Treks and Trails of Jordan: Aqaba

"A few thoughts of Jordan"

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:23:00 GMT

Feedback on Jordan Dynamic - a 9 day adventure holiday.

By Elizabeth Shoreland

"On touching down in Amman my perception of Jordon - somewhat naively - was one dominated by deserts, the Rose City and bobbing up and down in the Dead Sea. Granted, some activity would be needed to conquer these well known tourist sites, but on discovering that I was going on an "Active Jordon" trip I certainly felt some trepidation: was I going to be able to master cycling, hiking and camel riding in two short weeks? On reflection this was the best way to get a glimpse into the heart of Jordon: while ensuring that we did not miss the more well known tourist attractions the trip took us off the beaten track and exposed us to different aspects of the country and Jordanian life.

The trip was all go from the begining. We toured the Roman city of Jesrah before taking to our bikes in order to cycle through the northern part of the Jordan Valley with its fertile fields and ancient olive trees. We then headed to the Dead Sea where - just like in the posters - we were able float around, before heading to the Dana Nature Reserve. Our hike in the Dana Nature Reserve provided a great insight in the huge variety of ecological systems that exist in the area and dashed any remaining thoughts I had about Jordon being all deserts.

It was then onto Petra where we were able to marvel at the sheer scale of this city carefully carved into the rock, Petra, however, was full to the brim with tourists, and while it was amazing, it was also fantastic to make our escape to Wadi Rum. I never imagined that a desert could hold so much beauty. The Jebels provided an amazing playground and our host, Salam showed us that life in Wadi Rum was action packed: hiking, rock scrambling, camel riding and not to mention crazy antics by the fire at night.

On leaving Wadi Rum we continued our journey south to the Red Sea. I knew the Red Sea was famous for its technicolour marine life: I was not disappointed. Tropical fish and corals were easily spotted during snorkeling excursions during our lazy afternoon on the beach. The next morning we motored north back to Amman. As we were travelling during the holy month of Ramadan we had decided to head into the city to experience Iftar (the breaking of the fast). In the late afternoon the city appeared to have come to a standstill as people attempted to make it home for Iftar. The temporary noise and chaos of those finally few hours however were worth it simply to experience the evening meal in a local restaurant.

All too soon our trip was over. It had been nine actioned packed days that saw us conquering all sorts of transport modes (even run-away camels) and seeing some of the many beautiful sights of Jordon. More importantly though we had meet a number of Jordanians who had, with unrivalled enthusiasm, shared their country and experiences with us: while I have no photos of that experience, it is inevitably the one that I will remember most vividly."

Active Jordan - April 2007

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:25:00 GMT

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To Mette, Ruth, Sarah, Tanya and Eric, I would like to say thank you for your visit to Jordan. We hope you have enjoyed this trip as much as we have enjoyed running it! Also, thanks for all the constructive feedback and tips that you have given us throughout this trip. We have certainly learnt alot.

Special thanks to Sarah and Mette for all the nice photos!

Active Jordan is an 11 day tour around Beautiful Jordan. What makes this trip special is all the fun activities (mountain biking, camel riding, camping, hiking/scrambling and canyoning) along the diverse lanscape of the country, mixed with spentaneous cultural interaction and all the sighseeing and unique heritage sites. For more information please Click here.

"Are You Inviting Us To Lunch?" the Captain asked!

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 00:24:00 GMT

Photos by various

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By Tala Bassam Momani

One of the most fun things I've ever done is kayaking off the shores of Aqaba in the South of Jordan on the Red Sea; I went there not long ago with a friend of mine. We started paddling out to sea, bobbing up and down with the waves and fighting against the current that kept trying to push us back to shore. Seeing a tour boat in the distance we decided to paddle towards it and say hello to the people on board. Easier said than done! After a back-breaking 20 mintes of non-stop paddling we arrived, too breathless to say anything! The Captain and his crew waved down to us and said 'Are you inviting us to lunch?'. At that particluar moment I had no idea what they meant by that. But after deciding that we'd had enough of kayaking for the day, we clambered aboard the boat (with the Capatin's permission) and dragged our kayaks on board for the trip back to terra firma. It was one of the crew that later explained to me the meaning of the Captain's words: apparently fish have a habit of congregating around boats and ships and the fishermen in Aqaba have an agreement with the ship and boat crews there – in exchange for one third of their catch the fishermen are allowed the opportunity to fish around the ships and bigger boats. You learn something new everyday. In any case, I'm afraid lunch was on the Captain!