Chapter 1: Wherein the author details the start of her adventure in Jordan

Saturday, May 9, 2009

We were on the bus by 7am and made our way to the Allenby crossing. We made it out of Israel and into Jordan with minimal trouble, met our guide and Jordanian tourist policeman and made our way east and south to the top of Wadi Dana (pronounced like Donna). They have the second largest nature preserve in Jordan and are working hard to be eco-friendly. They have a collection of all the plants and animals that live on the reserve (like bug collections and a herbarium and all). That was really cool. I wish I could have seen everything, but there were too many people and we didn't spend much time there. It was a very exciting day for me, though. It's pretty much the only field study I've been on where any attention was paid to science of any sort (except some geology), so the biological factor of this day was especially fun. After that we drove to the camp, moved into our tents, and ate a rather odd lunch. It contained more "typical" food like flat bread with spices, goat's cheese, cucumbers, and a tomato, but it also had a juice box and a snack cake. Oh, Jordan. I think, though, that it was the first time I've ever eaten a whole tomato. I still wouldn't say they're my favorite food, but I've grown accustomed to them over the last year.

After lunch we took a nature walk - more science, yay! Our guide had grown up hunting in this area, but is now determined to protect the animals. He told us about the medicinal uses of various plants and found a couple scorpions for us to see. Very exciting. It kind of reminded me of the nature walks I used to do with campers, except the most exciting thing I showed them was how to eat ants. No scorpions at camp.

We threw my frisbee around for a while before dinner. It will be a widely travelled frisbee. Dinner was outside after dark. They had a bit of a shelter and a few lamps, but it was nearly impossible to see what we were eating. Oh well, it was pretty tasty and I suffered no ill effects. After dinner we hung out in the bedouin tent, drinking gallons of bedouin tea, talking, and playing games.

It was a fairly chilly night, but our tents were well provisioned with blankets, so I slept quite well.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

The next morning we breakfasted and rode back to the bus and then back to Dana village to begin our decent down Wadi Dana. I would estimate it was probably 6-8 miles. A nice walk, but not too strenuous, especially because it was downhill. However, if it were in the heat of summer, uphill, in full battle regalia (like Judah and Israel in 2 Kings 3), well, it would be a bit exhausting, and frightening.

It was, however, a beautiful walk. The sandstone/granite formations were beautiful and the oleander were blooming, what more could you want? I spent much of the walk listening to people more knowledgeable than I converse about various issues involving Israel, Palestine, the eastern church, and various related theological questions. It was quite enjoyable.

We arrived at the Feynan Eco-Lodge around 3, got our rooms, and were amazed by their luxury. However, we didn't take the time to relax just then. Instead we hoped on some "jeeps" and drove to the copper mines of Tom Levy's excavation. (Note: they seem to call every small 4-wheel-drive type vehicle a jeep. These were actually Toyata trucks, and we got to ride in back. Best day ever.) Many of these mines date back to around the 10th century BC. Copper mines. Perhaps they are the famed copper mines of King Solomon? They were fun to visit anyway. We also paused at the site of Feynan castle. Fun story about that place...ask me sometime. :)

The rest of the day was spent at the lodge, enjoying hot showers, playing mafia, eating amazing food by candle-light, and watching the stars. So far, so good.