Day 07 - Into the Wilderness: Aswan to Aqaba, Wadi Rum Jeep Tour

This morning and very early with a 4:30 wakeup call so we could make our way to the Aswan airport and catch our charter flight to Aqaba. We flew over a portion of the Sinai peninsula and up the Gulf of Aqaba off the Red Sea. Coming off the plane we felt the fresh breeze and were excited to be in a new country! As we began driving, Mohanned explained the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which become its own nation in 1946, two years earlier than Israel. The top three sources of income for Jordan are phosphorus, tourism, and agriculture (Egypt’s are the SUEZ canal, tourism and cotton). 

We made our way directly to Sun City camp in Wadi Rum where we had lunch and checked into our tents and domes. Then we took a sunset Jeep ride through the desert of Wadi Rum. We stopped for a lesson with Dr. Greer, who spoke on the purpose of the Law that God gave the Israelites in the desert. We finished our ride as the sun set over the western horizon, casting a glow on the already red and orange sandstone dunes.

If this desert looks familiar it may be because you have seen it in several films including Lawrence of Arabia, Martian with Matt Damon, and the live action version of Aladdin.

In the evening, we were treated to an authentic Bedouin dinner of lamb and chicken cooked underground on a grill rack surrounded by coals, called "zarb". Every kind of salad and vegetable imaginable accompanied the meat on the buffet as well as desserts and fresh fruit juices.

After dinner, we met under the starts to listen to Dr. Greer tell two stories which the ancients would have told, one of creation story and one flood story, showing the superiority of God in Genesis 1.

We are planning on going to bed early tonight as most people want to get up and see the spectacular sunrise here. Thank you for following us so far and for praying us along our journey!