Wadi Rum, Jordan – Staying with the Bedouins
Staying with the Bedouins in Wadi Rum
Staying with bedouins was an amazing experience with small kids! I highly recommend it. Again, my research found little when trying to find what to do in Wadi Rum with kids… most information I found strongly suggested NOT taking young kids because of the hiking and climbing. We knew these things were not options for us, but we still wanted to go.
Me on a camel holding two kids.
My husband had used a guide for a trip he did years ago in Wadi Rum… Yusef. We arranged for a night’s stay in a bedouin tent in the desert. Once we got to the town of Rum, they had camels for us. Erich took our four year old. Our seven year old had her own camel. And I had our two year old along with the baby. We took a forty minute camel ride to our destination… what a ride. We headed through town and when the road ended, we kept going.
Our destination was Yusef’s family tent, not a tourist tent. We hung out for the late afternoon. We had no agenda… it was heaven for the kids to just run around the desert and explore. They served us dinner of rice, chicken, salad and yogurt in a large platter on the ground. Our only utensil was a large spoon. They provided a tent for the kids to sleep in for safety from bugs and such. Once the kids were asleep, the rest of the family came out for a traditional dinner of fire baked bread, and goats yogurt. We slept in the tent… bear in mind, one entire side was open to the desert. Woke up to the sunrise.
Erich took the two older girls hiking in the morning before breakfast. They climbed some of the rocks we were located near. We had breakfast… cheese, jam, bread and tea. Took a jeep back to the town of Rum where our taxi was waiting to take us to our hotel in Aqaba. Tomorrow we head to Petra! Click here to read about our Petra Trip! Petra with Kids!
A few things to note:
1. May want to bring hand sanitizer, and those baby wipes will really come into good use, as there is really no running water and they use squatty potties… Turkish toilets… hole in the ground.
2. Warmer clothes for the kids once the sun sets. They did provide sleeping mattresses and blankets, although I cannot imagine how long it had been since they had been washed. If you are a bit of a germaphobe… this could be a bit of an issue. Consider that sand is fairly clean, so…
3. There are other things they offer like jeep rides through the desert, but we found just sitting and spending time where the kids can run around and play was a better option for us and them.
4. Arrange a time for your taxi driver to pick you up the next day, take his number and give him a reminder call… just in case.
Waiting for tea to be ready!
The bedouin tent we stayed in and our view in the background
Eating dinner in the Bedouin Tent
Really enjoyed reading your post. We are planning to travel with a nearly two and nearly four year old so am quite apprehensive. Reading your post however has alleviated some of the fear. My nearly two year old is far too heavy to carry on the back. Would you still strongly advise against a stroller when going to Petra?
It depends. We had a double stroller and it was loaded down with A LOT of water. 1. A single stroller is much lighter. 2. There are plenty of places to get water inside of Petra, so you don’t need to bring a lot. Keep it light and low key and it may be fine. Just remember, HUGE stones for part of the walk in and out. Once you get to the colonnade, all sand. So, hard to navigate there as well.
Enjoy. It is a wonderful place to visit! HOWEVER, and I forgot about this. You can hire donkeys to ride to the far end and back. They can be a little pricey and they will try to get more out of you at the end saying it was so hot and so long and …. yada yada. But that is also an option.
Hi there: I just discovered 20 Suitcases because I have a 20-month old toddler and was pondering “where can we go for a vacation as a family?” I’ve always wanted to go to Jordan. I’m so happy to read your post, looks like we’re going to try this adventure too!
Lovely! Have a wonderful time. Our kids loved it and we loved it!
Sounds like a great adventure. We’ll be heading there with our kids next month. I’d love a guide recommendation, if you’re willing to share. Great blog template…we have the same one. LOL
I’m sorry I did not read your post earlier… hope you had a wonderful time! Glad you like the blog template!
Hi there! My family w/ 7 year old son will be going in April, which guide did you use? Thanks!
Hello Lilly,
Fabulous! You will love Wadi Rum. We used a guide that my husband knows personally from taking groups there for several years. Let me get his information and I’ll pass it along to you asap. He can speak English fairly well, but his written English is very phonetic… so you’ll need to think that way when reading his emails.
Hello Lilly,
Check out “Wadi Rum Tracks” on Facebook. Yusef is the guy who runs it…