The Dana Nature Reserve

Late the evening of the 25th we arrived at Dana Village, which looks out over the vast area known as the Dana Nature Reserve.  The little village consists of a couple hotels, a couple houses, and a small market, but it had everything we needed.  We arrived at our hotel just in time for dinner.  It was bedouin style, with many trays of food placed out on a table.  The biggest problem with this setup is that everything is so good, and you can keep going back for more!  After dinner, we were served some bedouin tea (right on!) and then enjoyed some really good bedouin music and dancing.  Cathy even got up and danced with everyone else!  After that, we got a good night's sleep so that we were ready to hike.

We woke up refreshed and got a ride down to the camp site in the heart of the reserve.

  From there, we were able to choose from different trail options, ranging from easy to difficult.  As crazy as we are, we just did the really hard ones.  The first trail took us to some old caves that were once used as a church.  This was evident in the carvings inside the cave.  We hiked back to the camp and had a late lunch that had been prepared for us by our hotel (how nice, and it was free!), with fruit, eggs, and bread.  After lunch we decided to hike the hardest trail, which took us all the way up the side of the mountain to the top, and then back down the other side.

We were so ready for dinner when we arrived back at the camp.  It was different food, served in the same style...and it was just as awesome as the night before!  Food is such a powerful point on any trip...don't miss the local cuisine when you travel!  Anyway, we enjoyed a nice relaxing night at the hotel, but we negotiated a taxi early in the morning to take us up to the Dead Sea and Madaba in northern Jordan.