The Negev

Out of a month's worth of so many wonderful and varied experiences, it's almost impossible to pick a highlight.  That said, my last two days in Israel, which were spent in the Negev desert, are a top contender for the best thing I did.

I was keen to go back to the Negev after such a disappointing time there with Birthright (we went for a 'Bedouin Desert Experience' which felt very contrived and not at all like being in the desert).  Noach, from the Israeli Guide Dog Center for the Blind, gave me the phone number of a ranger, Gal, who worked down there and before I knew it I was on my way to Mitzpe Ramon.

Mitzpe Ramon, as a town, has absolutely nothing to distinguish it, except for the fact that it sits at the edge of the Makhtesh Crater, which is something of an oddity.  It is one of the largest geologically formed craters in the world, approximately 40km long, 9km wide and 400m deep (the photo is a view into the crater).

The town has a reasonable visitors' center with a worthwhile film describing the crater's formation and providing an introduction to the plant and animal life that lives in the area, which is far greater than I had imagined, given the aridness of the place.

Soon after, I met Gal.  I hadn't appreciated beforehand just what an amazing job he has.  As a ranger, he is responsible for the wildlife in the southern Negev, an area amounting to a tenth of Israel.  Moreover, his is the only region in Israel to have no villages, settlements or agriculture - it is just desert and army bases.  For over nine hours, spread over two days, Gal drove me around his terrain.  He took me to places where almost no-one goes and which I'd never have got to without him.  We were about as remote as one can be in Israel.  

He taught me all about the animal and plant life of the area, as well as about the archeological remains from the settlers who passed through there 1000-3000 years ago.  He took me to his favourite tree, an Atlantic Pistachio (coincidentally, know as an ella tree in Hebrew), to watch the sunset and the stars rise, whilst we drank tea he brewed from a plant he found there.  What a sight!  There was not an artificial light anywhere to be seen.  It's the darkest place in the Mediterranean to watch the sky.  I have never seen such an abundance of stars - we could even see the Milky Way!  And it was also, I think, the quietest place I've ever been.  Incredible.  On the way back, since it was dark, we looked for animals (most of which are nocturnal).  We saw a fox, a hare and a kangaroo jird (a bit like a large gerbil), which was rather exciting.  We did not, unfortunately, see a leopard, although a few do live there.

And as if that wasn't enough, Gal and his girlfriend Lior, met me the next morning at 4:30 and took me to another fabulous spot to watch the sunrise.  It was, again, incredible, and all the better for not being overrun with other people with the same idea (making it a much better experience than watching the sunrise at Massada).  Since we got to the spot whilst it was still dark, we could watch as the sky changed from one beautiful colour to the next.  

Then it was on to meet an ornithologist who was in search of a particularly rare bird in order to be able to tag it to track its migration.  As luck would have it, one flew into his net right when we were there.

Later in the day (although still only 8am), I went for a hike, by myself, into the crater.  It was very well signposted, but I must admit to feeling a little uneasy for the first 45 minutes or so (the hike was two hours in total).  Once I relaxed, walking in the crater was mindblowing - every step down was like a step into thousands of years of the history of the earth.  After having spent almost all of the previous month talking and thinking about the history of Israel and the Jews, politics, religion and conflict, there was something extraordinarily refreshing about contemplating a landscape that had been around for tens of millions of years before humans even existed.

My last stop was the Bio Ramon, a sanctuary for the smaller of the desert animals.  Since Lior works there, she showed me around and let me hold some of the animals, including a snake (unfortunately, I'm having trouble uploading pictures, so you can't see the one of me looking completely freaked out by this).

Then, it was back to Tel Aviv, and less than 24 hours after being in the desert, I was back in a very cold England.