Tropical Desert Adventure

Last Friday saw me chest deep in a fresh stream pushing through reeds and wondering where my machete was.  This is Wadi Hasa - one of the few streams left flowing through Jordan.  I was with a group of 9 other students and Fulbrighters, led by two guides who knew the Wadi like their own hand.

One of the first turns in the stream dropped over a ledge into a deep pool.  We were instructed to cross our arms and go for it.  The drop was about 15 feet.  It was such a thrill.  Thus started our tedious 4 kilometer trek following the stream bed and various instructions such as, "At this waterfall, brace yourself against the rocks on either side, and stick your foot partially down and into the waterfall to find a ledge.  You must launch yourself off this ledge or else you won't clear the rock at the base of the waterfall just under the surface that will break your knees."  We jumped off cliffs, waded through mud, caught crabs, pushed through some more reeds, battled up against the current and sought out overlooks that were breathtaking.  Local boys followed us for a ways and watched us as we cliff jumped before launching their skinny, browned bodies into the pools.

Here I learned that the mud filling our shoes is the same mud that fills the Ahava Dead Sea Mud bottles.  The mud at the Dead Sea is too salty to be good for your skin without being desalinized first.  Thus, streams such as the one flowing through Wadi Hasa are harvested for their fresh, and just-as-nutrient-rich, mud.

As you can probably guess, no cameras - as they were bound to be destroyed in the water.

At the end of the hike, we skipped streams to follow a hot spring into a pool that was dammed up a little to create a natural jacuzzi.  Our guides made tea as we rested our bruised legs in the warm water. It was incredible: sitting their in this hot spring surrounded by reeds and trees that flourish around this rare stream, and just a little beyond the large yellow mountains of the desert that make up most of Jordan.  I had to pause and turn to my friend to say, "Kaitlin, look where we are!"