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. . . Not much, that's for sure! But a grazing herd of water buffalo gives it a run for its money. We arrived at the Azraq Wetlands Nature Preserve just in time to see about 12-15 water buffalo grazing near the Visitor's Center. This one was kind enough to pose (with a mouthful of grass):
The wetlands have become drylands for the most part. The natural oaisis that existed here for about 250,000 years completely dried up in 1991, at least party due to water being diverted to nearby agricultural activities and to Amman. As if to add insult to injury, a fire destroyed much of the preserve just a few months ago. You can see part of the charred area in this photo:
Conservationists pump in 10,000,000 cubic meters (that's about 353,146,667 cubic feet) of water each year to preserved the little bit of wetland that remains (you can see the small area above) for the animals that come to this area to drink and munch on the vegetation (much of which was all burned up in the recent fire). The current wetland area is about 10% of the original wetlands.
Also, nearby is the "mud flat" which is a large muddy area covered with shallow water where animals and birds congregate to cool off and get a drink.
On the dry edge of the mud flat area is where we saw the bones. These are probably the bones of a sheep or goat.
We stayed over night in the Azraq Eco-Lodge. The lodge was originally a hospital built by the British during World War II, and it is typical of British outpost buildings with a low ceiling to keep things cool during the hot, hot summer months in the desert. The building was used as a boys' school following World War II. The lobby has a fabulous collection of photographs of the building, the people who have used it, and the Azraq area over the past 70 years.
The rooms were very comfortable, clean, and roomy. The staff was extremely helpful and nice. Here is the great view from our room:
We enjoyed hanging out on the canopy covered patio.
We were served a traditional Chechen dinner, made by local cooks using local ingredients. Delicious! Following dinner, we were treated to a movie about the desert ecosystem and wildlife. The movie highlighted the plight of the Arabian Oryx, which is this animal:
The Oryx lives primarily in the desert of Saudi Arabia, but had become almost extinct. Due to an international cooperative effort led by Saudi Arabia, and including Jordan and the United States among others, the Oryx is making a comeback.
We had a wonderful, relaxing time in Azraq and got to see and learn about an amazing and unique ecosystem.
See my other photos from the Azraq Wetlands Nature Preserve and Mud Flat here.
