Around Wadi Saabit
A 3 Day Jeep Safari
This is an exciting 3 day/2 night program, taking you far to the south away from Rum Village and into the valleys close to the frontier of Saudi Arabia. It is an adventure programme and you will sleep in the desert under the stars, each night in a different place, far away from any camp.
Day One: We start off with our classic jeep tour as given in the programme "A day with the Bedouin". We start in the village and drive first to Lawrence's Spring and then to the red sand dunes in Wadi Um Ishrin and to Jebel Anafishiya where you can also see some Nabatean inscriptions. We continue, visiting "Lawrence's House" from where there are some great views and then to the Barragh Canyon. Here we have lunch. There is an optional short hike in the canyon for about 1 km. In the afternoon we drive to where we have a view up the mountain of the bridge on Jebel Burdah and then to Um Fruth Bridge (which you can climb if you wish - it is about 20 m high) and Khazali Canyon.
(Note: We don't usually actually visit the Seven Pillars of Wisdom since this is very clearly visible from the Visitors Centre. We can go there if you wish, but there is not really all that much point since it is better seen from a short distance away.)
A 3 Day Jeep Safari
This is an exciting 3 day/2 night program, taking you far to the south away from Rum Village and into the valleys close to the frontier of Saudi Arabia. It is an adventure programme and you will sleep in the desert under the stars, each night in a different place, far away from any camp.
Day One: We start off with our classic jeep tour as given in the programme "A day with the Bedouin". We start in the village and drive first to Lawrence's Spring and then to the red sand dunes in Wadi Um Ishrin and to Jebel Anafishiya where you can also see some Nabatean inscriptions. We continue, visiting "Lawrence's House" from where there are some great views and then to the Barragh Canyon. Here we have lunch. There is an optional short hike in the canyon for about 1 km. In the afternoon we drive to where we have a view up the mountain of the bridge on Jebel Burdah and then to Um Fruth Bridge (which you can climb if you wish - it is about 20 m high) and Khazali Canyon.
(Note: We don't usually actually visit the Seven Pillars of Wisdom since this is very clearly visible from the Visitors Centre. We can go there if you wish, but there is not really all that much point since it is better seen from a short distance away.)
At the end of the day, instead of going to the camp to spend the night, we head south into the deeper desert and shall sleep for the night in Wadi Fur'a, about half way between Rum Village and the Saudi Arabian frontier. This will be a desert bivouac, such as we make for ourselves when we go into the desert: We choose a sheltered spot out of the wind and where the early sunshine will not wake us too soon everybody helps to gather dead wood for the camp fire, we sit around it to talk as the food is cooked and, except in the deepest winter, we sleep on mattresses under the stars, cosily tucked into blankets or into our own sleeping bags. Water will be available for washing as much of yourselves as you want to. We supply soap but not towels for this. Just find a private place in the rocks and go to it! You can sleep near to the fire or move away from it to have more privacy, just as you like.
Day Two: We continue south - now we are really in the desert and far away from the village and the usual tourist track. We pass numerous red sandstone massifs and through Wadi Noghra we reach the lonely Wadi Saabit, one of the longest and widest of the east/west valleys. Wadi Noghra is at the end of the Khasch Ridge, where we bring people hiking on several of our programs. At the end of Noghra we arrive finally in Wadi Saabit. You will probably see many camels here, especially in the spring when they are there with their babies.
Day Two: We continue south - now we are really in the desert and far away from the village and the usual tourist track. We pass numerous red sandstone massifs and through Wadi Noghra we reach the lonely Wadi Saabit, one of the longest and widest of the east/west valleys. Wadi Noghra is at the end of the Khasch Ridge, where we bring people hiking on several of our programs. At the end of Noghra we arrive finally in Wadi Saabit. You will probably see many camels here, especially in the spring when they are there with their babies.
We are heading towards a tiny valley, hidden in a cleft of the cliffs and well protected by an area of soft sand. It is quite difficult to drive anywhere really close to it, you might have to walk at the end. This valley, known as the Siq um Barid, ("the cold canyon") is hidden in a cleft of the mountain close to Wadi Noghra and on the northern edge of Wadi Saabit. Even when you are only a few meters away, you don't realize that it is there. It's perhaps 50 meters long, delightfully cool and green and the inscriptions there show that ancient people knew and used it. There is a place where water collects when it runs off the mountains and the many drawings of ibex show how the people lived by hunting. The inscriptions at the entrance are most unusual - do they represent identification of certain members of the tribes or of important people? Nobody knows or has any better idea about this.
In the afternoon we across the dried stream in the middle of Wadi Saabit (this is sometimes an exciting crossing!) and on the southern side, we head west to another unexpected tiny valley close to Jebel Albzouri of which the walls are completely covered with inscriptions. They are quite incredible, no drawings this time, just writing in an unknown alphabet. These inscriptions have been copied and recopied but to my knowlege have never been translated. One wonders why the valley has been singled out for this. There is a Natatean well at the far end, which seems to indicate that the Nabateans had something to do with this, certainly they knew about it! The western end of Wadi Saabit is the area where most of the camels are to be seen. The valley is more open here and wider, the high cliffs are mainly in the east. While many of the camels are owned by the local Bedouin tribes a large proportion are brought in from other areas where the grass is less abundant. Some of them are even brought from Saudi Arabia!
In the afternoon we across the dried stream in the middle of Wadi Saabit (this is sometimes an exciting crossing!) and on the southern side, we head west to another unexpected tiny valley close to Jebel Albzouri of which the walls are completely covered with inscriptions. They are quite incredible, no drawings this time, just writing in an unknown alphabet. These inscriptions have been copied and recopied but to my knowlege have never been translated. One wonders why the valley has been singled out for this. There is a Natatean well at the far end, which seems to indicate that the Nabateans had something to do with this, certainly they knew about it! The western end of Wadi Saabit is the area where most of the camels are to be seen. The valley is more open here and wider, the high cliffs are mainly in the east. While many of the camels are owned by the local Bedouin tribes a large proportion are brought in from other areas where the grass is less abundant. Some of them are even brought from Saudi Arabia!
We continue to the west towards the area around Jebel Sweibit. We are still in the heart of the red sandstone area of Wadi Rum, the scenery is spectacular and the many small massifs dot the landscape. The shadows are getting longer as we settle into our new bivouac.
Day Three: We start heading north again, back towards Rum Village. The adventure isn't over but it's coming to an end. We are driving through one of the great climbing areas of Wadi Rum where some of the most experienced climbers come regularly.
You will notice that the sand takes on a different colour as we leave the south. It's still red but not as pink as in Wadi Saabit and the area around it. In fact the sand often has a different colour in different places, ranging from white up to really deep red.
We have a choice of roads for the way back: straight north past Jebel al Moghar and to Jebel Qatar and its dripping well, and past Jebel Khazali to arrive in the village. There is also another way further west, which follows the beginning of the Desert Road to Aqaba before heading through some beautiful and unknown valleys to arrive in Wadi Rumman to the west of Jebel Rum. Wadi Rumman was used by the Army at one time and has suffered for it but it is now mostly visited by climbers since many of the routes to climb Jebel Rum start from there. If we have time we could go to the very end of it, where the oryx enclosure is but we are not very likely actually to see any of the oryx. The enclosure is huge and they are usually hidden away in the little valleys running back into the mountain.
Like all of our programs, this tour is flexible: You can choose to leave out a day or add a day from another program to it (for this we suggest a day from the Wadi Rum Adventure selection). It is norminally a jeep program but if you want to get out and walk for a bit, there would be no difficulty.
Day Three: We start heading north again, back towards Rum Village. The adventure isn't over but it's coming to an end. We are driving through one of the great climbing areas of Wadi Rum where some of the most experienced climbers come regularly.
You will notice that the sand takes on a different colour as we leave the south. It's still red but not as pink as in Wadi Saabit and the area around it. In fact the sand often has a different colour in different places, ranging from white up to really deep red.
We have a choice of roads for the way back: straight north past Jebel al Moghar and to Jebel Qatar and its dripping well, and past Jebel Khazali to arrive in the village. There is also another way further west, which follows the beginning of the Desert Road to Aqaba before heading through some beautiful and unknown valleys to arrive in Wadi Rumman to the west of Jebel Rum. Wadi Rumman was used by the Army at one time and has suffered for it but it is now mostly visited by climbers since many of the routes to climb Jebel Rum start from there. If we have time we could go to the very end of it, where the oryx enclosure is but we are not very likely actually to see any of the oryx. The enclosure is huge and they are usually hidden away in the little valleys running back into the mountain.
Like all of our programs, this tour is flexible: You can choose to leave out a day or add a day from another program to it (for this we suggest a day from the Wadi Rum Adventure selection). It is norminally a jeep program but if you want to get out and walk for a bit, there would be no difficulty.
|
Price:
|
260 JD/person for 3 days for 2-4 people
240 JD/person for 3 days for 5 people or more. Solo traveler price (if you don't join a group) : 520 JD This includes the guide, overnight stays, all meals, water and mattresses for sleeping as well as the guide and car as above. We will ask you to bring sleeping bags if possible, and towels. |
If you are looking for more than three days in Wadi Rum there are a number of possibilities that can be added on to any of the other trips. If you are traveling alone please send us a message and we will try our best to find a tour you can join to reduce the costs and make it as comfortable for you as possible. You can find our general information about our tours here.
