Attempting to reach Socotra Island, Yemen, via London, Zurich, Togo, Ghana, Egypt, Oman, and Abu Dhabi; December 16–21, 2022
A year ago we planned to visit Socotra Island, a remote UNESCO world heritage destination that belongs to Yemen but in practice is under the control of the United Arab Emirates. In the end we failed to secure seats on the once-a-week charter flight from Abu Dhabi, so we pivoted to Reunion Island instead. This year we decided to try again for Socotra, and we got a lot closer!
The family convened in Abu Dhabi on December 18 (which happens to be both Jennifer & Alex’s and Clara & Tim’s wedding anniversary), with quite a variety of paths to getting there. Emily was first to depart home, with field work for her PhD in Togo, West Africa, then stopovers in Ghana and Egypt on her way to Abu Dhabi. Tim and Clara were next, from Zurich where they’re still living; amazingly Clara had a professional conference in Abu Dhabi right before our trip, while Tim and a friend spent a week rock climbing in nearby Oman. Lastly, Alex & Jennifer flew to London where they pub-hopped with a friend from the coast-to-coast hike before continuing to Abu Dhabi.
The rendez-vous at the Abu Dhabi Airport Premier Inn went exactly as planned, and the next morning we eventually located our charter flight to Socotra. “Emirates Airline Services” contracts commercial Air Arabia for the weekly flights, and we knew they could be iffy: There was our unexplained failure to get seats last year, and just two weeks before this trip the flights changed abruptly from Tuesdays to Mondays (luckily we were able to adapt). So a lengthy check-in process and one-hour departure delay were no big deal, and with Yemeni visas in hand we were excited to finally be on our way to Socotra. Our charter flight companions were 30 or so other tourists and perhaps twice that many locals, including a VIP wedding party bearing yummy snacks for the whole plane.
After 2.5 hours we reached Socotra Island in cloudy weather. Disconcertingly, the plane circled numerous times, and eventually the pilot announced that it was too stormy to land and the weather wasn’t expected to improve. Apparently the Socotra airport is primitive enough that they only land in good conditions; I suppose we should be glad they played it safe. After announcing a couple of possible diversions, it was decided we would just go back to Abu Dhabi. So another 2.5 hours later we were back where we started, with no indication of what would happen next.
What did happen next was a return to the Premier Inn, and a frustrating 24 hours of sporadic texting with our agent on Socotra, and with a hiking guide on our flight who Clara & Tim had befriended earlier at a climbing spot near Abu Dhabi. Information was spotty but consistent between the two, and after nearly a full day we were told there would be no replacement charter flight. We were out of luck, and so were the tourists currently on Socotra Island, who had expected to board our plane for its return to Abu Dhabi.
We certainly didn’t want to spend the rest of the week in Abu Dhabi — we’d figured a day looking around would be sufficient for us, and we were right: A visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and walking the length of the Corniche ended up giving us a good flavor of the city.
After weighing a few options, we decided to move on earlier than planned to part two of the trip. Back when we were planning the itinerary there had been much debate about where to spend a second week after Socotra, somewhere roughly in the region. A family vote led us to opt for sailing in the Seychelles — an archipelago nation off the east coast of Africa a few hours flight from Abu Dhabi. It’s a repeat for us, having done a sailing trip there in 2004, but the kids barely remember it and Clara hasn’t been to the Seychelles, nor on a sailboat for extended time. So after digesting the Socotra disappointment, we were able to move up our Seychelles flights and add a few days to the front of our sailboat charter plus a couple of days on land. The Seychelles, originally an add-on, had become the main event; fingers crossed plans smooth out from here.
As we watched our years of aspirations and carefully laid plans for Socotra Island crumble, we reminisced on other trips where we’ve had problems. Truth be told, we’ve done so much traveling to so many complicated places, even with this trip’s major snafu we’re probably faring extremely well overall. We remembered when Alex’s passport expired in under six months so he got stuck in Guam while the rest of us continued to Palau; eventually special dispensation from the Palau vice-president solved the problem. There was the time we had to quickly replan an entire carefully-orchestrated Patagonia trip when we missed our first connection, and the time we spent 40 hours in tiny tents during a Mongolian snowstorm. Various illnesses, injuries, and vehicle or boat malfunctions have derailed plans here and there. But losing a full week and the main destination of a trip is new for us; nevertheless spirits have remained reasonable, and we’re determined to make the best of the rest.
PS: Our agent on Socotra Island had requested that we pick up some Absolut Vodka for him in the duty free shop before our flight — looks like it’ll be vodka tonics on the sailboat!
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