Jordan Trail – Day 2: Sunburn & Serendipity
JORDAN TRAIL
Day 2: Sunburn & Serendipity
March 31, 2025
PART I
Well-rested isn’t exactly how I’d describe myself upon waking the following morning, given that the howling wind had kept at it for most of the night. That said, the promise of another day filled with views and adventure was enough to get us all hyped up and ready to go.
Not before breakfast, though. It was at that exact moment that I knew Dalia was going to become one of my favourite people ever. With the fire beginning to die out, Doug busied himself feeding it with branches that Eid had collected the previous day. Quickly and subtly, I instructed Delia to berate him for using the sacred Ramadan Stick – whatever that was – and thereby ruining their Eid celebrations. Her acting was top-notch, and Doug fell for it hook, line and sinker. We all had a good laugh at his expense, which was exactly what we needed to shake off our grogginess and begin another day of hiking.
This was also when we started a new tradition of announcing, ‘Time on!’ and ‘Time off!’ whenever we needed to resume or pause our smartwatches during a stop.
A Valley Made for Napping
Much like the first, the second day offered some unreal views. The route involved slightly more climbing, but, all in all, we felt that it was a relatively easy day.
We began by following trails around the Sharah Mountains before descending into one of the most picturesque and idyllic valleys I had ever encountered. I don’t think I had ever experienced such a peaceful and tranquil setting during a trek. It was just so, so quiet. The sun was warm without being too hot, and the breeze was gentle yet fresh. Pure bliss.
This was where we stopped for lunch. As soon as we had eaten, we all settled onto the ground to enjoy the sunshine. I was lulled into a foolish sense of security, only to wake from my seemingly perfect nap completely sunburnt. The others had been enjoying their peaceful slumber in the shade, blissfully unaware that their companion was being burnt to a crisp. Serves me right for making fun of Rafael’s dorky hat, huh?
My newfound lobsterhood wasn’t our only problem, though. It turned out that we had all failed to notice that one member of the gang had gone missing. Doug, who had distanced himself from the group for some solo meditation, failed to reappear at the agreed time, leaving Delia and Athallah searching all over for him. Luckily, my ear-splitting shouting echoed through the valley and successfully reached him. He was only a couple of hundred metres away – fast asleep. From then on, Doug was to be accompanied by someone at all times. Â
Why We Were There
As we continued climbing, we also kept learning more about each other. For instance, I discovered that I was the youngest and Lara was the oldest, even though I had assumed she was in her late twenties!
John had been running since the age of eight and was preparing for an upcoming run across Tanzania. Lara had a murderous dog that had occasionally killed deer. Hans lived close to the Alps and practically knew them like his own back garden. Doug liked to put on a husky voice and address everyone using medieval titles such as, ‘My Lord!’ cause he had once been obsessed with Game of Thrones. Delia had completed her PADI Open Water Diver course the previous year and was considering making diving yet another profession. And, well, I was quickly discovering that Rafael was a natural at trekking!
We also discussed how each of us had ended up on the trek. For John, Hans, Rafael and me, it had been pure serendipity. It was something we had stumbled across and immediately decided that we wanted to do. For the others, the reasons were quite different. Lara’s grandmother was from Palestine and had appeared to her in a dream, telling her to visit. Given the circumstances, Jordan was as close as she could reasonably get. Doug, meanwhile, owned a coffee-table book featuring some of the world’s greatest treks, including the Jordan Trail. It had apparently been on his bucket list for around ten years.
Regardless of why or how, we had somehow all found ourselves there. With the magnificently gorgeous scenery accompanying us throughout the day, we considered ourselves incredibly lucky. Even when Tarrad bit into a tomato and spat it all over Rafael. Especially then. What a beautiful, beautiful donkey…Â
PART II
Furon Ahead of Schedule
Maintaining quite a quick pace, we followed the mountain trails overlooking the Wadi Araba valley – all the while accompanied by more spectacular views. I swear, I could never get tireed of looking at such vistas!
Despite the numerous hydration breaks and photoshoot stops we took along the way, we  reached our campsite around an hour ahead of our estimated arrival time. The second campsite was at Al Furon and had a glorious west-facing view, making it the perfect sunset spot. More importantly, it also had glorious, glorious showers – real ones.
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Having applied layer upon layer of sunscreen and covered myself almost completely, I was ready to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with the gang. With little else to do, and with me regretting not bringing a pack of playing cards, we decided to play a more conservative game of I Spy. It might sound stupid and childish, but then again, so were we. Somehow, it kept us entertained for a full hour. Still, we had a long way to go before dinner.
That was when Doug remembered that he had brought Yahtzee. Having never played it before and generally being quite unlucky, I warned everyone that I would probably suck. I was doing terribly at first. Then, a herd of bleating goats wandered past, which I naturally assumed had brought me good luck. The tables suddenly turned, and I somehow won the first round. I just love how the universe always has to prove me wrong, even when it works in my favour. Â
Sticks, Stars and Soup
We then played a round of drawing the shortest stick to establish the order in which we would shower, cause absolutely everything had to become a game with us.
As the sun went down, and John captured the perfect time-lapse, we enjoyed a meatball soup and spent another few hours chatting and stargazing. By this point, we were completely capable of recognising Orion’s Belt and Ursa Major without any help. Impressive, right? It only took me a couple of decades.Â
