On our journey south to the Negev Desert and our Bedouin camp experience, the whole family, from my mother Jackie to our youngest daughter Zoe, headed out of Jerusalem.
We really got the feel of the vast wilderness of Southern Israel once Route 3 reached ROAD 40 at Re'em Junction and we came to the ARAVA VALLEY. It spans the desert regions of Southern Israel, eventually reaching all the way south to the port of Eilat.
For urban people used to the compression and pace of city life, so unimaginable to the ancient world, this is a rare chance to experience vastness and solitude - with Arabian Warblers, Palestine Sunbirds or migratory birds passing over the desert skies for company.
Our guide, David Shavit, made sure we met a local Bedouin community here, so we had a chance to sit down and eat together near DIMONA (see WHERE TO EAT). Bedouins usually have their own herd, as well as tend goats, and I wanted the kids to climb on the original, authentic desert transport.
I enjoyed looking over and seeing my family towering over the rocky, parched earth, tugging onto the camels’ necks. It was a great way to say hello to the Negev, and, if you don’t have young kids along, this is a possible way to actually trek this region.
This spread out, desert city west of the Dead Sea is the real gateway to the Negev desert and the largest city in the region, with enough museums, art and Hebrew culture to warrant stopping here for those who want to stay a while or sightsee, not just pick up desert provisions.
Because of the expanse of desert around Be’er Sheva, this town organically unfolded over a wide land mass: its layout is more about satellite suburbs than a bustling city centre, which has just a few streets. It’s worth driving around its different pockets, which vary from run down 50s apartments that give it a bit of a ghost town feel, to the private villas of OMER and LEHAVIM, a richer oasis of emerald lawns. The old, slightly crumbling, Ottoman style TURKISH QUARTER has a great atmosphere and decorative, Moorish influences that add an exotic flavour to the city streets.
Be’er Sheva is also a great base if you want to visit the surrounding Bedouin villages, like RAHAT, TEL SHEVA and HURA, where they continue to live in tents and huts around the city fringe. In LAKIYA, Bedouin women are now working on tourism-friendly projects like, “DESERT EMBROIDERY.” These business initiatives are designed to cultivate and keep passing on the age-old tribal crafts from mother to daughter. You can visit the village women as they create the distinctive Bedouin motifs of traditional embroidery, or spin, dye and weave rugs in stages.
So if you are market lovers like us, you may want to plan your itinerary around passing through Be’er Sheva nearer the end of the week. In true nomadic style, sheep and camels are for sale as well!
Further along, heading deeper into the SOUTHERN NEGEV, we reached a KIBBUTZ community at the rim of the ZIN CANYON; one of those human clusters right at the edge of the wilderness. This one became famous for being the retirement choice of BEN-GURION, Israel’s first official political leader who looms so large in this region, and in the spirit of the country even today.
But for me the real romance is the connection with the actual soil under your feet. When I asked my guide, David to show me an actual working kibbutz, he included Sde Boker as a stopover; it has been invaluable to have an expert bring alive my vision on each trip to Israel.
I really enjoyed driving through this kibbutz - still true to its traditional origins. It’s a modern history lesson, dramatically set on the HEIGHTS of the Negev in the heart of the desert. I met a few of the 60 or so families here: most were born in Israel and have grown up steeped in the ideals behind it, whether coming from the city or other kibbutzim.I was interested to see that a small population of IMMIGRANTS, new and old, had come from the US, UK, Argentina and the former USSR.
Ever since Ben Gurion came here to retire and made this kibbutz famous around Israel, his strong ties have put Sde Boker on the cultural and historical trail in Southern Israel. Apart from his political importance and passion for Zionism, Ben-Gurion was a champion of the Negev and made it his mission to see the desert bloom as a legacy for Israel.
Tourists are welcomed here to eat, stay and visit - and make the connection with the kibbutz’s spiritual father by visiting the BEN-GURION GRAVESITE, where he is buried alongside his wife, Paula. Nearby, BEN-GURION’S HOME is surrounded by a beautiful garden that is a surreal burst of greenery after such a neutral landscape. Now a museum, it has been left exactly as it was during his lifetime: his books and papers lie untouched in the large, pale green cabin.
For those who seek to deepen their connection with the stunning valleys surrounding Sde Boker, could use the kibbutz as a great base for hiking through the springs, pools and waterfalls of this desert valley where water miraculously flows. Beautiful ridge walls loom hundreds of metres high; IBEX goats with magnificent curved horns, wander through the palms. Walking for an hour amongst dancing dragonflies, you are rewarded for your climb at the end by views back down over the valley and a glorious waterfall.
You can see why biblical people saw the Garden of Eden as the ultimate visual paradise; greenery seems so magical and miraculous in the dry desert dust. If I were going to pick a solitary camping spot in Southern Israel, this would be it…
I loved this thriving town further south (about 80 km south of Be'er Sheva), because it’s on the scenic Sde Boker - Ketura stretch of Road 40, with plenty of picture postcard desert skylines, winding curves through the mountains of the Southern Negev.
I remember so many cats and dogs roaming freely in the town, and the interesting mix of people in the streets of this desert town, the most southern big settlement in the Negev. It was first founded in the early 50s as a camp for the roadworkers building Route 40 that took drivers south to and from bustling Eilat.
As we discovered, the RAMON INN has also really raised the bar for the town as a base for exploring the Negev with its great food and indoor swimming pool (see TO STAY and TO EAT).
The crater was formed over hundreds of millions of years ago. Up close the geological formations are a stunning showcase for Mother Nature at work - from the black sharp-edged “Ramon’s Tooth” rock made of magma and richly red clay hills to the creamy southern walls, riverbeds, ammonite fossils and water springs visited by mountain goats.
The RAMON NATURE RESERVE is the largest wilderness reserve in Israel - an absolute must for nature buffs and hobby photographers. While the goats often climb up from the 500-metre depth of the crater into town, fit (or brave) trekkers can walk down the dip in under five hours, to be tested by the relentless sun and lack of shade.
The sky canopy is ablaze with STARS that are better seen in this kind of natural desert isolation than anywhere else. Which is why the WISE ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY of Israel is so perfectly located here, the on-site research arm of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Tel Aviv University.
Although the natural world here is attraction enough, this is a great family activity: the only place in the world where you can see the whole span of Alpaca life, from rearing the young to shearing and spinning the wool. And kids will love the sheer numbers of 400 exotic Alpacas and llamas, which they can hand-feed or ride along the crater’s rim. The fluffy wool is a natural for textiles, and visitors can try weaving the yarn themselves, or just go shopping for all the woollen products.
We were ready to say goodbye to David, our regular guide, who was going to deliver us into Gil’s care for the second phase of the journey - our jeep ride, 2-day tour and Bedouin adventure.
We would wind our way northwest, eventually reaching the base of MASADA MOUNTAIN two days later, where David would again be waiting for us.
Politics is never very far away from life in the Middle East, so when Gil apologetically informed us that he had been called up for some military service, we rolled with the punches and prepared to meet with his young colleague, Ziv who would lead us across the rocky roads and dunes of the Negev…
Our guide, ZIV - a lanky, hippyish guy who knows these lands well picked us up at 8am. We were really excited as we had never done 4-wheel driving in a Land Rover - and what teenage boy wouldn’t prefer to feel every dip in the sand or bump in the road. Having our food and produce on the roof really added to the sense of adventure.
Visiting the Negev is one of the world most arid places, with zero rainfall through summer, and the blazing temperatures of its 31+ degrees. So far we had experienced the desert coming south on the main roads of its eastern border - the ARAVA VALLEY. Now we were ready to go and see the desert off-road by rugged 4WD.
We embarked on the old SPICE ROUTE, following roads that are many centuries old. We passed worn away slabs and stones that were once the rest points and inns where more recent retinues of merchants, spice and incense traders would have rested. As Ziv explained, they needed trusted stops where they could store their wares, like silver, gold and jewels, and keep their camels from roaming.
Our jeep traveled for hours through vast expanses of land, framed by equally bleached out mountains, with no greenery whatsoever. I just loved the peace, space and majesty of the Negev and its completely dry visual palette, all stone, pebbles and dust. Occasionally the silence, except for the low rumble of our jeep, would be pierced by a streak of Israeli jets practicing overhead, using the Negev as an ideal training ground.
Ziv had made sure we were totally self-sufficient (see TO EAT) so we could break our journey with meal breaks in a natural alcove, then repack and continue our journey, stopping at wells that have now dried up or just standing in a giant, 360 degree expanse of landscape, drinking in the silence and space.
My teen boys, Josh and Noah loved the high octane aspect of jeep travel, when you can take on rough terrain like rocky roads, or climb steep “wadi” dried up river beds, wheels squealing. It’s an addictive rush, and the day would go too fast. Our whole family was just exhilarated and overwhelmed by the rare experience of being surrounded by miles and miles of the world’s empty space, with nothing between us and the desert, but our jeep.
We arrived at the base of the mountain slopes, ready to connect again with our old friend and guide, David Shavit, who has taken us all over the cities and countryside of Israel over the years. Here, we took the time to eat and walk through a real MOSHAV (see - TO EAT) for an account of our wonderful, generous home cooked meal). This was our home away from home when staying at a nearby camp site as there were no cooking facilities there.
These co-operative communities have brought Jewish culture and life to the desert. Whereas the kibbutzim have traditionally evolved from an agricultural economy, with completely shared assets, in moshavs the members own their own land, and cook in their own homes. But the villages all cluster around a central town where the childcare, finance, and education is communal - as well as the fun, like concerts, pools and the gym.
New neighbourhoods are springing up every day, and my mother, Jackie - who I am proud to say was never precious or picky throughout the whole desert trip - is a great traveler who went walking around this community and chatting with many of the residents.
In her own words…
JACKIE SAID: “After the experience of sleeping in the Bedouin tents, I decided to take myself off for a walk to look at the shops and houses in the MOSHAV and see how people live there. It was very early so most homes were deserted. I walked to the end of one road where there was a wire fence and something made me curious enough to step over, but for some reason an inner voice cautioned me, ‘Best not - this is Israel.’ As it turns out it was wise, as just over the fence is Jordan and both countries are supposed to respect this border and enter each other’s country the formal way.
I turned around and a few Israeli gentlemen of about my age, who where chatting while their wives were asleep, got quite excited at how close I came to making an illegal crossing! They invited me to have coffee with them; it was a completely unexpected meeting on a lovely morning and I was fascinated to hear their stories and how they came to be there.”
It’s amazing how even something so simple as going for a walk can be charged with meaning when you are in a political hot spot. But these neighbouring communities seem to have found a way to live peacefully. The Mosavim and Kibbutzim, who welcome guests as fervently as they have welcomed new members from all over the world, are a rare opportunity for foreign travelers to sip into the real life of the country. I recommend passing though for anyone who is interested in the true flavour of Israel.
When we made our first trip out into the burbs there was ..
Read Story
LOCAL SHOPPING GUIDE KOH SAMUI"Searching for the Best Shopping ..
Read Story
