What can complete with Petra’s man-made and natural landscape? Probably very little, although the natural beauty of Wadi Rum Protected Area’s towering sandstone mountains, dunes, and canyons, is rare and unique in a different way. T. E. Lawrence maintained a camp here and termed the Rum, “vast echoing and Godlike.” Four-wheel drive trucks transport us to our campsite then take us on a wild ride up the Wadi (including a flat tire, changed in less than 5 min!) to view walls decorated with ancient drawings, canyons, camel rides, and Lawrence’s 1917 camp with stone portraits. Afterwards, our dinner is cooked in coals underground in an elaborate series of racked iron pots and we eat under the stars. As there is no ground light you feel you might touch them. Watching the light change the landscape at sunset and sunrise is incredible.
Our final stop is Aqaba, a special economic free zone. After a formal presentation on the ambitious ASEZA Project, tasked to modernize and relocate the port facilities, supervise a tourist complex that will complete with Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, and Eilat, Israel, and enhance the Jordanian economy, we visit the Marine Science Station, tour the aquarium, then have two hours at the Diving Center to enjoy the pool or snorkel. For me, snorkeling in the clear Gulf of Aqaba water among colorful coral reefs and watching a dazzling array of fish, eels, and other swirling marine life, is another highlight of our southern excursion (see aquarium photo).
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