HORSEBACK TREKKING IN JORDAN
WADI RUM AND THE GREAT SOUTH
(Wilfried Colonna & Sabbah Ataeq Al Zalabieh, in 1993)  

 
Um Zeligeh - Photo  DOMENECH

The trek "Wadi Rum and the Great South" is conceived for the accomplished rider, who loves the great open spaces, their silence and their freedom. Nowhere else will you be so struck by the changes of mood, of colours, of the differences in the minerals and even of the plants.

And no! Wadi Rum is not a real desert. Scientific opinion speaks of semi-desert...

The mountains, veritable fortresses carved by the vagaries of the wind and rain, act as a charm. Anyone with imagination will luxuriate in the baroque scenes of the rocks, alternating with the rococo of the sandstone colours. Canyons, "wadis" (or valleys), plateaux, sand dunes, all provide the background for the most wonderful trails.

The ride takes us close to the north of Saudi Arabia, to the eastern edge of the massif in which you can find within a few dozen square kilometers a countryside offering the sandy valleys of the Sahara, the dry plateaux of Mali or the towering vertical buttes of Arizona.

Do you know what mud flats mean to us?? Something that incites one irresistibly to the maddest gallops, to the most rhythmical canters. In fact, they are great stretches of flat clay plains, formed by the evaporation of the water from the infrequent but violent rainstorms.

Not far from there, cultivated fields flourish right in the middle of the desert, reminding us of what is needed for everyday life : fruit, including citrus fruit, and fodder for the animals flourish here. A proof that everything is possible with water and hard work.

The ancient peoples understood this. They built dams, dug wells, installed irrigation systems, toiling ceaselessly; the Hebrews, the Nabateans, the Thamudic tribes, right up to the Bedouin in the recent past have all left traces of their determination and labour. Many puzzles remain unsolved in this region. We are reminded of the time when the Gods and Man's belief in them were necessary both for survival and for honour.

Ladies riding in Wadi Fora

Before you leave Jordan, you will also pay a visit to Petra. The "Rose City of the Nabateans" is something else that will excite your imagination. Remember too, that long before Petra existed, long before the temples we see today were carved into the red sandstone there, one of the greatest prophets passed by in this country and left behind the indelible mark of his convictions. His name? Moses.

If you can read up a little about Islam and its practices and traditions, you will understand the Bedouin better when you meet them.

Galloping on the Disieh mud flats

The length of the daily ride will be fixed by all of us together, taking into account our own rhythm, our wishes and the necessary needs of our steeds, not forgetting the great spaces around us. The evening camp is everybody's affair.

Our riding treks, among the first to be organised in Arab countries, aspire also to share with you the great discovery - a fundamental one - that of the true Bedouin Arab horse - "a fundamental race".
 

10 days Europe-Europe.
8 days in the country/9 nights (3 nights in a hotel, 6 nights in bivouac). \
6 days on horseback, complete with all meals, horses with English harness (cavalry and stud saddles),
Back up personnel entirely from the local Bedouin, logistical support in four wheeled drive vehicles,
Professional guides (speaking French, English and German), transport within Jordan and entry to sites included
A full day visit to Petra,
A free day for shopping, bathing or snorkelling in Aqaba. }