The four-wheel drive vehicle rattled over the desert stones between Wadi Rum village and the Mohammed Mutlak Camp. A vast silence washed over us the moment the driver turned off the engine. A dust storm had passed through earlier in the afternoon but now there was no sound of wind, bird or beast between us and the rust-colored mountains on the horizon.
Anyone who has visited a seashore, forest or meadow thick with birds and insects will know that nature isn’t always quiet. In his poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree the poet W.B. Yeats wrote of a bee-loud glade, cricket sings, low sounds by the shore where “And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow…”
But the peace of the Wadi Rum desert dropped quickly like a cotton cloud over ears that were still ringing from the cacophony of ordinary life. The previous night we had accidentally booked a hotel across the street from a UN peacekeeping rock concert in Aqaba. The loud peace concert kept us awake far too late so the silence of the Wadi Rum was welcome.
Our children each found a personal hollow in a wind-worn rock formation to sit and listen to the silence and remember their names. (A wiser person than me once said, “In the desert you can remember your name.’Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.”)
The Covid-19 lockdown silence wasn’t as sudden or complete. We no longer heard the sound of the motorway three kilometers away but we could hear a dog barking somewhere between our home and the vacant airport. Birdsong suddenly seemed so loud that our 13-year-old complained of it in the morning. We could hear the tide rush in and out of the gates of the railway, though trains were now a rarity. When did I last see a sky so unmarred by a contrail? When did I last experience an April with so many consecutive clear days and so little rain? Ah yes, the Wadi Rum desert!
As the lockdowns ended and ordinary life returned I had nearly forgotten about the desert and its silence. But again I was reminded of it while watching Dune(2021.)
Parts of this movie was filmed at this same rock formation near the Mohammed Mutlak Camp. The actor Jason Mamoa played Duncan Idaho in the movie. In this short video Jason explains how the beautify and silence of this desert touched him.
Thankfully we didn’t see any giant sandworms during our visit. We didn’t encounter scorpions, insects or snakes either. Though we wondered what might be lurking just beneath the surface.
Something lives in the sand in Wadi Rum
Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert served as the real life location of T.E. Lawrence in the film “Lawrence of Arabia(1962).” It was a stand-in for the planet Mars in The Martian.
In their own way each of these films celebrate the beauty of this amazing place. But all fall short of capturing the full experience of the silent desert. No hum of machinery, no highways, flowing rivers, dogs barking, power lawnmowers, leaf blowers. Some of the camp’s electricity came from green and silent photovoltaic(PV) solar panels so we didn’t hear any diesel generators or loud transformers. Jordan’s Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein is urging the implementation of a Wadi Rum development master plan to improve infrastructure for tourism. Hopefully this can be done without leaving behind the eco in ecotourism.
My family practised some yoga on a rock as the sun set. A short time later Mohammed Mutlak’s campfire chefs prepared a beautiful meal and tea for us. They sang, played guitar and drum. We laid back on a blanket and watched the stars.
I became interested in astronomy during the days of the Apollo moon missions but light pollution gradually encroached on the night sky I once knew. Most people now live their lives without ever having seen it and explaining it becomes like explaining a seashore or sunset to someone who spent their lives inland or indoors. Sometimes I wonder if this loss is some part of what is wrong with the world. The wonder of the desert sky inspired so many poems, stories, songs and works of art. When we lose touch with what the ancients knew, maybe we forget our place in the universe.
Some dust was still in the air from the afternoon storm so the sky wasn’t as clear as it might have been and yet I’ve seldom seen so many stars.
We were only there for one night but the organizers of the camp made us feel welcome, safe and comfortable. The next time we visit we can explore other parts of the desert and maybe try more adventurous things.
If you need a break from the loud and fast-paced world, you might find your peace of mind in the Wadi.
