For our final Career Israel Tiyul, we took a trip to the Negev for some hiking and exploring. The desert is an incredible part of Israel (60% of the land!) and a great place to go hiking/exploring. Our first destination in the Negev was Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater), where we stood above the crater and looked at the amazing rock and sand formations below us. The crater is the world's largest natural crater (40km long and 2 km wide) and is 500m deep! There is a spring at the bottom of the crater which serves as the water source for the wildlife in the area, including ibexes, which we saw lots of! We hiked through some of the crater and explored the different sand and rock remains in the cliffs of the crater.
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| Ibex! |
After hiking through the crater, we headed to Ashalim, a student village in the Negev that brings students to settle in the area. The students live in subsidized housing and volunteer in the local neighborhoods. The idea is to encourage students to stay in the area and get more people to build their homes in the Negev.
After a long day of hiking and exploring, we headed to Sde Boker Youth Hostel for dinner and and a drum circle! There were 3 performers at the drum circle, each of whom had either drums or a guitar. There was a circle of seats next to unused drums, which we took turns playing. The performers taught us some basic beats and we got to rock out with them. They played some awesome Friday night camp songs and we had a great time pretending we were good at the drums.
On Monday, we visited Ben Gurion's grave site, which is in a beautiful park overlooking the craters. Ben Gurion and his wife are buried in large, above ground tombs that fit in with the palm trees and craters around them. Ben Gurion promoted cultivating the Negev, which is why his burial site is in a park there. We hiked a lot during the trip, climbing and descending the craters and walking through the bottom of some. The naturally formed cliffs of the craters have unqiue patterns and geometries from the rock being washed away many years ago. Our next adventure was to a goat farm, where we petted goats, tasted goat cheese, and learned about the farm and its products. The cheese was really good! From the farm, we headed to a Bedouin village to learn about the life of a Bedouin woman. We were welcomed into her guest room (a large tent with mats on the floor) and served delicious Bedouin tea. As we drank our tea, the woman told us about her life and the hardships of being a Bedouin woman. Bedouin women do not have equal rights, so they are less educated and prohibited from working. Their job is to raise the children and take care of the house. They also don't have any say in their children's futures- the father makes these decisions. It was amazing that this woman's husband allowed her to speak to us. It's hard not to feel hopeless in her situation, since she is alone in her feelings and the outside world cannot interfere with Bedouin practices.
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| Ben Gurion's Grave |
After the Bedouin village, we hiked Snapir Katan, which overlooks the large crater. There were many rock formations and we even saw some colored sand! We stayed to watch the sunset, then headed back to the hostel for dinner. We went to bed early Monday night because we had to wake up at 3am Tuesday for a night hike!!
The night hike was awesome! We hiked by moonlight (for the most part, since some people had flashlights) and watched the sun come up over the canyon. We were in the bottom of the canyon walking through, which led us to an oasis! After 3 hours of hiking, we stopped for a delicious breakfast in the park near the crater, then continued hiking for another 3 hours. We hiked Nahal Chaverim and Ein Avdat, narrow canyons with springs and amazing views. There was a waterfall in the canyon, too!
Our final stop before we headed back to Tel Aviv was Dimona, a community of African-American Israelites. The people moved to Israel from Chicago 40 years ago and their first language is still English. The African Hebrews claim they are descendents of the lost tribe of Israel. They a strict vegans and promote a healthy lifesytle, requiring everyone to exercise at least 3 days a week. They aren't exactly Jewish, but they practice some of the Jewish traditions, based on when/where they were written. After we met some members of the community, we got back on the bus and slept all the way to Tel Aviv.
For our final Career Israel Tiyul, we took a trip to the Negev for some hiking and exploring. The desert is an incredible part of Israel (60% of the land!) and a great place to go hiking/exploring. Our first destination in the Negev was Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater), where we stood above the crater and looked at the amazing rock and sand formations below us. The crater is the world's largest natural crater (40km long and 2 km wide) and is 500m deep! There is a spring at the bottom of the crater which serves as the water source for the wildlife in the area, including ibexes, which we saw lots of! We hiked through some of the crater and explored the different sand and rock remains in the cliffs of the crater.
After a long day of hiking and exploring, we headed to Sde Boker Youth Hostel for dinner and and a drum circle! There were 3 performers at the drum circle, each of whom had either drums or a guitar. There was a circle of seats next to unused drums, which we took turns playing. The performers taught us some basic beats and we got to rock out with them. They played some awesome Friday night camp songs and we had a great time pretending we were good at the drums. 
Our final stop before we headed back to Tel Aviv was Dimona, a community of African-American Israelites. The people moved to Israel from Chicago 40 years ago and their first language is still English. The African Hebrews claim they are descendents of the lost tribe of Israel. They a strict vegans and promote a healthy lifesytle, requiring everyone to exercise at least 3 days a week. They aren't exactly Jewish, but they practice some of the Jewish traditions, based on when/where they were written. After we met some members of the community, we got back on the bus and slept all the way to Tel Aviv.
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