THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE DAYS. I’m so excited to share this story!

Mujib Canyon (also called Wadi Mujib or Wadi al-Mujib) is sort of like The Narrows at Zion National Park in Utah, if you’re familiar with it — a slot canyon with a river that you can hike through seasonally.

We happen to visit Mujib on November 9th, a day or two before the season ends. When the river level gets too high in the winter, it’s dangerous so they shut down for a few months. I am THRILLED that we’ve just made the cut-off.

We planned this visit through the front desk of Jordan Tower hostel, who then arranged a taxi service for our day-long trip — Mujib Canyon will take about two hours in the morning, and then during the afternoon we’ll visit a bunch of spots in the area:  Ma’in Hot Springs, Mount Nebo, and mosaics in Madaba, which I detailed in yesterday’s post. Split three ways, our taxi fare is $35 USD each for the day. Entrance fees for all of the sites total $50 USD (Mujib Canyon, Ma’in Hot Springs, Mt. Nebo, Madaba). So it’s not a cheap day, but we’ll see a LOT of stuff.

At the entrance of Mujib, we are given lifejackets (included in the price of admission) and a guide asks if we’d like his services. Since the hike is just down and back through the canyon, we skip the guide and do it ourselves. (There’s a twist coming.)

A note about cameras — after much debate, I decide to bring my DSLR with me. My friend has kindly let me borrow her waterproof bag, so once the water gets deep I’ll wrap it up and stow it inside my backpack (which will get soaked, but at least the camera is safe). I’ve also brought my underwater camera along for action shots as we navigate difficult stretches of the river.

I’m with my friends Mel and Melanie. So glad to have met these girls!

We descend down this ladder to begin the hike.

I am a happy camper.

I don’t have much commentary for this first stretch of the canyon. The water level is low (ankle-deep) and refreshing. The canyon walls are high and pinkish / brown in color. I’m in heaven snapping away on my camera.

BIG SMILE:

The water starts to get knee-deep. I’ll have to put my DSLR camera away soon.

Okay, the DSLR is now officially wrapped up in a waterproof bag and I’ll use my underwater camera from here on out.

Just as things start to get dicey, we run into the guide we turned down earlier. He sprinted by us along the river and sits here waiting for us to reach this more complicated section with ropes and ladders.

Without us asking, he gives us a hand. It soon becomes clear that it would’ve been rough going without him — climbing over giant boulders in gushing water, scaling up the face of a rock using rope, and knowing just where to put our feet in tricky spots is significantly easier with a guide. There’s no formal arrangement made, but by accepting his services we know we’ll tip him at the end of the hike.

… we have to climb up that rock?

Melanie — brave girl! — is the first to do it.

And before we know it, we’ve reached the turn-around point. There’s a giant boulder suspended overhead by nature, caught in just the right place between canyon walls… for now. Someday it’ll come down, hopefully not when anyone is standing under it.

And there’s a giant waterfall.

While we’ve been hiking through the river this whole time, it still feels refreshing to stand under a torrent of cool water. We take turns posing.

I hop in the water and let the current carry me downstream a dozen yards or so.

Time to turn around. By now we’ve picked up several other hikers and the guide helps us all navigate our way back.

Here’s our guide, carrying extra bags to help out. We’re lucky he came out to see if we needed help after we initially said no!

He shows me a secret spot — there’s a ledge under this waterfall, just big enough for one person to sit down. It’s scary since I can’t see the ledge, but I take a deep breath and lean back through the water until I find it. It’s a neat feeling to be under the falls.

One last shot on our way back to the entrance:

To truly understand this experience, watch the video below. It does more justice to the force of the gushing water and the crazy stunts we pulled to climb over some rocks. This is not for the faint of heart!

What a wild ride!

Is this something you would do? Or does it look too scary? Frankly, I’m glad I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, as I pictured a tamer experience — just peacefully walking through knee-deep water the whole way. But I’m thrilled I did it!