of that, the food was excellent. The potatoes were done to a turn, and loaded with margarine and spready cheese, they were perfect. WE opened canned fruit as well, which was beyond excellent.
Day 4
Today started out well. Breakfast was a mug of instant coffee and two bowls of Museli and my Mom’s granola. Mixed, it is really good. We didn’t have milk mixed up, so I dumped milk powder and water on my breakfast and stirred. Precision is apparently an option, but I couldn’t taste the difference. It was a tad pasty, probably because I crushed the granola. We set off early in an attempt to get the boats away from the heavy surf, which comes in right off the Indian Ocean.
Our teachers noticed that a member of our group wasn’t “pulling his weight,” So he was pulled into our boat for the day. I feel sorry for the poor kid. He may have deserved it, but this is as close to paradises as we are going to get on earth: I have seen dolphins everyday that we have been on Socotra.
I pen this now sitting in the prow of our boat. The spray is beginning to pick up, so I will close for now.
Abdulrahman seemed to perk up after he took a leek, Mr. Stanton did as well, but thin lost the bottle when a wake hit it out of his hand…
The beach we originally shot for we missed by quite a ways: Erher is six to seven hours from where we camped. Our original campsite smelled quite evil, but we moved and the stench left. I managed to get some good swimming in, and I felt much better for it.
Later that evening, we ate chili, which is a misnomer in three ways: the first is, this stuff was hot off the fire, I didn’t burn my tongue, but I nearly did. It is also hot spicy: my stomach was not pleased with my after I finished. A burning sensation in your stomach is a very strange sensation. Thirdly, chili produces a lot of hot air… Apparently it is called a blue angel when it is ignited…
Apparently Abdulrahman and co. invaded our tent while I was away. The reasons were quite random. I surmised that they did so to escape the mosquitoes: they were all well bitten after the last night at the mangroves. Abe and Jonathan thought it was because they were afraid of the crabs, Mrs. V. thought they were trying to steal something, and they said that they were just trying to scare us. I had heard about it, so I planned to remove the tent poles from the tent while they were sleeping, but they were gone by the time I was ready for bed.
Day 5
I had my two bowls of Museli, packed my stuff and our tent and then tried to help Mrs. V. I am afraid that I am not very good a seeing what needs to be done, because Mrs. V. made it quite clear that I was supposed to help, not ask how I should help.
The fishermen said that today is going to be hot, and so far they have been correct on everything, and today looks (and feels) no different. I am afraid I am going to get burnt today.
Today we are trying to get to Erher. Jeremy and Luke both say that it is beautiful, and I am thoroughly looking forwards to it. The girls are too, I think, at least partially because of the alleged shower. My hair is particularly awesome. Melanie had a mirror, and I scared myself by looking into it. Part of it is my sweat thing which is quite fun to wear, and has acquired several new nicknames for myself including Rambo and Ninja. Mr. Stanton has been calling me Sir Gray Ham, which is quite amusing.
I am riding in the girls boat today, and it is very quiet. I think it has something to do with me, but I don’t know.
The girls boat stayed quiet too, so it probably wasn’t me. Melanie and Luke had an umbrella, and we all wound up under it after a while eating gorp and having fun. From the sea, Erher doesn’t look like much: tow giant dunes with a little greenish brown smudge at the bottom. As you get closer, the smudge becomes a lush green and you can see the shower.
The shower is quite amazing: it is this three-inch diameter pipe with no shower cap. You stand there and it blasts you. It is quite remarkable and it feels ever so good. Mrs. V. Said that she felt naked after washing off her coating of salt. Luke gave me some shampoo and I think Melanie would have killed me had I not used it, and the rebellion that my hair had been staging was quelled.
The sand dunes at Erher are so awesome. They just go on and on and on, and when you think that you can go no further, they end, and you look down, and you see the boats in the bay with the wakes spread out behind them and your entire camp fits under your thumb at arms length. Then, you sort of flop onto the dune and slide, meters at a time, down the dune. The dunes are at (conservative estimates) 45 degrees off of level, and it is quite terrifying to sprint down them, and ever so fun to trip. It took all of ten minutes to get to the bottom of the dune.
When we got back, Mr. Stanton showed me how to light a fire with friction. You take one stick of soft wood with a hole in it, and you spin a stick of hard wood with a little sand next to a pile of goat pellets. The method looked like it had promise, so I fooled with it, and tried a list of other things but neither really worked. The most promising method I attempted was rubbing a log with a rock. I got a smell of smoke and a really hot log with a groove in it out of the deal before I gave up.
We had spaghetti… or at least, it looked like spaghetti; but the noodles had the texture, qualities and tastes of wood glue with ash in it, but the sauce was really good, so I ate a lot anyway.
I am hoping to see a whale shark today or tomorrow. Melanie saw one two years ago, here at Erher, and Jeremy saw one last year. So far we have seen dolphins every day, and Mr. Stanton caught a sea turtle, so hopes are high, simply because we have seen everything else as well on this trip.
Day 6
Today we had our first hike. We started in this small village and hiked up into the interior. The only thing that made the hike difficult was the intense heat and humidity. On the way up was a large fresh water pool, and since we were already in our swimming trunks, we all jumped in. The water was cool and ever so refreshing. When Isabella got there, she just waded in she was so hot: shoes, socks, shorts, shirt, sunglasses, and hat. It was hilarious.
At the top of the hike, (which wasn’t much further) there was a lovely airy hut with a breeze and a menu with exorbitant prices. We bought food anyway, and sat down two hours later to a bulletproof goat and really good rice and beans. From the hut you could see a mountain covered with dragon’s blood trees. I bought two bags of incense and a large bag of dragon’s blood for family and friends, and we wandered off among the trees for a while before going back. We stopped at the pool again on the way back for a while again to cool off and to have fun.
The way down from there was fun. Luke, Jeremy and I ran down the mountain, and even taking three breaks, we estimate it took fifteen minutes to go down the mountain it had taken us an hour and a half to get up. I experienced time distortion and scenery blur three times before we got to the bottom. I think I would have died had I tripped once, and I am a firm believer in the immortality of the teenager.
When we got back, it was nearly dark and we had cooking duties. I am afraid that our macaroni and cheese was not as good as Melanie said it was, although it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be at several stages of its creation. Initially it was this onion and garlic loaded goop that was loaded with milk powder and was very runny. After three circles of spready cheese and pepper were stirred in, it boiled and became much thicker. For all the stuff we added, it was surprisingly bland.
Due to our cooking related exploits, we were unable to climb the cliffs above Erher to the cave there. I was really hoping that I would be able to do that, but now it is too late.
I did not see a whale shark today, nor did I see any dolphins, although other members of our party saw them. Today was the first day I have not seen dolphins.
Day 7
We had our second hike today, and it was far hotter today than yesterday. I sweated more than I thought was possible for a human and still be alive. Admittedly I have consumed possibly six liters of water today to make up for it. In comparison, I have never sweated before today, and I may never sweat again. We took a boat to a spot on the shore several kilometers from Erher and then hiked up to a cave in the interior of the island.
The hike was amazing. We were so hot and the air was so still and humid it felt like we were carrying a hot tub on our skin. It was a very interesting sensation. When we finally got to the mouth of the cave, several people wrung sweat from their shirts and got quite a bit out. It was disgusting, terrifying and awesome all at once.
The cave was beautiful. The cave goes three kilometers into a mountain, but we were only allowed to go a third of that, which was sad, because that cave was cool, both literally and figuratively. Huge stalagmites went up, and in other places, massive stalactites hung down, and many of them had met and made massive columns. We refilled our bottles from the lake inside the cave, before we hiked back outside and ate lunch, looking down at the sea, which was possibly two kilometers away, as the crow flies.
After lunch, we hiked down again and surprisingly, this was where I sweated the Mississippi. I think I forgot my sweatband at the cave; I know I missed it coming down. We came down fast, but much slower than yesterday: I didn’t experience time distortion or scenery blur once. Luke, Jeremy and I had all acquired cuts of some kind, so we put sap from a specific tree on our cuts. The sap is supposed to do three things: 1. Clean out the wound. 2. Disinfect the wound. 3. Seal the wound. I couldn’t tell if it had a disinfectant in it, but it did sting when I tried it, the scratches appeared cleaner, and it did form a clearish gauzy seal. I was quite pleased with the arrangement until Melanie arrived, saw our near fatal wounds and put triple antibiotic ointment on them, which removed the aforesaid seal.
Right now we are in the boats heading for Di Hamri, where there are allegedly refrigerators, showers, toilets, and great snorkeling all at once. Tomorrow is free of responsibility (as far as I know) so I am hoping to do some good snorkeling, and maybe read some.
Day 8
Breakfast was tea, beans, bread, and bees. For some reason, our entire campsite was swarming with bees, despite the fact that there were no flowers anywhere within sight and there wasn’t anywhere the bees could build a hive.
Luke and Mrs. V. went scuba diving, and the rest of us went snorkeling. There is a reason Di Hamri is a marine protected area: it is loaded with fish and coral and lobsters and all manner of sea life. I saw a massive lobster, twice to three times the size of lobsters you find in the meat section of Wal-Mart, and maybe fifty species or so of fish. Jonathan saw several groupers, and Mr. Stanton saw an octopus. I also saw a really big clam. When I approached it, it withdrew into itself, and when I blew water at it, it sort of closed up. It was close to a foot long and maybe half that wide, and blue in color.
During the heat of the day we sort of lay comatose on the mats at the campsite in the shade and read and talked and laughed. A lot of us went on introductory scuba dives including Jeremy and Abraham, who went as partners. It was the first time I didn’t have anyone who I was tight with, to communicate with, as we had no cell phone coverage, and my brother and good friend were underwater. It was a rather strange feeling.
Lunch consisted of Pringles: lots of them. Mr. Stanton had bought a case of them, and we hadn’t realized it until yesterday evening, so today we devoured them. We ate them plain and with tuna. That was rather weird, but it was good as well. We also found out that we had three or four large bags of dry hot chocolate, so we dug in with spoons and ate it dry. That was really good, if exceptionally sticky. That stuff stuck to every thing in my mouth, and took forever to get out afterwards.
Around three in the afternoon, Luke and Mrs. V. Went diving again, and Melanie and I went snorkeling. We saw this awesome blue fish with concentric white rings on it, as well as two different species of starfish, three different species of sea urchin, an eel of some description, that we decided was, without a doubt, the most dangerous eel alive, as well as some sort of blue sponge. We also saw a really long thin fish that at it largest was a meter and a half long, and only four or five centimeters in diameter.
When we got out, Luke and Mrs. V. had returned, and they had seen a two-meter long shark. Apparently, it had circled them for a while before deciding that they were dull. I think I would have exited stage left very quickly had I seen a fish that big, regardless of its species, and I don’t think that anything would have been able to catch me either. They also saw an eel that was as big around as Luke’s leg, and as long as a person is tall.
Supper was fish, beans, rice, and bread, and it tasted just wonderful. After supper, we packed as many things as we could to take them to the airport tomorrow and went to bed. We were going to pack things into the cars tonight, but they didn’t come. If they don’t get here early tomorrow, we might not get to the airport on time, but I am not really worried about it. We have been going to bed so early these nights, and waking up so early as well. In a way, it is really nice, but in other ways, it feels so good to sleep in.
Day 9
The cars were here when we woke up, so we rolled our bedding up, packed it into our suitcases and piled them into the cars. There were three land rovers, the same ones that picked us up at the airport, and they had the same drivers, but they had undergone personality changes, or they had been imbued with the spirit of long dead rally racers or something, because we went to the airport at 110 kmph over dirt roads. I was in heaven as we fish tailed the corners and jumped the bumps (of which there were many). As we rounded one of the last corners next to the ocean to the airport, I looked out the windows, and low and behold, there were dolphins. I saw dolphins every day except two, and one of those was because we were in Sana’a and hadn’t even taken off yet. The other was because I wasn’t paying attention, because other people saw dolphins that day.
The flight to Mukulla went off without a hitch, but when we tried to take off for Sana’a, there were many problems, not least of them that the army had an emergency and had to put troops onto the commercial flight. I don’t know if anyone got kicked off of the flight because of it, but there were certainly no empty seats on the flight. I was lucky I got to sit in the same row as Abraham and Jeremy next to a window. Another reason that the flight didn’t take off on time was the fact that there was this addled lady who wouldn’t sit down. I am afraid that I fall far short of her intellectually, because I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she wouldn’t sit down. It made no sense what so ever at all. The third (and last that I know of) reason that the flight was delayed was this guy who sat next to Sofia who fainted because he couldn’t breathe. They told him that he shouldn’t be on the flight, but he said that he was fine (regardless of the fact that he had to be on oxygen to talk) and insisted that he be allowed to fly. That was at the back of the plane though, so I don’t know how it turned out.
When we got back home, I took a shower, and that felt so good that I can recommend the trip simply because you feel so good when you recover from it. My bed was exquisitely soft, and my pillow luxury, and if I wanted it, there was cold water in the refrigerator. Forget the milk and Sprite and Mountain Dew: there was cold water.