The LA Times has a neat photo gallery of Yemen’s Socotra Island.
Isolated from continental land masses for 18 million years, Yemen’s Socotra Island showcases an alien-like landscape with unusual plants and animals, such as the blood dragon tree, pictured, and desert rose. Its high degree of biodiversity has earned it the name the “Galápagos of the Indian Ocean.”Socotra Island's beautiful and bizarre landscape
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There's more photos of the strange plants found there on Dark Roasted Blend:
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/most-alien-looking-place-on-earth.html
The land that time forgot?
Yossarian beat me to it -- I've used these images as a source of inspiration for both writing and art.
Yes!!! One of my most favourite islands on the planet. Those DRB pix are really amazing. Hadn't seen that beach shot before.
Who's the little guy with green hair and orange eyes in the foreground of that photo? Some unique species?
Traveling by boat to an island offshore of Somalia is everyone's dream vacation right now!!
the first time i saw the pics from darkroastedblend.com i thought to myself "oh, final fantasy vii!"
What a wonderful world...
speaking of the galapagos - the movie master and commander : the far side of the world. first major motion shot there. great film they took pains to make it authentic as possible. enjoy.
I was fascinated by Socotra and read up on it a few years ago. Some interesting tidbits:
Socotra's karst geology is riddled with unexplored caverns. This huge (1466 sq. mi.) island is a possession of Yemen. Over 250 species of Socotran plants are found nowhere else. The dragon's blood that the trees produce has been an article of commerce since ancient times - ancient Chinese alchemists killed at least on emperor by attempting to substitute the red mercury ore cinnabar for dragon's blood in a Taoist immortality potion.