Another Petra-Perfect Day

After completing some bureaucratic requirements my colleague Bruce McKeeman & I entered into the park and found that there was a Park Ranger presence like we hadn’t seen before: was the King returning? Nope: probably response to accident a few days ago that resulted in a park visitor having her leg broken when a speeding carriage’s horse bolted from another horse, and jettisoned the lady from her carriage(#5). She was asked not to report the incident by the carriage driver (who has been in custody), but fortunately “she did” before going to the hospital where she spent the night. We then hiked up the Al-Khubtha stairway/trail. This leads to views from above The Treasury probably seen by less than 1% of visitors to PAP. They are my main photos posting tonight. Note the stairways leading up to south (left) on he 2nd photo. After descending we met a mother-daughter travel-team (from DC & NYC) that were a delight to talk with. Shortly afterwards we witnessed an incident by a PAP employee that we are in process of bringing to attention of park management, as it was uncalled for and potentially had an adverse effect on intact cultural deposits (artifacts). As in "the reason for this Park." Of course, this former Park Ranger/Special Agent and archeologist didn’t like that.

Which leads me to the subject of T. E. Lawrence (aka “Lawrence of Arabia”). In reading recent bio: Hero, I learned that his dad wasn’t the cad I took him for from the reference to him in the movie. His dad actually left his 1^st wife (nicknamed by the household staff as “The Queen of Vinegar”) to follow his heart to be with T.E.’s mom (leaving his title and fortune behind when his wife refused him a divorce). He changed his name and they had many progeny together. T.E. went to Oxford after attending the City High School of Oxford (his dad was an Eton grad). The summer before his last year at Oxford was spent on foot in the “Middle East” collecting data for his senior paper: he was awarded a “first” (no surprise there). After graduating he had many options, but settled on field archaeologist at Carhemish. He was there for four seasons and quickly became a co-field director with his counterpart interested in monuments, leaving him the material culture for study and analysis. Most archaeologists only dream of such a gig (of course, then there is “Indiana”.. I have to admit my career wasn’t bad either…and my sisters can tell you about my bullwhip long before Jones was conjured-up). Another thought about Mr. Lawrence & Film vs. History: he was a well seasoned traveler in the area, that played politics with generals ("fishing" for approval of his plans) before being "sent out." He also had a deep-seated desire to be Heroic in the classical sense. As I read on, I believe he met that obective (that and being a stoic)...

Ma'an-iac Express

On Sunday, we tried to get our visas extended for 30-days. It was our 30^th day and the guide books say it is a simple process: just go to a police station and you will be in-n-out pronto. However, the actual procedure is a little more complicated- you need to obtain a certificate of health. In this case it must be from the Ma’an Medical Center, even if you have a letter from your doc back home saying you are A-OK and one of his medical practice partners is from Jordan (they’ve probably heard about the health care issues of the USA and insure you are healthy, or make sure you haven’t been sneaking a visit to the Chinese massage parlors in Aqaba). We were going to be driving to Amman, so we took a short detour to get the necessary medical certificate.

Ma'an Museum

Our 1^st challenge was going to be finding the Medical Center. They use the universal sign for hospital (“H” in a circle), but hospitals and Medical Centers aren’t always co-located. Just outside Ma’an , I approached 3 Traffic Police working on Hwy. 15 (there are 3 types of civilian police forces here: Tourist Police [that I’ve been working most closely with], Traffic Police [working the roads of course], and the General Police Authority [that sent us to Ma’an on the Medical Center quest in order “to follow our procedure”]). Using my best Arabic (which is limited to a few phrases) I showed my passport & visa while trying to convey I wanted directions or route to the Medical Center for the visa health certificate. They defaulted to their English: “Where you from?” and “well-come.” In retrospect I forgot the universal offering of police-speak: donuts (and me being a retired LEO). Anyway, I eventually used the word hospital and was quickly told to turn right here and go 2-3 Km (anywhere but here as I was probably blocking their view of oncoming traffic). We found the hospital, and were ushered into the office of the medical director. He informed us that indeed we needed an AIDS test (they obviously do know of western life-styles here, but one wonders “why after being here for 30-days already?”) and the prized Medical Certificate, BUT you don’t get that here: we still had to go to the Medical Center which wasn’t here. The director had a staffer lead us by car, via a route with only 5-turns to get to the Medical Center.  There we learned we had arrived at the correct location; we had our blood drawn (for 20JD)- the medical tech didn’t glove-up, and told to come back at 12:30 on Thursday as the results won’t be ready until then. In the mean time, our visas have technically expired, but no one really seems to mind. So, it was off to the big-city (Amman) and meetings-in-the-morning. Such is the life-n-times of the Benevolent Bureaucrats with the Petra Arachaelogical Park Ranger mentoring program.



Amman

I learned that my mom (Margaret Ann Newlin Young-Renihan) has been in the hospital since last Thursday. She was originally suffering from internal bleeding that has been remedied. With assistance, she was able to sit-up yesterday and is probably facing some long-term rehab efforts and care... THANK YOU for your thoughts-n-prayers...

The Sands of Time Sculpt Slowly

(aka- Ranger, Ranger- oh, where for art thou Ranger?)

Working with the Petra Park Rangers continued today (Sundays are 1^st day of the work week for many here, but of course there are always Rangers here on duty: 24-7-365). The issue of unauthorized donkey-ride and child vendors continues unchanged. One aspect that Rangers have worldwide is recognition by the uniforms they wear. Here the Rangers wear parts of their uniforms, but many are indistinguishable from tour guides, other locals and visitors. So today we asked all of the on-duty Rangers we met: what hat would you wear? (given 7 choices). The winner was a dark ball cap with “PARK RANGER “ across the front and along the cap bill.

Many of today’s tour groups were from Italy & France. Maybe it is because I’ve been married to a Medici that I found myself thinking: Romans have been coming to Petra for thousands of years. Had some nice chats with folks from UK, a senorita from Mexico City, + some energetic student types (one was doing hand-stands and cartwheels at the High Place of Sacrifice) from California, Colorado and Texas (I attended college in all three of those states).  16-days until Meme arrives (not that I'm counting). We're both looking forward to seeing some sights (like each other) and diving the Red Sea.

Enjoyed again climb up the stairs to the High Place of Sacrifice. Here are some photos from up there:

Looking down towards The Fortress



Down towards Basin

Akmed (aka Capt. Jack)





Twin Pillars at High Place of Sacrifice



  

from there to here... and back again

So why has visitation increased from 175 per day in 2005 to 3,200 by 2008?

The Monastery



Theatre





Royal Tombs







Mass in Urn Tomb







The Treasury



I think that even with all of our faults, flaws & shortcomings (the definition of human) it is the heritage of that humanity that pulls us here (and through).

"I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles..." [The Who]

It doesn’t take many miles east of Amman before you realize the guide book nailed it: a flat featureless desert that covers 80% of the country and is home to 5% of the population. Our sortie towards the Iraq border was in order to visit RSCN’s Azraq Nature/Wetlands Preserve. Like other RSCN Reserve’s there is investment in socio-economics (something I’ve called “social capitalism” since the early 70’s). They employ local artisans in making painted ostrich eggs, eco-board games & puzzles, recycled paper, textiles, packaging, etc.

The Reserve is a fraction of the former wetlands, as it was pumped dry in the early 90’s in order to provide water to Amman’s sprawl (many Palestinian refugees) and agriculture. On bird count day in 1967 over 340,000 birds were counted; by 1991 it was 1,200. RSCN has helped to rehabilitate 10% of the wetlands: some birds and water buffalo are back.

The drive south through miles and miles of flat desert-varnished terrain reminded me of the sea when it is like glass (only its antithesis due to the dryness of it all: figured “no way cold a desert tortoise survive here”). As I drove, I thought about our last two dive trips (Isla Marisol, Belize; Taveuni, Fiji), with a smile towards the approaching clouds of dust & sand. A good thing about the rocky portions of the landscape is that it least keeps some of the sands in place for a while. Just so you know, it is possible to get rain during a dust & sand storm, and yes, you do get a nice muddy slime on the window. We arrived back in Wadi Musa in early evening. Tomorrow marks 4-weeks that we’ve been in Jordan. We’ll be doing something that has been very rare: taking the day-off. Probably for some reflection time we hope that the government of the USA passes a budget or continuing resolution [inshallah], so we can remain here working with Park Rangers (though we’re retired from NPS, our travel here is paid by the Dept. of Interior ). Have a great day…     

"On the Road Again..."



Poppies & olive rees



Another beautiful day in northern Jordan: had successful meetings with representative from Royal Society for Conservation of Nature (RSCN) at Wild Jordan facility in Amman. This was followed by an excursion to the Ajloun Nature Reserve (ANR) about 90-minutes north of Amman.

http://www.rscn.org.jo/RSCN/HelpingNature/ProtectedAreas/AjlounForestReserve/tabid/96/Default.aspx

The RSCN is building a RANGER ACADEMY at ANR that will be training Rangers from conservation agencies and organizations from this region of the world. OUTSTANDING idea & effort!

Now about the drive north: For his native southern Californian (“born in Burbank”) the Mediterranean environment was very familiar. Spring has sprung in these hills, and at one point I “flashed-back” to home of long ago: green grassy hills, eucalyptus (exotic) & olive trees (where did they put Villa Cabrini); oaks and wildflowers + Manzanita-like trees. The area will certainly carry fire.

oaks & flowers

The ANR ecosystems support abundant species of flora & fauna; it reminded me of a former assignment I had a Santa Monica Mountains, and I learned that the ANR Director was going there for training in earl May. Like other RSCN projects, ANR does more than conserve resources for the benefit of the public’s future. They are pro-active with eco/heritage-tourism and economic partnerships with local communities: in this case via houses of calligraphy, soap, and biscuits where natural products are produced for sale in RSCN shops (FYI, The Tasali Jordanian Delights: Molasses and Tahini Sandwich Cookies are delicious = I’m going to try hard to refrain and get a container home).

Phil

Amman Today, Tomorrow...

The Citadel

We were in Amman today (and tonight & tomorrow) working towards a 1-day workshop later this month on “Best Practices in Protected Areas.”  A host of folks and organizations will be invited. It shows the positive efforts being taken here, and how important the national patrimony is to most Jordanians. They know many of their sires truly have world-wide significance.  We took a brief tour of The Citadel between meetings, and I’m just going to let some photos do the talking here…