The main event (aside from sleeping in the desert) while we were in Wadi Rum was a 2-hour sunset jeep ride through the desert. The girls especially were pumped!
Wheeee!
We hoped into the back of a Toyota pick-up truck and held on tight! Our driver, Mohammed, had a heavy foot and got a kick out of our squeals in the back as he sped along the sand. Sadie had her mouth wide open and said “I love eating wind!” Paige was having a total blast, her face & dimples lit up with the BEST smile :)
We zoomed around for about 1.5 hours, admiring the beautiful sand and rock formations. One stop put us squarely in front of a huge sand dune, which we trudged up (hard work!) and sprinted down. The girls were loving it. Another stop was to check out the main filming spot of Lawrence of Arabia.
Sunset Selfie Shenanigans
Our final stop was to sit & admire the setting sun. Our truck pulled up alongside about 100 other copycat white pickup trucks. Turns out we weren’t the only ones out to catch the desert sunset :) We found a spot to sit and watch the dropping sun. Two women had placed themselves in front of all the sunset spectators and were snapping alternating selfies for no less than 20 minutes. It was ridiculous and distracting. We were remarking with the girls about how absurd it was . . . how people feel compelled to portray an image to others that isn’t always their truth . . . that it was disrespectful to all the people watching the sunset that they parade themselves in front of everyone for their own posed photos . . . that in the midst of taking all their photos they actually missed SEEING the beautiful sunset behind them . . . sure, they had a picture, but they weren’t present & didn’t authentically experience the moment.
Real Talk
The girls generally seemed to get what we were saying and agreed that it was silly & inappropriate what the women were doing. We’ve seen a lot of people posing for the camera in our travels up until now (so this wasn’t our first conversation on this topic), bodies contorted to have *just* the right angle that makes them look the best they can. I actually find it all a bit sad, and I really hope the girls can learn to safely engage on social media in the future and recognize that living their real life - with real people & connections that add substance to their life (as opposed to just portraying images with others over a screen) - is paramount. I hope they really get that everyone has happy moments, sad moments, angry moments, lonely moments, excited moments. And that all of those moments make us who we are. Not just the images/moments that people post on social media.
Sun down, we hopped back into the truck & zoomed off back to our tent camp, Mohammed maximizing his speed to the full glee of the girls & Doug. I thought for sure we were going to spin out of control & end up face down in sand :) We said goodbye & thanks to Mohammed and shed our absurdly sandy clothes. Showers & a change of clothes felt so good! An obnoxious amount of sand filtered out of our shoes, socks and clothes. We headed over to the main dining hall for buffet dinner, and then headed to our final activity of the day . . . star gazing!
Star Gazing
In the pitch black of the desert night two trucks full of people from our tent camp whizzed out to the star gazing base. We sat in the back of the truck with two kids from England (their father sat in the front). The little boy was the first to talk when we sat down. He cheerily said “Hi! How are you guys tonight?” Unbelievably charming & impressive. I can’t remember the last time a kid that age struck up a conversation with an adult stranger with such kind manners & jovial spirit. We had a lovely time chatting with him (10 yrs old) and his older sister (16 yrs old). They were in Jordan visiting their Aunt (who is Jordanian), Uncle & cousin. When we got to the star gazing spot we were able to meet the Dad & we complemented him highly on how well mannered & lovely his kids were. What parent doesn’t love to hear that?!
Learn & Spot
We were heralded into the a room along with other star gazers. An astronomer talked us through a presentation of about 15 minutes, a primer to us going out to look up at the sky & through the telescopes. After the presentation we rotated between two stations. The first was off in the distance, down a path lit with candles in paper bags. A fellow astronomer - with his mega laser pointer - talked us through some of the highlights of the stars, galaxies, planets, etc. we were looking at. Lying there in the sand, eyes up on the star-filed sky - far from the tall buildings of Manhattan - was so peaceful. And we even saw three (!) shooting stars! Such bliss.
We then moved onto the second station which had three professional telescopes, each of which was positioned onto a different feature of the sky. Our favorite was the “Seven Sisters” star cluster. Cool to see stars magnified so much.
Wadi Rum Jeep Ride and Star Gazing sessions in the book. I’d say that was a pretty fantastic day in Wadi Rum! We all really enjoyed exploring this unique, memorable landscape!
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