To Aqaba!!

We arose early, packed up our camp, said goodbye to Wadi Rum, and headed down to Aqaba!! Yay for sun, playing on the beach, and snorkeling!! 

Salem and his trusty Jeep

So, funny story about that snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. I headed out with the boys to snorkel. We swam out to a reef on the edge of the roped in swimming area and were looking around when my mask began to leak. The boys headed off to swim out to a shipwreck and I hooked my legs over the ropes, to adjust my mask and get the water out.  

Suddenly, I felt small pinches all over my body. Susan and Kiya, watching from shore, were sure I was being attacked by a shark and watched helplessly as I screamed and thrashed around in the water, trying to figure out what was on me (eel? piranha? small aliens?). Grabbing at my legs and back, and all over my swimsuit, I discovered that there were hundreds of small crabs crawling on me. Or maybe one really fast one. I started pulling them off and throwing them away from me, swimming away from the rope as I threw.  

The swim back in to shore was like my worst nightmare. Every time I thought "finally they are all gone", one would start moving in my hair, under my swimsuit skirt, on my shoulder, up my leg, and the panic would begin all over again.  

As I was reaching the last corals before shore, I suddenly felt movement in between my shoulder blades...one of the bastards, who had been enjoying his free ride, deciding to abandon ship in the shallow waters. I flailed about trying to get him off. Unfortunately, since I was only in about 2 feet of water, the flailing resulted immediately in the stubbing of several toes in my left foot, followed in close succession by a sudden, jolting pain in my right middle finger. I limped onto shore, to discover I had a sea urchin spine in my now-bleeding finger.  

The lifeguard instructed me that I had to either hold a lit lighter next to my injured finger for five minutes or bury it in the hot sand for 30 minutes, to draw out and denature the spine's poison. I chose to bury it in the sand which I thought was a wise choice over exposure to an open flame. Turns out forgetting, in your pain, to reapply sunscreen before sitting with your finger in the sand for 30 minutes on a 103 degree Aqaba day results in a bright red, blistery sunburn. On top of stubbed toes, sea urchin stab wounds and crab scratches.

I did go back out, to conquer my new fear of ocean crabs. I jumped every time Susan or Kiya (or my floating swimsuit) touched me but I survived. Sadly, after all that drama, I managed to get only a few pictures of us actually enjoying the beach, including this gem of poor Crew crying after being dipped in the Red Sea.

We finished our stay in Aqaba with a trip to Platters at Tala Bay, for some chicken alfredo, which happily lived up to Kiya and Michael's memories from an epic meal during their Summer 2012 trip to Aqaba. We used the opportunity to surprise Susan with an adorable cheesecake and song in honor of her birthday. Then back to Amman. Goodbye southern Jordan.  You mostly treated us well.

  

Happy Birthday!

random hilariously awful Arab caveman TV show