Camel safari tours in Jordan

The words 'beauty' and 'camel' wouldn't normally come up in a word association game, but the word camel does actually come from the Arabic word jamal, meaning beauty. And, when you get over the quirky look of a camel, it does have many beautiful aspects. The graceful walk, the long, elegant legs, the big luscious lips, an almost wry smile at times, as well as those lashes and brows – both so on trend. Might need to work on the teeth though. What is truly beautiful, however, is the camel's ability to endure distance and time without food or water and thus survive in the extreme temperatures of the desert, storing food or fat in its hump. In this case singular as camels in Jordan, also known as Arabian camels or dromedaries, are one hump beauties.

Camels have been making life easier for desert dwellers for generations, providing food, milk and transporting them and their goods from one oasis to another safely and in relative comfort. Today they also play an important role in tourism in Jordan, and are rarely used for personal use anymore by Bedouins. In fact there are no wild camels left in Jordan anymore, although Bedouins do let their camels roam off now and again for a day or two into the wilds.

Most people associate camels in Jordan with a quick camel ride around the great Rose City of Petra which is part of a somewhat commercial caravan. However, by taking a camel safari for a few days into the heart of Wadi Rum, the country's southern desert, you get a feel of not only the sustenance it carries on its back, but also its vast heritage. Camel safaris are usually included as part of a longer cultural holiday in Jordan, with three or four days of deeper immersion in the desert an important part of your tour.

Your tent will have a proper bed and the canvas tent, woven from black goat hair, stays wonderfully cool helped by the billowing layer of silk or some other cooling fabric inside. Many have en suite toilets too. You will dine outdoors, often seated on an array of Bedouin carpets or around a fire, and enjoy traditional Bedouin food. This is absolutely delicious. The most common dish is zarb, or platters of chicken and root vegetables that have been slow cooked in the ground for three hours in a charcoal fire pit, and covered with an array of herbs and spices. You won’t starve on this desert safari, that’s for sure, and you may end up storing a fair bit of your own fat.

During the days you head out on your camels in a caravan, usually linked to your Bedouin leader with a long rope so that you still have plenty of distance between you, and take in the arid mountains, oases such as Lawrence's Spring after you know who (although the Bedouins must be sick of hearing his name at this stage), Jabal Khazali mountain as well as several other exquisite desert elevations, massive sand dunes and the beautiful Burdah and Um Froth Bridges. These latter two are extraordinary natural features in the pink sandstone rock. Khazali canyon is one of the most famous places in Wadi Rum desert which, although it is only 100m long, you can’t help but be struck by the ancient inscriptions and petroglyphs on the walls, especially the ones of camels.

For most people this is a bit of an oxymoron, and you will certainly discover muscles that you didn’t know you had on a camel safari. However, the secret is to just let the body go loose and let it follow the movements of the camel, while holding onto the wooden pommel. Some have stirrups, others don’t, and Bedouin don’t use them traditionally. They will add blankets to the saddle for extra comfort if necessary, but don’t worry about clinging on with your thighs as you would on a horse. The looser the better to enjoy this dance in the desert. And all its joyous jamal.