Saturday, November 17, 2007
Five Islands: Socotra
Parker and I love to explore Google Earth. It's an excellent way to explore the world and get children to see the distances between places, and its inclusion of photos from Panoramio allow them to see exactly what its like in other parts of the world by looking at photos of everyday life taken by normal people. Parker and I especially like to look at the islands around the world, and we've found five that especially capture our interest.
First on our list is the tiny island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, located between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian penisnsula. Socotra is known as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean, given its diversity of animal life and relative isolation from the rest of Africa. The last time Socotra was part of a continental land mass was 6 million years ago when it was part of Gondwana. Many of the plants of Socotra are found nowhere else on Earth, including the fantastic dragon's blood tree. The red sap of the tree was sought after in ancient times as a medicine and dye. Today it drives a nascent ecotourism industry in this country, which until recently was only accessible by boat during the non-monsoon season.Labels: And We Are Rather Puny, Parker, Where in the World
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