The travel planning stage - Aunt Anna and Googling

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Guest writer: Anna Nilsson Spets

I wander ... here and there. North, south, west and east. My eyes are computer-savvy from googling. I wish I had a treasure chest of gold money to pour out, but I don't.

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I have started planning a new winter holiday. The choice has long been between four countries:

Sudan because I want to see dugongs, it's going fat, huge conflict in the country. Mali, possibly travelling but not the parts I want to go to. Away, away, away. DCRCongo, that is, the partner shouts out when I even mention it. I'm cancelling that.

Socotra ... Taste the word, do you even know where it is located ?

Imagine the top of the Horn of Africa, step into the water and swim north-east, there lies this very different island belonging to Yemen. The island is about as long as Gotland but narrower. There is one town, Hadiboh, the rest is mountains and semi-desert. Socotra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It will have to be. Reading the Bradtguide, googling, emailing.

I only check local operators, I'm not interested in international ones. My money goes to the right pockets. There aren't that many operators on Socotra, so I check the reviews on social media, find a couple and get in touch.

How to get to Socotra ... Well, it's not the easiest thing. Two hubs are to choose from. Abu Dhabi or Cairo. Cairo will be fine, then I can stop there on the way home and see the city, I'm happy to do the combo.

We email, me and the tour organisers, find one I think makes sense. Emails some more. The flights won't be released for a few months and it's hard to decide on the exact date now, visas have to be applied for several months before. Maybe I need to update my vaccines, a booster for polio, possibly rabies.

Insurance must be checked. I don't want to end up in a Catch-22 again like in Djibouti when I had expensive extra insurance, became very ill and, due to poor infrastructure in the country, could not obtain certificates and lab results. There was no lab and of course there was no help or reimbursement. And Socotra has, if possible, even worse infrastructure. Really.

Travelling around on your own is not allowed, you need a guide and driver. Staying in Yemen is also not advisable. A pity. I could have seen more.

Budget, can I really afford this? Yep, if nothing else I'm going to AFFORD it. 

Flight: Brussels-Cairo around 200 euros, Cairo-Aden-Socotra 1000 euros, hey presto.

Tour: 1500 euros for 7 days including everything.

Visas: 200 euro

Why another strange country? I want to see and experience what not everyone else sees. Out of the box. Socotra is an island with a huge endemic flora and fauna.

There are caves with stalactites and paintings, lagoons and dunes, snorkelling at its best.

It will be an adventure. Although I promised myself never to sleep in a tent again, this is (unfortunately) a camping holiday, camping on the beach, peeing in the open air, washing in the lagoon and food from an open fire. I have to put up with that.

It will be an ordeal not to be able to be online, to book holidays and to be active on social media.

I just hope they have good coffee !

To be continued.

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Anna Nilsson Spets

60+ year old lady with a lifelong love for Africa. Emigrated to Flanders in Belgium and works with plants on a daily basis. Writes, takes photos and tries to inspire others to budget travel on their own. Blogs on "Anna's mix" about travelling, work, plants, writing and much more.

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