Socotra   forever

The limestone plateau, on the western side of the gorge, has some photogenic dragon’s blood trees and bottle trees.

Being within an easy walk of the popular Diksam Homestay campsite, it also provides keen photographers with the chance of getting those sunrise and sunset shots that they’ve been yearning for.

Chris, who will sacrifice all his sleep for the right photos says : ‘From the campsite you can walk along the road southwest for about 15 minutes to a dragon’s blood tree with good views west for that sunset shot.
For the sunrise, about 10 minutes walk towards the east is another large dragon’s blood tree near the edge of Wadi Dirhur. There you’ll find fabulous views looking east to Firmihin forest, as well as both north and south along the gorge itself.
You can walk further down towards and along the cliffs for more dragons and plenty of birds. This area is also great for night shots of trees against a starry sky.’

Diksam plateau is the starting point for a trek into the Haggeher mountains to Skand, a 16km round trip, with a 600m gain and loss in altitude, which takes a fit person about 8 hours. There are also shorter, more level hikes along the edge of the canyon where you can see the Bedouin houses built into the ledges where the plateau meets canyon.