SOCOTRA, YEMEN 12°27’59.4”N 53°47’40.6”E
trees named dragon blood ooze scarlet - coloured sap . Legless lizards slither like snakes. And sand dunes shapeshift from mountains to plains and back again. On Socotra Island, you can begin to imagine how Alice felt when she fell down the rabbit hole. This remote cluster of rocks is the definition of anomaly. The Socotra Archipelago, of which Socotra Island is the largest, is politically part of the Republic of Yemen, yet geographically African, closer to the Horn of Africa than the Middle East. Unlike other far-flung lost worlds, such as Easter Island, Socotra is not volcanic; it calved off Gondwana between 15 and 20 million years ago. Its isolated location coupled with its unique climate and topography resulted in some fairy-tale-like flora and fauna, much of which is endemic to the islands. “It’s a lost world,” states Kristina Makeeva. “My first time on Socotra Island was mind-blowing.” The Russian-born, London-based photographer helped put Socotra on the international tourist map in 2021 with her dreamy pictures of the island’s most photogenic models: dragon blood trees and bottle trees. “Everyone was amazed by the dragon trees with their blood-coloured sap, the dunes of white sand, and the wonderful blue shade of the Indian Ocean. I liked the bottle trees the most. They are so varied and cute that a garden of them brings up magical images in the imagination.” Kristina describes her artistic style as “magic in the ordinary.” Socotra is definitely magical, though it’s rather less ordinary. A case in point is the dragon blood tree. The extraordinary dracaena cinnabari is native to Socotra, and its presence on the island has been documented throughout history. Over its long residency, it adapted to this harsh, arid environment. Not only can it “drink” rainwater through its leaves and roots, but, using a process called horizontal precipitation capture, it can also draw moisture from fog and clouds, injecting that water into its root system and the surrounding landscape. This benefits the plants growing in its understory, as the soil is replenished with moisture even when rain is nowhere to be seen. This whimsical tree resembles an umbrella with its uniform crown of leaves adorning a rigid network of branches. It provides shade to weary shepherds and animals during the intense heat of a midsummer’s afternoon. Kristina’s favourite, the bottle tree or adenium obesum socotranum, looks as though it’s been turned upside down and dipped in rose petals. Growing up to 4.6 metres tall, its swollen trunk stores water during the monsoon season as insurance against drier times. And its stumpy brunches, more akin to stunted roots, blossom with flamingo pink flowers. Socotra is also home to the only species of Cucurbitaceae—the plant family that calls squash, pumpkin, and courgettes members—to grow in a tree form. Dendrosicyos, commonly called the cucumber tree, is one of Socotra’s tallest trees and, seeing as it predates Socotra’s existence as an island, is a relic of a lineage that once existed on the mainland. “When I used to read fairytales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one.” —Alice in Wonderland KRISTINA MAKEEVA
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MOTHER VOLUME THREE
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