Into the Desert

On Friday, October 30th, we went into the Negev desert. The trip for international researchers of the Weizmann Institute was organised by the Visiting Scientists Office - what a fanstastic offer! The full bus left early in the morning and we went first to the national park Ein Avdat. On the way it was already fascinating to look out of the windows, see the desert, some small villages with camels and kibbutzim. In the days before our trip, there had been quite heavy rain. When we arrived, the desert looked as dry as expected, but some ponds in the were fuller, the tour guide explained, and at some few places we could see some fresh green and even flowers which had just exploded out of the sand.
First, we hiked through a canyon between white rocks. The water, a waterfall and plants in an oasis looked really beautiful. We also saw ibexes and a vulture, but all participants survived the tour so that the vulture had to wait for other food ;-) From the river, we hiked up to the rim, which was quite steep, but offered a great view.
The next stop was the tomb of David Ben-Gurion, the founder and first prime minister of Israel, who was also committed to the development of the desert for agricultural use. From there, we enjoyed a breath-taking view of the landscape.
Furthermore, we also stopped at HaMachtesh HaGadol, the second largest crater in the Negev, and during sunset at a beautiful place with water, where children even went swimming.

I am sure we will travel to the desert again!