Europe isolates itself in Socotra awaiting the end of the Corona pandemic (photos)
English - Wednesday 27 May 2020 الساعة 11:43 am
Newsymen, CNN:
On Yemen's remote island of Socotra, a desert paradise of 3,625 square kilometers 60 miles east of the Horn of Africa, clockwise to 5:30 a.m.
However, YouTube star Eva Zu Beek stands outside her tent near the water's edge to dive into the Indian Ocean in search of a breakfast, lobster.
Life on the island has become a normal for 29-year-old Polish Zo Beck, whose social media followers are interested in accompanying her around the world through her travel blogs.
While many people around the world remain in their homes, Zhou Beek has spent the last two months camping and climbing the dunes of Socotra to wait for the new Coronavirus pandemic to end.
But what's the only problem? Beck doesn't know when you'll be able to leave.
Her journey began from a marathon on the island with one of the world's most isolated islands.
Zhou Beek spent most of her time camping, or renting guest rooms in rural villages.
Zhou Beek arrived in Socotra on a weekly commercial flight from Cairo on March 11th with 40 tourists to take part in the first marathon in Al-Jariza, which was scheduled to stay for two weeks.
On March 15th, after the race had ended, Officials in Socotra announced that the island would close its borders and that participants should return home as soon as possible.
After waking them up in the middle of the night in their tents, they were told that they should "go to the airport immediately,"" she said.
Although the decision was difficult, Zhou Beek chose to stay on the island for an unknown period instead of risking contracting the virus on her return to Europe.
The southern region of Yemen's Socotra island is famous for its endangered dragon blood trees.
After obtaining permission from Socotra officials, the Polish and four tourists decided to stay, and the rest, including her Canadian lover, returned to Cairo on the last flight outside Socotra.
However, not everyone agrees with her decision, and after reading her story online, The Polish received criticism through the "Respect_Socotra#", and people argued that her presence threatened the community.
In an Instagram post posted on May 19, Zhou Beck thanked people who expressed concern about her presence on the island.
She said the "Respect_Socotra#" campaign gave her a new perspective, adding: "I apologize if i sent the wrong message before," adding that she did not intend to encourage travel to remote places under the pandemic, but wanted to share the beauty of a place where she was already present.
Local hospitality has made long stay possible
Although the most comfortable hotels are located in the capital Hadebo, Zhou Beek spent most of her time camping during the first two months, or renting guest rooms for rural villages belonging to sheep-care families.
Zhou Beek was returning to Hadibo only to get Wi-Fi services, wash clothes, and access to electricity sources to charge her devices.
It's like a parallel world.
Zhou Beek has been able to communicate closely with the community due to the island's lack of closure restrictions or social spacing procedures, and is not aware of any reported cases of MERS-CoV.
The island is one of the few places on the planet that has continued to function as usual.
She said: "We have the freedom to visit friends and move around as we please. It's like we're in a parallel world."
However, that freedom has declined over time, according to Zoe Beck on Instagram, noting that she has spent most of her time with her family in one house in the village over the past three weeks, and that she will continue to do so.
The most difficult challenges
Zhou Beek had to go to the hospital twice in Hadebo, the first time because of a leg injury sustained while walking on the island's slopes, and later by a sunstroke.
Besides her visit to the hospital, her lack of loved ones and the difficulty of communicating with them online are one of the most difficult challenges, she said, adding that "Wi-Fi is not strong enough to use Skype, and power outages are common."
"Therefore, I am content with regular phone calls when possible," she said.
Although Zhou Beek did not regret her decision to stay on the island at first, her position changed.
The question remains: if she knew what she knew now about the spread and nature of the virus, would she have chosen to visit the island in the first place? The Polish replied "no" via Instagram.
