Say "Marhaba" to Jordan

Say “Marhaba” to Jordan

Over the years I have acquired a lot of “expert” titles for destinations all over the world and the one I enjoyed getting a very difficult one, was the title of Middle Eastern Expert”. Not only did I have to do a lot of examinations, and my final exam took place in Amman, Jordan.

My father had lived there with the British Diplomatic Service, and loved it. I give over forty lectures a year and when people ask me for my most interesting trip, I always say Jordan.

Jordan’s star attraction maybe the rock hewn city of Petra, yet most travelers marvel over the fact that their most lasting memories come from meeting its people. Let me create your journey through Jordan that encompasses special moments with locals who possess a zeal for storytelling and charming hospitality.

As you travel from the bustling capital city of Amman to the southern reaches of Aqaba, Jordanians may invite you to join them for mint tea or a home cooked meal. Within remote desert villages, Bedouin tribal culture is famed for its welcoming warmth and hospitality, a virtue known as dyafa. You will quickly become familiar with the greeting “ahlan wa sahlan” and “marhaba” which translates loosely to Welcome and hello but encompass much deeper meanings assuring that you have already become a part of the family.

You will create even more local connections as you travel south from Amman to the natural oasis of the Dana Biosphere Reserve. Here, the 26 room Feyman Ecolodge, lauded as one of the world’s best of the Ecolodges by National Geographic magazine, is surrounded by soaring cliffs and valleys that dip hundreds of feet below sea level. Bedouins teach you how to bake traditional flatbread in the ashes of a fire or to create your own three course vegetarian Jordanian feast. Come sunset, your guide takes you on a desert hike telling stories of his tribe’s connection to the land just as millions of stars burst forth in the night sky.

Travelers are often surprised to discover that Jordan’s natural wonders extend beyond the desert landscape and into its pristine bodies of water, from the healing properties of the Dead Sea to world class scuba diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea. As you travel south to where the desert meets the Red Sea at Aqaba, we will recommend an expert diving guide who is intimately familiar with the kaleidoscope of creatures that live beneath the sea, pointing you toward coral gardens and sunken wrecks teeming with blue spotted rays and timid moray eels. After a day of underwater exploration, retreat to your seaside resort where an attentive staff tends to your every need. We will arrange a purifying spa treatment using healing sea salts and essential oils that are native to the land.

Your journey continues east to the famed deserts of Wadi Rum, where the real life Lawrence of Arabia once camped with his Bedouin allies. Migrating herds of gazelle and long horned oryx are visible as you drift skyward in a hot air balloon. Touch down in time to socialize with your guides while enjoying zarb, a typical Bedouin barbecue of meats roasted in a fire stoked sandpit. Come nightfall, you will slumber deeply within your private tent and rise in the morning just as the sun lifts over fiery red sands. Over a traditional breakfast prepared by your host that includes spiced coffee and flatbread warmed on an open fire. It’s clear that the warmth within this desert landscape comes not just from the rising sun but from the Bedouin guide who has opened his heart and welcomed you into his ancestral home. I was absolutely in awe of the magnificent carpets inside the massive tents, and when the chief learned I was British, and I told him that my father spoke Arabic and had been stationed in the desert with his British regiment during World War 11, he told me more stories about that period of history. He sent for his wife, and asked her to dress me in one of her outfits so I could have a photo taken with him to send to my parents in England.

My father had told me stories of driving across the desert and suddenly seeing an oasis in the distance. This I experienced many times, seeing palm trees and water, and it was very moving to actually ride a camel all decked out in the traditional keffiyeh head scarf which you need when the wind blows, Wadi Rum was an experience I will never forget.

Petra was an exciting adventure. It lies in a basin in the mountains running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Unknown to the Western World until 1812, when a Swiss explorer, Johann Burchhardt, who spoke Arabic dressed as a Bedouin and found the way into the valley. You walk thru a narrow canyon – perhaps 6 ft wide - for several miles and you would never find it on your own. It is estimated that Petra was established in 312 B.,C. and was on the camel trade route. I walked in, and rode a horse out but it was an amazing experience. The people just left, because the water ran out.

There are endless wonders in Jordan. Visit our website – www.froschvacations.com to learn more about this part of the world.

A once in a lifetime experience.

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Ave

Menlo Park, CA 94025

650-961-2340