An Epic Day – B-Strohs of Arabia

Today, we rode camels and jeeps in the Wadi Rum Desert and then swam in the Dead Sea… EPIC!!! We woke up this morning in our tent to find that we were in a sandstorm coming from Saudi Arabia. We got dressed, packed and then headed outside for breakfast. Outside, the desert stretched on forever, the only things that broke it were huge mountains of rock. We ate quickly and then walked out of our campsite to a spot where some camels were waiting for us to ride them. We all eagerly climbed on. We walked through the bare desert stopping occasionally so the camels could get some bushes to eat. We walked for about an hour until we came to the spot where our jeep was waiting for us.

We said goodbye to our camels as they walked off in the distance and then got on the jeep. We hopped on and drove around the desert. We came to a spot where there was a sand dune that was literally 200 feet tall. We began by sprinting, but got way way way too tired so a sprint migrated into a slow crawl up the hill. When we finally got to the top, we were all exhausted, so we took a break. After our break we took turns sprinting down the hill and not trying to wipe out in the process. After leaving the sand dune, we had taken at least half of the desert with us: hands, face, feet, ears, eyes, legs and many other sections of our body. We had a great time walking and driving through the Wadi Rum desert.

Lastly, we went and swam in the Dead Sea. In the Dead Sea, there is 32% salinity, and the ocean is 4%, so the water is SUPER salty. The Dead Sea is 1,200 feet below sea level, so it evaporates and you are left with very salty (salinity content) water.  Sadly, the sea is slowly shrinking as it continues to evaporate and doesn’t get replenished so it is shrinking by one meter a year.

Everyone says that you can float in the Dead Sea, but I wasn’t sure that was 100% true. We threw our bathing suits and raced down to the ocean. We got in the water and waded out to a point where we could just barely stand. I laid back and was floating! It was insane, I could just sit back and relax without sinking. Absolute relaxation comes at a price though, I accidentally got a small bit of the water in my eyes, and it felt like my eyes were being set on fire. Also, my whole face stung from the extremely salty water touching it. Then, I accidentally swallowed some, and it tasted like vomit and fire being thrown into my throat. Sometimes, people cover their bodies in mud, so they can get vitamins. Well, we tried it!

We had an EPIC day in Jordan: Camels, Jeeps and swimming in the Dead Sea all in one day!