‘My friend,’ he asked Patrick excitedly, ‘have you ever tried camel milk? We say it makes you strong, gets you four wives!’ He winked at me while making a fist.

No, England-born Patrick hadn’t tried camel milk before and this seemed to shock Ahmed to his core. He immediately stopped the Jeep, and started stalking a camel with two young calves, glass bottle in hand. Fortunately for us, he wasn’t able to milk the grumpy mama camel and we didn’t have to drink what was probably warm, lumpy milk. But Ahmed was right about one thing — poor Patrick has yet to score four wives (to my knowledge).

This was my favorite memory of our day with Ahmed in Wadi Rum, Jordan, The Valley of the Moon. As a local of Wadi Rum and official guide with Bedouin Directions, he gave us an incredible introduction to Bedouin life, as well as the history and natural beauty of his home. I’ll talk more about the desert itself in the next post, but for now, I want to remember our day with Ahmed. 

As we sped through the sands in an old white jeep, Ahmed talked jovially about the desert life, while pointing out the main sights surrounding us. His Bedouin music blared from the radio and he sang along and danced to the beat. We loved the songs and tried to dance along with him, mimicking his moves. Looking out from the open window, it seemed the whole world was dancing too. Hot sun rays jumped in and out between the dunes ahead and the red sands beneath our tires shifted wildly. Without roads, we zig-zagged through the quiet, empty desert, with the music and roaring winds as our only companions.

Whenever we did meet up with civilisation (the other tour groups at the main sights), Ahmed would flirt with any blondes around, laughing and winking when they awkwardly walked away from him. And when we stopped to have tea with the other guides, he introduced us to his friends. I remember giving Ahmed my camera for safe-keeping while I climbed up a rock — only to later find out that he had sneakily taken a few adorable photos of his friends!

We stopped for lunch in the late afternoon. Ahmed made a small campfire in the sand, fanning the flames with his robe. We sat atop a red monolith, and watched the shadows grow long before feasting on delicious traditional dishes of Bedouin-style baba ganoush, hummus and lamb meatballs. We tried to eat it all but it was just too much for two. Before we left, Ahmed poured our leftovers on a rock. ‘The desert fox will eat well tonight’, he said with a smile.

I asked him if he’d ever want to leave this life for the city.  “No. Look at all this. We were born in nature and we live with nature all around.”

So to Ahmed, we can’t thank you enough for an incredible experience in Wadi Rum. We hope you’re doing well, still dancing and making people laugh. Still chasing camels for a nice warm glass of camel milk. Cheers!

Next up: More on Wadi Rum in the Sands of Time