Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
as the Badia slides into 1000km of nothingness, interrupted only by the occasional succu-
lent, a wandering camel or camouflaged lizard.
When you travel along empty Route 10, it's impossible to imagine that anything could
survive such desolation. But then, miraculously, you reach Azraq Wetland Reserve, a
desert oasis attracting epic numbers of migrating birds. Herons and egrets fish patiently
among the croaking toads, and predators such as the desert fox, wolf and jackal lurk bey-
ond the fringes of oases waiting for a careless desert hare to run out of luck.
Some desert species ran out of luck a long time ago, hunted to extinction before conser-
vation became part of the modern sensibility. In Shaumari Wildlife Reserve there's a
chance to see the animals that once roamed these plains before they are reintroduced to
the wild.
Jebel is the Arabic word for (usually arid) moun-
tain. Jebel Umm Adaani (1832m), the highest peak
in Jordan, lives up to that description. 'Wadi' is the
word for (usually dry) watercourse or flood chan-
nel. Wadi Mujib belies that description with its per-
manently flowing water.
