It Doesn’t Get Any ‘Bedouin’ This

Wadi Dana Nature Preserve

Like you I’ve watched numerous movies in my life that show the nomadic lifestyle.  Images of living in tents, sleeping under mosquito netting, riding camels and stallions, fighting off desert sandstorms and knife-wielding thieves, the desperation of water shortage in the unbearable heat of the sun, and the relief of finding a precious oasis of life-giving water springs, eating snake cooked over an open fire and encounters with deadly vipers and scorpions.  Did I miss anything….oh yes, the damsel in distress and the handsome hero who crosses the vast wasteland to rescue her from her abductor.

As romantic as that all sounds, it was not quite my experience.  However, the adventure of living among the Bedouin in Jordan was definitely memorable.  Our professor was very clear with the tour guide and Bedouin groups that hosted us that we were to get the authentic Bedouin experience, no frills.  So other than bottled drinking water, we were treated as one of the desert people.

We entered the whole experience slowly, spending a few nights in the Wadi Dana area with somewhat more comfortable accommodations e.g. clean sheets, cold but working showers and well prepped food. We visited an abandoned village, now used for eco-tourism within the wildlife reserve of Wadi Dana.  

Gettin' my bedouin on in Shobak

We hiked down 6,000 feet to the floor of the valley and 10 miles to our destination at an EcoLodge run by Bedouin. Then we entered into a bit more basic environment in Shobak, where our day was spent under a Bedouin tent, and eating food out of a communal dish with our fingers, learning some of the traditional ways of the Bedouin e.g. coffee roasting, grinding, and making over open fire; crushing wheat; and grinding lentils using traditional tools.  We even took our hand to the plough with donkey at the lead.  Let me tell you it looks easier than it is!

Entertainment by Mohammed - one-string tin can thing

Our host family was very hospitable and willing to share the ways of their Bedouin tradition with us. Our six day adventure ended with two nights in the Wadi Rum.  This breathtaking expanse of red desert sands, interrupted by outcrops of immense sandstone mountains with their sheer faces and rugged cliffs reaching into the blue limitless sky is ‘indescribable’ – in other words I can’t find appropriate words or pictures to truly describe this masterpiece of God’s creation…..I’m left standing and say ‘how can one say there is no God?’ when beauty like this is found in the most desolate of places.

Helping in the kitchen

Most of the Bedouin today have abandoned their traditional nomadic lifestyle and located into housing settlements, often still herding goat and sheep.  Today they no longer need to wander from place to place to look for their needs, e.g. grazing fields, food and water, because they can simply truck it in to where they live.  The government encourages them to settle in one place, so that their lands can be used for other purposes, development and eco-tourism for example, which has become a large part of Bedouin livelihood. 

Goat-hair tent

We arrived at our camp by four-wheel truck, passing by the fancy tourist camps, with their air-conditioned tents, hot showers & private toilets.  Arriving at our camp we were greeted by our Bedouin host family and our home for a few nights.  A large 800 lbs. goat-haired tent nestled up under the shadow of a huge monster of a mountain and strategically placed for protection from sand-blowing winds and direct sun. I wondered where all thirty of us would sleep. 

On one end of the tent was a divided wall where the host’s wife, toddler and teenage daughter would spend most of their time.  I learned that most of the Muslim women are generally kept away from men not related to them.  Fortunately, as a woman I had the privilege of spending a lot of my time with the women in the family and made it my goal to connect with them, the highlight of my time in both Shobak and Wadi Rum.  The language barrier made communication a bit of a challenge, but many of the Bedouin youngsters attend schools and learn English, with an eagerness to practice. Their English vs. my Arabic…they win hands down, Shukran!

So we sat.  The edge of the tent, was coolest we learned, still in the shade of the tent, but feeling a slight breeze pass over the sweat on your skin.

Honestly, straight up sweet tea with sage

We visited, while we drank another cup of mega-sweetened tea flavoured with sage.  We learned that tea with loads of sugar supplies one with quick energy in the heat of the day and helps regulate body temperature more effectively than a lot of cold water. So any time is tea time under the Bedouin tent.  Did I mention the 30 shared cups rinsed repeatedly in the same cold water tub, no soap, for two days?  Surprisingly no one in our group got sick to the stomach, but I still wonder about the diabetes stats in this culture.  

We slaughtered sheep and cooked traditional meals, both in a pit under the ground and boiled over a fire in goat yogurt sauce.  

Traditional sheep slaughter
 = supper

We sat and visited some more and shared stories.  Life is slow paced.  It felt like we were always waiting for something, perhaps tea, perhaps the next meal.  For the westerner who is used to constant activity, it is an exercise in slowing down and being.  We watch the colourful sunset turn the cliff faces a glowing orange-red.  Breathtaking.

Sunset over Wadi Rum

By the campfire we listened to the ‘oude’ (10-string lyre) string out its melancholic Middle Eastern song. Our group spread themselves out all over the desert floor.  We slept under the canopy of a billion or so stars.  With a not so 5-star supply of dusty blanket and equally dusty foam mattress we managed to sleep well in the cool of the desert night, until the light of dawn peered over the horizon and another slow day began.  

This time we experienced the nomadic taking down, moving and setting up the heavy tent in a new camp. 

What are these for?

It takes only 2 Bedouin to raise a tent
but 26 students to do the same

Getting a bit too friendly

Camel Caravan

A three hour camel ride to the new camp site sounds a lot more romantic than it is.  Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of fun and a ‘recommend, must-do’ experience.  The bruise on my back from the saddle horn did heal eventually, so not the most comfortable of rides to be had.  However, those camels fair well in the hot sun and their sturdy steps in the loose sand are much more progressive than a walk by foot would be.  They are friendly as well, especially if you are willing to share some pistachios.  We stopped half way for tea cooked on an open fire shared with our Bedouin guides.  Once we arrived and set up camp, the day pretty much progressed as the day before.

Little Achmed and his mama

I found it interesting to consider that the Muslim Bedouin life is very much centered on the weather.  Rise early for prayer and then take the flock out to graze while it is still cool enough and just before the heat of the noon day sun, stop for prayer again and cease work while all, flocks too, find shade to wait out the scorching heat of the day.  The evening prayer precedes the cool of the day, when it is time to take the flock out to graze once again and when the sun sets, the day ends with prayer and sleep.  Of course, we can’t forget tea together – at least eight times a day.

The toilets are there....dig a hole.

The most challenging part of the whole experience would have to be the lack of privacy.  No port-a-potty, very few hiding places and sharing these non-enclosed ‘facilities’ with 30+ others.  Let’s just say there were a few embarrassing moments, fortunately, none had by me.  I’m also done with eating sheep in any form for a long time, especially the kind with grit in it.  My chipped molar says thank you. I prefer using utensils and having my own personal plate of food.  I also prefer clean tea cups that aren’t smeary on the rim and clean sheets to sleep in.

Moon over Wadi Rum

Not complaining though, it was an amazing adventure.  We've gotten a glimpse of life from the vantage point of the ancient peoples, the Israelites of the Bible, tribes, traders and merchants and even soldiers who came to battle over lands or defend their territories.  Reading historical accounts, especially Old Testament texts suddenly come to life when you relate to the context in which they are written.   So, putting aside some of my personal preferences for a bit more modern lifestyle, I have to admit that we did sign up for a cultural backgrounds experience and “it doesn’t get any Bedouin this!”