The village of Dana next to the reserve sits perched on the rocky hillside of a great valley that stretches for 14 km out to the desert next to the dead sea. The town is mostly abandoned now with just three hotels, one restaurant, a small grocery/mini-mart and a new visitor center still operational. From the visitor center there is a breathtaking view of the valley. We opted to stay at the Dana hotel, a clean if not a little rustic hotel run by a co-operative known as “the Son’s of Dana”, which runs as an “eco-tourism” outfit and provided us with a guide to hike the maze like rocky formations of the Dana reserve. Unfortunately, our simple camera can't capture the true colors of the rock. Our guide was absolutely fantastic and the hike was incredible. We scrambled up through tight crevices and past ancient graveyards to high outcroppings for stunning views of the reserve. On top of one of these outcroppings our guide stopped to make tea (which is often had 3 or more times a day in Jordan). The tea, we both had to admit, was probably the most delicious cup we had ever had. It was so good we had to mention it in the blog. We returned from the hike to excellent food and live music. It was a great experience. The next day we made a detour to Shobuk (another of the ancient Crusader castles forming the line from Turkey to the Red Sea) before returning to Amman. The castle actually held out longer than its more famous neighbour Castle Karak during the defeat of the Crusaders by the Islamic armies. Much of the castle now lies in ruin and is slowly being rebuilt.
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