Tony Howard have pen, will travel
“ There’ s a race of men that don’ t fit in, A race that can’ t sit still”
The bard of the Yukon, Robert Service. at our ropes and climbing equipment.“ I will take you to my father’ s camp in the desert”. Heading south, we were surprised to see yet more mountains which had been previously hidden from view, their sandstone domes rising like petrified cumulus clouds from the orange sands. Finally topping a dune we descended into a concealed sandy hollow ringed by cliffs, then over another dune to arrive abruptly at the hidden camp. His father welcomed us and invited us to sit whilst he prepared coffee, a time honoured ritual show of hospitality when welcoming guests. We were then offered tea whilst we explained why we were there.“ We hope to climb your mountains”, we said,“ and if the climbing is good, as Daifallah says it is, we can write about it and more climbers will come. If you are not happy with that, then we can leave, but we hope it might be beneficial for you”.
After talking with his father, Daifallah replied,“ My father thinks it is a good idea. We know many climbs, so we will be happy to help you. We are making dinner for you. You are welcome to stay tonight”. It was the first of many wonderful days with people who were to become the closest of friends and as luck would have it we soon discovered that their dira or traditional tribal area included all the best mountains and trekking areas. It is not considered to be sahra,‘ desert’. Nor is it empty, every individual knows the names of the smallest canyon, valley, sand dune or crack in the mountains. Individual or collective memories are attached to such places which often derive their names from tales told and shared around the campfire- a place which Lawrence rightly called“ the university of the desert”. In fact, the mountains and ravines are so complex that without our newfound friends freely imparting their wealth of knowledge we would never have achieved so much in a few weeks.
During this exploratory period we became familiar with the sandstone rocks and their peculiar architecture, as bizarre as Gaudi’ s cathedral. At first sight appearing loose and friable we discovered not only that good climbing was possible almost everywhere, but the maze of desert canyons and easier scrambles also offered a wealth of unique trekking and safari potential. With advice and help from our Bedouin friends we also discovered some of their unique climbs to the summit domes of Jebel Rum. We were in awe of their boldness in climbing VS rock on routes of 500 metres or more, often alone and with just a gun for hunting ibex, though we managed to impress them by reaching the top of one of the very few summits they said were still unclimbed. The Tourism Ministry were also happy and sponsored two more trips to Rum as well funding the initial Cicerone guide to‘ Treks and Climbs in the Mountains of Wadi Rum’.
By then we had realised the whole of Jordan was unexplored from the point of view of adventure tourism and we had a bonanza of discovery over the following years. The Tourism Ministry were busy with other projects but a friend put us in touch with the Royal Palace and HM Queen Noor generously gave us the use of a car and palace driver- wonderful times! The result was a guide to Jordan: Walks, Treks, Caves, Climbs and Canyons, later followed by a guide to Walks, Treks, Climbs & Caves in Al Ayoun, covering the delightful hills and valleys of the north.
During these years we also found time to slot in exploratory trips elsewhere in the region. In Egypt we climbed and trekked in Sinai and, with the Egyptian Tourism Ministry’ s help, in the Red Sea Mountains. There we discovered some mountain areas ripe for adventure tourism development and once again had help from the Bedouin. Later, a friend of ours, Ben Hoffler further developed some wonderful trails there- The Red Sea Trail and The Sinai Trail. But it wasn’ t to be. Back in Cairo, Egypt’ s Tourism Ministry had an unfounded deep seated mistrust of Bedouin and closed down the trails, thereby destroying a new and important source of much needed income for them, as well as for Egypt. A huge opportunity missed.
In a similar vein, sponsored partially, or more often totally, by tourism companies in Libya, Palestine, Madagascar and North East India, we continued our life of exploration of wild places, in return offering photos, magazine articles and, for our newfound Libyan friends, helping out on their stand at the World Travel Show in London. It was there we made our first contact with Palestine- their stand was
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