We drove around 45 minutes from the border to Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, established in 1975 by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN). This 22 sq km reserve was created to reintroduce wildlife that has disappeared from the region, most notably the highly endangered Arabian oryx, Persian onagers (wild ass), Dorcas gazelles and houbara bustards. There are several options for how to explore it – entrance to the visitors center only (🎟️ 8 JOD, but for Jordanians just 2,5 JOD), for biking trail, we did not have enough time (short 🎟️ 12 JOD / long 🎟️ 14 JOD), so we chose the last safari tour (short trail 🎟️ 18 JOD / long trail 22 JOD). You can also go hiking in Wadi Al Shaumari (1 to 2 hours for 🎟️ 12 JOD).
We got binoculars and sat in a safari truck with three other tourists. The driver/guide gave us a basic explanation about the reserve and stopped several times to show us some medicinal plants until he finally found one lonely Arabian Oryx in the distance. After that, we drove back. Well, this one-hour experience we do not call safari 😆.
Parking location: 31.752093N 36.755242E (🚻)