Visiting Wadi Rum when you are alone

This is a problem for all of us we are afraid.

Our prices are structured for a minimum of two people and we have already cut them down as much as we can.

It is quite impossible for us to take just one person for the price that two people pay individually, and we have to add a surcharge which is usually about 50%, depending on the requirements of the tour.
Many people write to us saying that they "would like to join a group" but it doesn't work like this. The "groups" we have are private or family groups who have reserved together and often they do not want outsiders with them - which we consider to be very reasonable.

During the peak holiday months of April and October, there is a good chance that we can fit you in with somebody else, but even then you should not count on this. The rest of the year if you cannot link up with other people (in Petra for instance) you should only contact us if you are willing to pay the extra price. There is no point in your asking us if there are any other bookings for the dates you are interested in - we have found the hard way that people frequently change dates, change their programmes or cancel altogether.

Please do not write to us several weeks or even months in advance. This is quite useless. Most people reserve with us a week or two in advance only, and the time for any solo traveller to get in touch is three or four days before they plan to come - or even later! If you can keep your plans flexible, this helps, but we do understand that this is not always easy.

We are sorry about this, but while we are anxious to help you, there is a limit to what we can do.
To illustrate the problem, this is an incident which occurred to a colleague in April 2011 :

A girl wrote to him, asking about the possibilities of a tour on a certain date. He replied saying that yes, he had bookings and that there was a good chance she could join somebody. She asked what bookings there were, and he replied that somebody wanted a jeep tour, somebody a camel trek and somebody wanted to do scrambling (each of these for two people or more)

She said fine, she would "take" the scrambling trip and how much would it be? He warned her that there was no guarantee she could join any particular trip, but gave her the price for each of these three trips, supposing she would be going with somebody.

Unfortunately, on the day they were supposed to arrive the people who wanted to scramble called at 7.30am to say that they had decided to stay an extra day in Petra and that they would therefore come a day late. There was nothing that he could do - the girl was already on the way here. When she arrived, he explained and apologized, and said she could go on one of the other trips, for which the people were already here.

She was very angry, and said she wanted scrambling and neither a jeep trip nor a camel trek; he was willing to take her scrambling, but with the solo traveller surcharge which she refused to pay, saying that he had promised her a scrambling trip at the price given and that he was breaking the contract. He insisted that he had never promised any particular tour - we have all learned this the hard way - but she was so upset that in the end he sent her off alone with a guide, although the price she was determined to pay did not cover the guide's fee, let alone food and accommodation.

You can perhaps understand that we are not anxious to have this situation occur again, and from now on, all I am willing to answer solo travellers is "yes, I have bookings for this date" or "no, I do not have bookings for this date". If people call me when they are in Wadi Rum, I am happy for them to join any tour I am running, but I shall not be giving any other information in advance. There is no problem about finding you somewhere to sleep here; if for some unusual reason I cannot take you to sleep in my desert camp, I would find you a place with another guide. The problems start when you want a specific tour and do not want to substitute something else.

The alternative is to refuse any enquiries from people travelling alone. This is a pity, I understand their problem, but it would be nice if they also understood mine.

If you decide to come anyway, please call me when you arrive in Wadi Rum, or have the Reception Desk at the Visitors' Centre call me, and I would do the best I can for you, but if the best turns out to be "nothing" I am afraid you will have to accept it.