The most amazing, life changing experience in one of the most spectacular places. Wadi Rum and everyone there…..thank you.
Steph DLocation
Terrain
Difficulty
Accommodation and Meals
Hotel, Desert Wild Camping
Duration
5 days
Meeting Point
Aqaba
Annual Leave
4 days
Group Size
Up to 20
Seasons
November to March
Walking Distance
64km
Jonnie, an ex Marine, is a full-time International Mountain Leader.
All the info you need
Trip Details
This trek makes the very most of a short time in Jordan.
Jeeping straight into the desert, to our first wild camp is an unforgettable experience. Hopefully lit by the moon, you will get a taster of what to expect of the scenery after the sun rises the next day!
Over three long days, you trek a route of 64km through the Wadi Rum, camping in amazing locations. When you finish the trek on Day 4, you will transfer straight to Wadi Musa, the village next to Petra. On your final day, you get up very early, to see as much of Petra as you can before returning to Aqaba for an early evening flight back to the UK.
This is a jam packed itinerary, but the solitude of the Wadi Rum will recharge your batteries and make you feel like you have been away for a week or two!
Trip Details
Your journey begins at London Gatwick, the Tribal Tracks leader will meet you at the airport. Setting off on the morning flight, on a direct route taking roughly 5hrs 40mins, we will arrive at Aqaba, Jordan’s southernmost city located where Jordan, Israel and Egypt meet, in the late afternoon.
We will be welcomed by our Jordanian team at the airport and then it is a short transfer by bus to the Wadi Rum where we take to jeeps, and 4 wheel drive, under cover of darkness, deep into the canyons. Following barely perceptible tracks, we have to trust in the knowledge of our Bedouin drivers.
On the way, we can just see the outline of eerie rock formations, highlighted by the cold light of the moon and the stars. Finally, we can make out the welcome flicker of a camp fire, lighting the way to our camp for the night. We arrive, and with head torches on, get our sleeping bags out and organise our tents, before dinner and a night round the campfire under huge, starry skies.
After dinner, we will have a team briefing from the Tribal Tracks leader, who will tell us all that we need to know about the days that follow.
Accommodation and Meals
Overnight in Lawrence Camp, desert wild camping and dinner.
As the sun rises, we finally can see where we are. Surrounded by russet mountains and canyons, sandy dunes and the occasional dromedary, we breakfast and prepare for a long day of trekking.
We begin our adventure by trekking towards the Lawrence House, named after Lawrence of Arabia, who stayed there once, although the foundations of the house are much older, and are probably Nabatean, the ancient Arabian people who built Petra as their capital. We begin to trek, away from the house, over a sandy plain, edged with sheer, ochre red canyon walls, and dotted with stunning rock formations which we can climb and scramble on. We then reach Um Fruth bridge, which is probably the last time we will see any other tourists until our final day. The bridge is a spectacular rock formation, with a narrow rock ledge spanning two larger points, about 20m above the ground. We will have lunch just past this point, before continuing our trek over the plain, and then descending through a narrow canyon. Before reaching our camp for the night, we will have a sandy climb up a moon rock canyon and will be rewarded with specular views across the vast Rum plains.
The sunsets at this camp are incredible, and will we aim to be in camp so that we can watch the sun go down, before a tasty and hearty supper and then a night around the campfire.
9 hours trekking, 23km, 335 m of ascent, 201 m of descent.
Accommodation and Meals
Overnight Sunset Camp - desert wild camping, full board.
We leave camp after breakfast and after an amazing sunrise where we can catch a glimpse of Jordan’s highest mountain, Um Ad Dami, sitting squarely on the Jordanian/Saudi border.
We head westwards, through a very different landscape where the rock formations are squatter and a much deeper red, verging almost on black. This provides a contrast with the sand beneath our feet and the blue sky above. We venture deep into these squat canyons, revelling in the fact that we are the only people there to enjoy this special place. After a hearty lunch, we begin trekking across a plain peppered with unusual rock formations (good for a climb!) before finding our very special final camp. Chasing the sunset again, we climb Pride Rock just behind the camp, where we watch another spectacular sunset. We then head back down into camp where we enjoy Mansaf – a traditional dish and a unique way of eating. Tonight, we can enjoy the magical setting of Candle Camp and learn about the night sky from our hosts, as the moon rises above the ridge behind camp.
8 hours trekking, 21km, 180m of ascent, 200m of descent
Accommodation and Meals
Overnight Candle Camp - desert wild camping, full board.
After an early breakfast, and saving some of the best scenery for last, we begin our trek out of the Wadi Rum, tracing the route made famous by Lawrence of Arabia.
Mushroom Rock and the towering walls of Burrah Canyon, with ancient Nabatean dams are real highlights.
We have lunch deep in the canyons, before following the camel tracks out of the desert, through more winding canyons to where we say farewell to our desert crew and find our bus. We will aim to get there by 5pm, so that we can be in Wadi Musa, the gateway to Petra, by 7pm. We will check in and have time for a shower, before a celebration meal, commemorating the end of the trek and our last night in Jordan.
7-8 hours trekking, 20km, 205m of ascent, 310m of descent.
Accommodation and Meals
4* hotel in Wadi Musa, full board.
After a very early breakfast, we aim to be at the Visitors Centre for 7am. Walking down the narrow siq (canyon), you emerge at the Treasury, the setting for the final scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Trekking through the site to the Monastery is recommended. It’s 3.7 miles from the entry to the siq and involves 909 feet of climbing, but is well worth it!
We return to the visitors centre and eat lunch in the Red Cave restaurant, a great little local restaurant with its own Nabatean cave, before getting on the bus and transferring to Aqaba for our flight home.
Accommodation and Meals
Breakfast, Lunch.
Trip Details
Trip Details
This is what you will need to buy/source yourself.
It is important that you read the itinerary carefully, and take account of the rating we have given it.
Although our challenges are not technical, they do require a good degree of physical fitness. The conditions will require stamina and strength, which you should recognise and train for. This will be a much better experience if you are fit and prepared. You should feel comfortable walking 6-8 hours per day.
In setting the maximum size of our groups, we take a number of factors into account.
Altitude, degree of difficulty, the terrain, the climate and time of year, all determine the maximum group size. Sometimes it will be 20, sometimes it will be 8-14, but safety is always our priority.
The minimum number to participate is 2. You will be accompanied by a Tribal Tracks UK Leader, Mountain Leader qualified, as well as supported by our local, in-country guides.
It is a requirement of Tribal Tracks booking terms and conditions that each supporter must hold their own travel insurance which covers the trip and the activities they are doing.
We advise you to put insurance in place as soon as possible. Your insurance must be valid and in date, covering the entire period that you are travelling for, including the return journey home. It should cover medical and personal accident risks, and should include repatriation costs and air ambulance or helicopter rescue services, where appropriate. We are happy to help you if you have any queries about this or have any difficulties.
Tribal Tracks has 100% Financial Protection and has a trust account with the Protected Trust Service, member number 5566.
This means that all client monies paid to Tribal Tracks are held in our dedicated trust account, which is supervised by an independent trustee. This means that in the very unlikely event that Tribal Tracks ceases to trade, your money is safe. For more information, please visit this link. Any flights booked for you by Tribal Tracks will be ATOL protected under our own ATOL certificate.
Tribal Tracks considers the safety of all of its participants and staff to be a top priority, and as such we have thorough safety systems in place.
In the event of an injury, we have an evacuation plan in place for all elements of the trek route. We do ask that you look after yourself during the trek in the following way, as this will help avoid unnecessary problems:
We know that the unexpected can happen.
While you are away, things can happen at home and people may need to get in contact with you. This can be tricky when you are in remote areas. So, shortly before departure, we provide you with an Emergency Procedure document to distribute to your nearest and dearest. This sets out how to contact Tribal Tracks and the steps Tribal Tracks will then take to get in contact with you.
It is really important that you are well prepared for your physical challenge and that you are confident that you will be able to fully participate.
Although our leaders are well trained to deal with different capabilities, if they have any concerns about someone’s ability to safely partake in the trek, or their impact on other people’s enjoyment, we authorise them to take necessary action which, in some circumstances, may involve asking someone to step out of the trek. Although this is a very rare occurrence, by booking this trip you agree to section 11 of our Booking Conditions which clearly states that our leaders have the authority to do this. In these circumstances, we will ensure anyone sitting out is safely provided for and offered alternative options where possible. Refunds will not be provided for activities missed and customers may be liable for additional costs incurred.
At Tribal Tracks, Responsible Travel is enormously important to us, and our commitment to responsible travel is evidenced in every itinerary that we prepare.
Core to our business is the belief that holidays can and should be enjoyable to the traveller but should be conducted in a socially, environmentally and economically responsible manner which brings benefit to local communities. This is implemented through a variety of measures which can be found in our Responsible Travel policy - http://www.tribaltracks.co.uk/responsible-travel-policy. We encourage you to read this and to play your own part in travelling responsibly.
Trip Details
Trip Details
The trek is a challenge. We will be walking for a long time over sometimes challenging terrain with steep ascents and descents.
The best way to build endurance fitness is to start with some gentle walks and gradually build up both the distance and duration over the next few months. In the last 2 months, we would recommend to go out and do long days, ideally in the hills, to build up the strength in your legs. About a week before the trek, limit any training to short walks – you want to have fresh legs at the start!
For the trek you should be comfortable trekking between 6 - 8 hours per day, but remember we have all day to achieve the distances and will not be going at racing snake pace. It may sound obvious, but make sure that you are walking properly, hitting the ground with your heel first, then rolling onto your toe, which pushes you onto the next step (this will help reduce the risk of shin splints and tendon pulls). Walk with your head up, eyes forward and shoulders level.
It is a good idea to develop a level of cardiovascular fitness (exercising and strengthening your heart and lungs). This comes from running, cycling or swimming for between 20 minutes and an hour, and will really help develop your endurance fitness. Three sessions a week is normally advised, increasing time and distance over time.
Replicate conditions in training i.e., use all the kit you will be using and try your walking poles if you want to use them.
It is important to pack so that you know where everything is. Separating kit into different packing cubes, or even plastic bags can really help with this. You can pack by item (eg socks and pants in one cube, tops in another etc) or by day, putting your entire outfit for that day together in one place. Taking an extra bag or cube to separate dirty kit is a great idea.
You will have two bags on the trip - your main bag and your back pack.
You should operate on the basis that you will not have access to your main bag during the day and while you are trekking. This means that it is important to have everything you need in your back pack. Waterproofs should go in the bottom, together with an extra layer, sunscreen and sunglasses, plus hat and gloves (if you are in a colder climate). You should also have your water bottles, and any specific snacks, medicines or first aid items you want to take, such as zinc tape and blister plasters. Baby wipes/toilet roll and nappy sacks are also essential for going to the toilet while you are trekking - we will explain more in the pre-departure briefing!
An Important part of this challenge is the fact that we will hit the ground running as soon as we land. When we land, the goal is to get through passport control as soon as possible so that we can get on the bus, ready to be transferred to Imlil, where we will have a quick lunch, and then start trekking ASAP to get our 10km in before nightfall.
As such, you should think about this as you pack. Wear your trekking clothes and boots on the flight. Take your rucksack on the flight, as ready as it can be for trekking. By this we mean ensuring your waterproofs are in your rucksack, together with an extra, thin layer, sunscreen and sunglasses, plus hat and gloves. You should also have your (empty) water bottles, and any specific snacks, medicines or first aid items you want to take. This means that before we start trekking, it should be a relatively quick exercise to put your kindle, book or anything else you have had onboard the flight and don’t want to trek with, into your main pack, which will be transferred to the campsite by jeep. Please ensure that if you are using trekking poles, they are packed in your main bag for the flight, as they are not allowed to be taken on board the aircraft.
In the event of an injury, we have an evacuation plan in place for all elements of the trek route. We do ask that you look after yourself during the trek in the following way, as this will help avoid unnecessary problems:
We will brief you in the pre-departure briefing as to the catering specifically for your trip. However, as a guide, each morning you will be provided with a very filling local breakfast, usually accompanied by tea or coffee. Lunch will be during your trek and will be prepared by the team of cooks or we will utilise local restaurants or teahouses. Food will always be ample and tasty. If wild camping, dinner will be in the dining tent and will be traditional, freshly prepared food. If you are staying in a hotel or teahouse, dinner will be served there. Water, tea and coffee will be served and alcohol will usually not be available, although there will be some exceptions. We will provide 4 litres of drinking water per person per day. You will need to fill up 2 litres at breakfast and another 2 litres at lunchtime.
Please ensure that you have notified us before departure if you have any specific dietary requirements or allergies as we can cater for most.
Please inform us of any dietary requirements or allergies before you travel, and preferably at the time of booking. We can cater for almost all diets, so please just let us know. We can't cater for you if we don't know what you need!
You will sleep in shared tents (unless a single supplement has been requested). Mattresses are provided, which makes it much more comfortable! There will be a central dining tent available with rugs and lights where the group can get together in the evening, share stories and enjoy meals. There will also be an open fire wherever it is possible.
Sleeping bags are designed to work by trapping your body heat in the down surrounding you. If you wear lots of layers, your body heat will not be able to escape as effectively, and you will be cold. Wearing a thin thermal layer is ideal. It does sound counter intuitive, but we promise that it works!
Putting your clothes for the next day in the bottom of your sleeping bag will also help with warmth, as it will fill up any spare space around your feet, and it will mean your clothes are nicely warmed up in the morning.
If you find it difficult to sleep without a pillow, we recommend that you take a travel pillow and a regular pillowcase with you. Put your pillow in the pillow case, and use your down jacket/layers to fill out the pillowcase, you will end up with a pretty decent pillow!
And as for stuff or roll when it comes to packing your bag away? We are very much in the stuff camp!
There will be early morning starts, typically around 0600 - 0700hrs, so that the team can set off on the trek in good time. It is important that you pack up your kit before breakfast and leave your bag outside your tent or accommodation so that the crew can load them onto the jeeps and/or mules. There will be a freshly cooked lunch provided on your trek route. The aim is to get into camp before sunset if possible, when you can enjoy a hot drink and snacks. It is important that you change into your thermals and put layers on when you get into camp as the temperatures can drop sharply and you need to keep warm.
In the morning, the Tribal Tracks leader will wake up the group. When you hear the call, please begin to get ready, and pack all your kit away in your 'main bag' before breakfast. Put this bag outside your tent or accommodation as the crew can then begin to break down the tents/load the luggage. Ensure that you have all that you need in your backpack for the day, as you will not have access to your main bag until the next camp (see 'What do I put in my backpack?).
When you arrive into camp, it is important to get changed into different clothes, usually the ones that you will be wearing the next day. Even if you have had dry weather, you will have been sweating, and your clothes will be damp. As the sun sets and the air cools, you will quickly feel cold. Before this, you will want to freshen up and we recommend the 'baby wipe bath'. As there are no showers while on the trek, having a freshen up with a baby wipe will help keep you clean and will make you feel much better, before you put your clean clothes on. Unpack your sleeping bag and get everything out that you need for nighttime, such as your warm hat, jacket, head torch and book. Sort out your back pack for the next day by removing rubbish and replenishing snacks etc.
Doing this before dinner will mean you can get into your sleeping bag quickly, when it is likely to feel cold.
There will be a toilet tent and water supplied for washing in the morning where we can. There are no shower facilities provided during the trek and there will be no toilets either, but there will be a toilet tent in camp in the evenings and mornings. In the pre-departure briefing, we will tell you all that you need to know about how to deal with this.
For up-to-date vaccinations information please visit the NHS website ‘Fit for Travel’ at: http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk. The Tribal Tracks team are travel professionals, but we are not medical experts, and we would encourage you to visit your GP or travel nurse to discuss vaccination requirements. Please remember to take your itinerary with you so that they can see where you will be travelling. You should make an appointment at least 3-4 months before you travel.
In addition, please note that information on vaccinations can change at short notice; we recommend that you contact your Medical Professional or a Travel Health Clinic at least 8 weeks prior to departure for the most up to date information.
We recommend that you bring a multi-region adapter plug with you. There will be no facility to recharge electrical items on the trek, so we recommend you bring a power bank to top up the charge. We also recommend putting your phone on Airplane mode during the day to save on power.
Using your mobile overseas can sometimes attract unwelcome, very high tariffs. We recommend that you check with your network provider before you travel, but if in doubt, keep your phone switched to Airplane mode and use it only when there is WiFi. Reception can also be patchy, and unreliable, particularly in remote areas, which is why we carry a satellite phone with us. Please let your nearest and dearest know about this, and warn them that you may not be able to be in regular contact.
We ask that your luggage is kept to the absolute minimum. We will tell you the weights that you should not exceed, but usually, your main bag should not exceed 23kgs in weight.
It is important that you wear, or take your trekking boots with you in your hand luggage on the flight, as they are vital for the trek and cannot be replaced in the event of lost luggage.
We recommend leaving behind items such as high value jewellery, watches etc. Your passport and money should be always kept on you.
Trip Details
There is always the option to extend your stay, relaxing by the pool for a few days in Aqaba. Please let us know if that appeals and we would be happy to arrange it for you! Aqaba has a lot of lovely 4 and 5* resort style hotels.
Let’s get you on the right track!
