Seeking Water in the Jordan Desert

I had a lot of fun goofing off in the Jordan Desert of Wadi Rum. Although I had rented a car and drove to the desert, the car was not desert worthy. I parked it in a safe location and was transported by locals to my Bedouin camp where I was to spend several nights in the desert.

I paid for daily excursions by jeep from an experienced driver each day to experience the vast desert. I think the cost was around $120 total for two half day trips.

I had a good driver as he was eager to please and had a great sense of humor. Another local joined us, not that he did anything, but I think there's not much for locals to do in the desert, so he saw an opportunity to interact with a foreigner and perhaps garner a tip.

Actually there is at least one fun activity for locals in the desert:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/fun-in-the-jordan-desert

On the first day of the trip we stopped at a random place with a large dune. I left the jeep to climb the top. There was no one around except the two Arab men who accompanied me so I thought I'd take a goofy selfie video:

I think it's obvious to all who watch this that I spent way too much time in front of the television set as a child watching those trite western programs. The urge overtook me and I just went with it.

The two Arab men were about 50 yards away but they observed. I could here them both laughing at the making of my silly video.

The next day we ventured out again. Of the many stops we made, one was at an old abandoned, dry well. I saw my video op and knew this was a place to continue the silly saga of looking for water.

This time I requested the driver to help by filming me from a distance. Here you can see me trying to make it to the well, with a big disappointment at the end:

Both of the men got a huge kick out of my silly videos. I could tell the driver wanted to be a participant on this and not just a cameraman. Give a guy a camera and he always wants to be in front of it!

The adventure continued to a final scene. Here I found a pristine area to shoot the grand finale. Knowing the driver wanted to be a participant, I dreamed up one last silly scene.

This time, with the passenger local Arab man behind the camera, we shot this:

This last one took three takes because that cameraman kept breaking up during the shoot and shaking the camera. Really! No professionalism!

Under threat of no tip, he steadied his hand and we got this last take. Now, for reference, I look at the water and say Maha? That's the name for water in their language and it's what's written on the bottle.

I look at it and tell him, "I only drink Dasani!"

In retrospect I should have used a more familiar and more expensive reference such as Evian, as I was trying to give the appearance I would rather die of thirst than to drink a water inferior to Dasani.

I was so glad to have a couple local guys with great senses of humor. They were a lot of fun to spend the hours with in the desert sun.