Socotra

(From Dark Roasted Blend)

In the post The Farthest Outpost, about the penetration of the Roman Empire and its traders into the Red Sea, Arabia, and the lands around the Indian Ocean, I referenced a first century Greek mariners guide entitled Periplus of the Erythaean Sea (the name the Greeks and Romans used for the Indian Ocean).

The Periplus refers to an island off the coast of the Horn of Africa, calling it Dioskouridou "island of the  Dioscuri", a reference to Castor and Pollux, twin half-brothers in Greek mythology, though no one knows why the connection was made to this particular island. 

This island is today known as Socotra, located about 140 miles off the coast of Somalia and 230 miles south of the Arabian Peninsula and is currently administered, somewhat haphazardly, by Yemen.   However, because of Yemen's civil war it is considered unsafe to visit the island, which has 50,000 inhabitants and is about 30% larger than Rhode Island.

Although governed by Yemen, Socotra is geographically and geologically part of the African tectonic plate and is a very isolated landform.  As a result many species of plants and animals are unique to the island which has been called "the most alien-looking place on Earth".