March 1 and 2- On to the Ecolodges and Unintended Adventure

We sadly left our Dead Sea luxury to travel to the Dana Biosphere Reserve for two nights of less than luxury.

After we turned off the Dead Sea Highway to head into the mountains,

we stopped at Karak and the ruins of one of the largest Crusader castles in the Middle East. Dating from the 1140s, it enjoyed a position that allowed it to control both the Bedouin nomads and the prosperous trade route from the Dead Sea.

The castle features the original kitchen rooms, residential areas, a dining hall, a church, and a courthouse room and numerous prison cells without light (one that housed 80 or more prisoners at a time. Our local guide also talked about the route prisoners would take- from the cells to the courtroom to the hanging area. I said that maybe some would not go to be hanged and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Never". 

We continued on to Jordan's largest reserve, the Dana Biosphere. The landscape varies from wadis (deserts) to mountains. We checked into the spartan Dana Guesthouse near the village of Dana. 

Dana Village from our guesthouse

the route from Dana to the Feynan Ecolodge, supposedly an easy 15 km walk downhill

very rocky trail!

We had a great local guide, born and raised in the village. His English was pretty good and he was excited to show us things along the way- the wild oregano and other plants, to talk about the diversity of animal life, and the way of life for the Bedouin. 

There had been a lot of snow in February and the trail was full of rocks and gravel that had run off down the mountain. It made for difficult walking. I was having a hard time with the loose footing but soon it wasn't the trail that was a problem for me. I think it was heat exhaustion- but whatever it was, I was suddenly very sick to my stomach. This was not good news when we were just two hours into a six to seven hour hike. I knew I couldn't walk for another five hours, so our guide called a "Bedouin Taxi" for me. Soon one of his friends appeared with a donkey. 

I have never aspired to take a donkey ride, but I was incredibly relieved to have a way to get out of my predicament. It was not comfortable, but it got the job done. 

After a lunch stop (or, in my case, a nap stop), the donkey and his owner left us and we walked a ways further to meet with another contact of our guide. This man (and one of his 25 children from one of his three wives) had driven up in the worst looking 4 x 4 that I have ever seen outside a demolition derby. It says a lot about how badly I was feeling when I didn't even hesitate to get in. I thought we might die, but I kept telling myself that he had driven this route up to get us, so it could be possible that he would get us down. I closed my eyes so I did not see the route we took over and down boulders and sideways over the banks of dry creek beds. 

Finally, we reached our destination, which was an ecolodge, an interesting place with no electricity in most of the building and a completely vegetarian menu. The rooms were really comfortable (and they did provide electrical lighting in the bathrooms) and I was incredibly happy to be able to have a shower and a good rest. 

After that, I felt well enough to walk a ways with Barry and a guide from the lodge to watch the sunset from a nearby viewpoint.

We passed a Bedouin village along the way,

and then sat and watched the sky.

We returned to the ecolodge and ate by candlelight, then followed the path of candle lanterns to our room where I slept very well indeed.

In many respects, it was a pretty awful day. I've never been sick like that before; we were grateful to have a guide who could find help, even though they were the most expensive taxi rides we have ever taken. We have always recognized that travel does not always going to go according to plan and we are okay with that; it's part of the experience. Some of these experiences I could do without, but we got through it safely and we have another story to tell.