Salty Dogs

Wadi Mujib to Al Mazra'ah

Distance: 31.39 km
Time: 1:44:00
Ave Speed: 18.1 km/hr
Max Speed: 50.3 km/hr
Temp: 26 C
Weather: Hot, melty, salty air full of flies

Thanks to the high eastern cliffs blocking out an early sunrise we slept in late, lounging in the tent listening to DN! and eating scandalously delicious Optimum cereal (thank you Eric!). We had the entire day to get 25 km south, where a CS host expected us, so we moved very slowly.


Camping over the Dead Sea cliffs

Wadi Mujib is technically a nature reserve, the only canyon along the Dead Sea that requires payment. Ironically, enormous pipes have been installed here to channel the aqafir's water back to Amman, draining the only wadi not already sucked dry by irrigation pipes. Much of the arid land along the sea is used for expansive monoculture crops (mostly tomatoes), which, coupled with the large Potash and Bromine factories, cause water pollution and are very quickly draining the Dead Sea. We were told there is an enormous piping project that will bring water from the Red Sea here, only to have it flow back down to the RS.


Wadi Mujib "nature reserve", no longer flowing with water

Chris and I pulled over many times to admire the salt-crystalled coast and turqoise water. We found a spot to lock the bikes and jumped the railing, carefull climbing down the steep rocks and out to the beach. The previous water level is clearly visible, a ring of razor sharp salt sleets about 20 feet up. Near the lapping waves are flat sheets and bulbous mushrooms of snow white salt balls, shining in the midday sun.


Tropical looking Dead Sea coast

We stripped down and slowly emersed into the cold water. Chris has been here before (in '99) while this was my first time feeling like a buoy, bobbing at the mercy of the waves. My feet popped up to the surface as if I were reclining in an invisible chair. We tried to be decadent and eat pomello strips in the water, however completely unable to escape the swarm of obnoxious flies. Giving up, we quickly packed and scurried up the sandy hillside, eager to wash off our sticky, sweaty, salty skin. We had strategically parked near a roadside water pump, dumping a few bottles of well water overhead before climbing back on the bikes to continue south.


Crystal salt puffs at the Dead Sea

It wasn't long before we arrived in Al-Mazra'ah, welcomed home with William, our CS host.