Friday, September 27
Imagine waking up at 4:30 am or so, as you normally do because you have to pee. Then realize that you’re in the desert and the lights have all been turned off, and the toilette is across the camp and behind the row of tents on the other side of the camp. Also realize that it was hot when you went to bed so you’re not wearing a lot. That’s how my Friday started and it made me realize how incredibly lucky I am that this is an adventure for me and not my everyday life.
Around 6:15 am, the group that was camel riding this morning were up and out to meet their rides. Nanci and I opted not to join them, having had the fantastic experience we did in Morocco riding camels as the sun went down over the Sahara. We slept in til 7:00 and then with a glass of tea and some bread in our bellies, jumped in the 4X4s to head back to base camp for breakfast. Enroute we met up with the camel travellers and they squished into the 4x4s with us for the last 10 minutes of the trip back.
After breakfast, we joined up with our trusty bus again to traverse the short distance from Wadi Rum to Aqaba on the Red Sea and our planned snorkelling outing. What an amazing transition.
We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and threw on our swim suits, grabbed our sun screen and jumped back on the bus for our afternoon of sun and fun, and lunch on board a lovely boat equipped for snorkelling and scuba diving.
This was my first time in the Red Sea and was one of the main reasons we chose the Highlights of Jordan trip instead of the National Geographic one which doesn’t get as far south as Aqaba. Aqaba is one of only 2 ports that Jordan has along the tiny slice of access they have on the Red Sea, wedged in between Israel and Saudi Arabia It’s a bustling beach destination for Jordanians with lots of hotels, restaurants, bars and night clubs. Yes, night clubs in a Muslim country, primarily visited by foreigners.
Once on the boat, Hakam pointed out to us the unbelievable views of the countries we could see from our location: Jordan; Israel; Egypt; and on a clear day Saudi Arabia.
Our first snorkelling stop was called the Japanese garden. It’s an area of beautiful coral in many shapes, sizes and colours of white, pink, blue, and fluorescent yellow. I’ve been lucky enough to snorkel at some great spots in the world, and the fish life here was not that exciting but the coral was really lovely. The water was warm and clear, with good visibility.
The snorkelling guide was really helpful for anyone that needed help and in particular for one of our group who had never snorkelled. When I jumped in, the air tube came off my mask and thankfully one of our group saw it go down and was able to grab it for me. The dive guide was able to re-attach it for me in the water. He did a great job of herding cats and keeping us all together and safe.
After 30 minutes or so in the warm water we moved to another site to see an airplane that had been submerged for divers to explore. But for snorkelers, or this one at least, it was not that exciting. Some of the fellows with Go Pros spent some time trying to capture each other underwater with the plane in the background. I enjoyed just bobbing around in the small waves and watching the others play. Before long we were back on board enjoying our lunch of chicken and the regular accompaniments of rice, pita, hummus, etc.
After lunch we had some free swim time and got into jumping off the upper deck of the boat. Tom definitely won the prize for style, doing back flips in, and Thomas did a horrendous belly flop that must have hurt but only a few of us were brave enough to make the jump. And of course you know I was one of them. When am I going to start acting my age?
After our excursion, we had some down time at the hotel and then walked down the road to a seafood restaurant for our dinner. I had fish and chips and for the first time ever, the fish was sea bass. It was delicious but the fries were better in Morocco.
Some of the group went out to a bar on the rooftop of a major chain that had a great view and a DJ playing music. I was exhausted and to be honest getting tired of being with people 24/7 so I begged off and spent the time working on my blogs and catching up on FB, Instagram and surfing in the hotel lobby.
As you will know, time spent on the water is always special time for me, and this day is one of the highlights of our Jordan week.
Lois' Adventures 