“Canyoning?” What’s that? Our tour briefing says “…you will have a chance to trek through the water, beneath the towering canyons, and enjoy the wildlife and scenery of the Wadi Mujib Reserve, the lowest nature reserve in the world” (we are next to the Dead Sea). We were told to bring clothes that are comfortable even if wet, water shoes like Teva sandals, and to leave electronics at home. Sounds like fun, and as our human brains will do, we filled in the blanks with assumptions about what exactly this would involve. 

None of us had it right.

We arrived at the bustling visitors center under the late morning heat of the Jordanian sun to find a poster that gave us a much better idea of what we were getting into. At the same time, an elevated walkway perched against the towering cliff told of mystery around the corner.

While we waited (which we did a lot of in Jordan) to begin our trek, we saw many people coming back very wet. And wearing life jackets. Which is what we were waiting for – enough life jackets to return for our whole group. We needed life jackets for this?! Hmmm…

And we finally set off, along the elevated walkway and down a ladder to the canyon floor. At first, it seemed like a perfectly simple walk up a canyon that would involve the occasional traverse of the lazy creek splitting the towering walls in two. 

And then came the warnings. “Do not remove your life jacket” Stick to the rope all the time.” Appropriate harbingers of what was to come! 

In the meantime, we could revel in the breathtakingly beautiful nature scape all around…don’t forget to look up! The cliffs closed in on us, seemingly higher and more menacing as we advanced through them, the view to the sky becoming but a narrow slit through which the sun pushed its way. The craggy edges of the cliffs so obviously told of a time when they were one, pushed apart by an ancient earthquake. Truly puzzle pieces that were easy to see how they fit together. Mother Nature doing her thing over millennia…

At one point along the trek, the sun shined a spotlight that seemed to create light from the heavens (whether you are religious or not, it could not be described any other way). The camera turned the image into something otherworldly…

And then, this became an adventure like nothing I’ve ever done before. The water deepened, the rapids appeared, and the climbing commenced. The calm trickling creek at which we began our “canyoning” turned into a small but raging river, with rapids and currents to navigate. The flow rushed over boulders worn smooth from the sands of time, countless years of the water slowly softening the rough edges of stone.

We waded and then swam through the torrent, progressing only by virtue of the ropes that had been anchored to the canyon walls. We braced ourselves against the rocks as we shimmied along. We climbed make-shift “ladders” fashioned of knotted ropes to grab as you stepped on a chunk of wood screwed into the rock. Pull yourself up here, then step there, then grab this other rope, then brace against that rock while the water rushes through your legs…and keep going. This took an amount of strength and dexterity – and courage – that not all of us had and a couple turned back. The rest of us powered on, conquering the fear that makes you feel very alive. The strength of our team, supporting each other as we went along, learning from the misstep of the person ahead of you, was what kept us all going. We can do this! 

Due to the conditions and basically having to swim, we have no pics of the hardest parts. Zoom in on that photo and you’ll get just a sense of what we’re talking about (this was an easy one).

We kept going, through this pool and that, up another ladder, along another anchored rope, another bend in the river, further encouraged by the canyoners on their return. “You’re almost there!” 

The reward at the end was not just our achievement but an oasis of twin waterfalls (the headline pic) spraying and splashing their never-ending flow of life-giving water. What an exhilarating and alive moment – old friends and new pushing through the challenge together – arriving at a place of unspeakable beauty that so few have the privilege to see. 

We are blessed.