The Red South

To celebrate Spring arrival, I joined a guided day trip to the 'Red South' - 'red' referring to the wild red flowers  (anemones) growing from December to March in  various parts of the country, the southern part being one of them.

The weather was glorious - perfect for an outdoor escapade. During the trip we were treated with fresh strawberries, cookies, coffee, lemonade, cold water - stored in the underneath baggage compartment  of the bus - and that made it all very pleasant.

The view of the red poppy-like flowers near kibbutz Beeri, in the north-western Negev desert, was lovely, though not breathtaking, as no red carpets covering vast fields were seen . After all, it's the last month of their blooming season; the red carpets of anemones can be seen here mainly during January-February, so we were told.  

red anemones

Kibbutz (communal settlement) Beeri,  has turned the region into a bicycle country with trails to suit every level of cycling. In front of the gate to the kibbuttz , there's a bike center called  La Medavesh (The pedalist),  where one can rent a bicycle, get tips and maps. buy refreshments,etc..
(By the way, Michelle Bachman, the american republican politician has served here as a volunteer in 1974).

Our trip  included some interesting sites: wheat fields, bridges (the Rope Bridge), rivers (Tzehelim and  Habesor which are subject to annual flooding following heavy rains),   memorials (ANZAC) , and the port of Ashdod.

South of Beeri region - the "rope bridge" hanging over the Besor stream. It's 80 meters long. To take a picture while on the shaking bridge is not easy at all, as the hand shakes too.

the hanging 'rope bridge' - a  bit of a frightening experience

not the work of DAESH but of my photographic incompetence

Some four kilometers north of Beeri - The ANZAC memorial in commemoration of the australian and new-zeelandish soldiers who fell in battle during first world war. From the top one can see  Gaza Strip which is not far from the kibbutz (there are some eleven settlements near the border with Gaza Strip).

stairs leading to the upper part

upper part of the structure

top of the memorial

view of Gaza strip in the distance

At 1:00 p.m, still near Gaza Strip, we had lunch at a kibbutz, named Yad Mordechai in memory of Mordechai Anielewicz, a leading figure in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. 
This kibbutz's honey , jam, and olive products are leading brands on the israeli market. (I'm a fan of their "778" light blueberry jam which I use as a replacement for sweets - a tea spoon of jam has only 12 kalories).

dining hall of Yad Mordechai

lunch time

After lunch we headed towards the climax of our trip - Ashdod Port and its visitor center. The port , dominating the city of Ashdod, is located some 40 kilometers from Tel-Aviv. Here we were not allowed to take pictures except in and around the visitor center. At the visitor's center we were presented with a movie and explanations on the port's history and its impressive technological development.

visitor's center

containers

We then took a guided bus ride within the port  to have a close look at things: offices, warehouses, railroad station, heavy engineering vehicles, transport /ship repair companies etc...

At the end of the ride we were offered as a memento, an envelope bearing the original stamp issued at the port's 50th Anniversary. Nice.

Days of September

I've had a rather hectic September, partly because of our jewish High Holidays. I'm not a religious person, not in the organized sense, but I do observe certain basic customs such as fasting on The Day of Atonement, remembering the departed ones, reading relevant passages in the Book of Prayers. There are things to do before and during the Holidays, and then when it's over, all I want is - to go on... a holiday.

Well, this time I chose to go to Mizpe Ramon, a tiny town in the Negev desert. A complete change of scenery and atmosphere: hot and dry weather (not humid as in my home-region) with cool mornings and evenings; dominant yellow colors, and..the blessed silence of the desert around.

This small town is located on the rim of what is considered the biggest crater in the world, "Machtesh Ramon" (40 kilometers long , 9 kilometers across at its widest point). The crater is characterized by unique geological phenomena, and it attracts visitors from all over the world.

While on a cliff overlooking this marvel of Nature, I couldn't help thinking of how difficult it must be raising kids in Mizpe Ramon, keeping an eye so that they don't run in the wrong direction, to the edge of that huge hole. There seems to be lots of children here (probably, the relative isolation from the big cities contributes to a high percentage of natality).

There's another unique attraction in the area - a Farm of llamas and alpacas- friendly animals originally from the Andes mountains in South America. Both adults and children enjoy hand- feeding them, but greatly dislike their habit of ....spitting (It is believed, by the way, that their spitting stuff contains something that makes hair grow, so that is a matter of real interest to bald people).

More on the crater and the farm in my next posts.