Just a Drop, the UK’s leading travel charity, is set to premiere an historic guided walk to the Lost City of Petra, Jordan in April 2006.
This trek, led by Charity Founder and WTM group exhibition director Fiona Jeffery, is limited to 50 walkers.
The Just a Drop trek, in association with the Jordan Tourism Board and Discover Adventure, will commence at the Dana nature reserve before travelling along ancient Bedouin trails through a mixture of desert lands and rugged mountains where settlements date back some 6,000 years.
“We are delighted that Just a Drop will be launching the new Dana-Petra Trail in April 2006. The trail provides Jordan with an opportunity to attract the growing number of trekkers and walkers while supporting the local Bedouin communities,” said David Symes, sales and marketing manager, Jordan Tourism Board.
The trek will then retrace the steps of Indiana Jones at the ancient city of Petra – the legacy of the Nabataens who settled in southern Jordan more than 2,000 years ago. On arrival in Petra, walkers will be able to take in the tombs, temples and haunting rock drawings in some of the oldest archaeological sites in the Middle East. The actual walk is over six days but the overall trip spans nine days with a free day at the end of the trek to relax and enjoy the Dead Sea coast.
Jeffery commented, “We are really pleased to be in a position to announce this unique trek to the Lost City of Petra. It will be a fantastic challenge and a great adventure for the travel industry. I urge my colleagues to book quickly as I am sure demand for places will be high. This really is going to be a trip of a lifetime.” The terrain is hilly and varied with rocky tracks and the walkers will need to have a reasonable level of fitness.
Just a Drop’s trek to the Lost City of Petra is from April 1-8, 2006. To take part in the adventure of a lifetime, the charity requires a non-refundable registration fee of £200 plus a commitment to raise a minimum of £2300. The tour includes flights, hotel accommodation, tents, back-up, guides and equipment while trekking and on the ground transportation.
Following the Just a Drop walk, the Jordan Tourism Board will roll out the trek as a consumer product in conjunction with tour operators. This is the second epic fund-raiding trip organised by Just a Drop. The first, to the lost city of the Incas at Peru’s Machu Picchu, raised £30,000 for the charity.
Just a Drop is the only international charity for the travel and tourism industry. Its aim is to raise money to provide clean water and sanitation as well as provide heath education programmes for thousands of children and their families throughout the world.
The charity, under the presidency of well-known explorer, Col. John Blashford-Snell, has helped save the lives of children and their families throughout the world with water and sanitation projects – most recently in Ethiopia, Cambodia, South Africa, India, Kenya and Grenada. Unlike other charities, Just a Drop spends a minimum of 15 per cent of the money raised for administration – usually it is far less.