Elliott Blondes Abroad: Three Days in Aqaba

The majority of Jordan (and the Middle East for that matter) has been celebrating the ‘Id Al Adha holiday this week. Also called the Feast of Sacrifice, it is an important holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide. The focus is on the story of Ibrahim and his submission to Allah to sacrifice his first-born son, Ismail. Allah, thankfully, intervened and offered Ibrahim a lamb instead. Some of you may remember the rendering of this story in the Bible as that of Abraham and his son Isaac. This is also the holiday where many Muslims make their pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a religious duty, which must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime.

So now you know the reason why the kids have had a week off from school and the Embassy was closed for 3 days. Bill and I decided we needed to have something to do for some of the break so we decided we would head south to Aqaba, Jordan’s only coastal town. We weren’t alone in our thinking, but honestly, we didn’t care. We were excited to check out “the beach” and see what Jordan had to offer us. Samuel was also interested in seeing just exactly where the boat docked and dropped off all of our household goods – i.e his Legos and Nerf guns (which are thankfully in our possession once again).

As I mentioned, Aqaba is Jordan’s only coastal town on the tip of the Red Sea. It is their only seaport and is a major tourist attraction famous for its warm water and rich marine life.

It didn’t disappoint. The weather is easily 10 or more degrees warmer than in Amman and the water temperature was glorious. Let me remind you – it’s October! We were swimming in the Atlantic in June this year and our lips would turn blue in 3 minutes. Not here. It was delightful to stick your toes in the water and still feel them 10 minutes later.

We stayed at the Raddisson Blu Tala Bay, which is situated down the road a bit from “downtown Aqaba.” It was a lovely hotel with several heated pools and direct beach access. Samuel and I quickly realized upon arrival that we needed to purchase a snorkel and a mask immediately, so we did. Needless to say we spent the next 3 days swimming, eating, snorkeling, eating some more, swimming, snorkeling…you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here they are because honestly, they tell this story better than I can.

If these don’t convince you to come for a visit I’m not sure what can. Think about it. We love visitors!