Edinburgh-born Alice Morrison completes Jordan crossing despite wild dog attack on day one
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Alice Morrison traveled with her Treks Jordan guide, Munther Al Titi, from north to south Jordan on foot and arrived at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba on Friday.
The Edinburgh-born TV presenter and author spotted many famous historic sites during her adventure, including the cave where Jesus spent 40 days in the desert and unexplored rock carvings dating back to 4000BC.
She trekked through the magnificent ruins of Petra before facing torrential rains and flash floods, which forced her to take a detour through Wadi Rum.
The couple also saw and heard a variety of rare wildlife, including the steppe eagle and wild hyenas in the area, before completing the final leg of the journey to Aqaba with a camel escort.
“This hike was infinitely harder than I thought it would be,” she said.
“But the thrill of being able to experience the incredible history of this country, from perfectly preserved sea urchin fossils to the untouched ruins of an Ottoman village, and of course the glories of Petra, made it all worth it.”
Alice’s journey almost ended before it started after she and Munther found themselves surrounded by five angry dogs on their first day at camp.
A savage attack followed, in which Alice was bitten on the leg, and only stopped when the dogs’ owner arrived and calmed them down.
“I felt excruciating pain in my leg and looked down to see blood gushing all over my boots,” Alice said.
“My first thought was that I needed rabies shots and my second was if I could carry on.”
Luckily the couple were only half an hour’s drive from a hospital and Alice was able to immediately receive the first three of 11 rabies shots provided free of charge by a WHO programme.
After allowing the injury to heal for nine days, she was ready to begin her adventure with Munther, who helped her navigate through the steep and wild terrain.
He said: “Starting this expedition in December was a big challenge. My country is so diverse. Each region is completely different in terms of customs and traditions, but they all share one thing in common – hospitality – and we have experienced it together.
Alice added that it was a pleasure to be able to end a difficult year 2021 and to enter a new year with this positive challenge.
“2021 has been such a difficult year for everyone that ending it and starting 2022 by doing this amazing crossing of Jordan has been so positive,” she said.
“I hope I managed to divert people’s attention from Corona for a while and immerse them in a world of adventure.”
The Jordan expedition was sponsored by Battleface Travel Insurance and organized by Treks Jordan.