The Negev Desert

Heading South

Instead of Ulpan on Thursday morning (Feb 18), we packed a weekend bag and headed South by bus for a tour of the Negev Desert. The Negev covers 60% of Israel’s land mass yet only houses 15% of the population. The main inhabitants are Bedouins, a roaming people who live off the land in tents, or soldiers training in the IDF. The Israeli government tried to establish villages so the Bedouins can pay taxes, receive government-funded projects, and be safe of military activity.
The Bedouins refused and still roam the land as they wish.

Bedouin Village

We visited one Bedouin village in which a member of the tribe spoke with us about his lifestyle. He emphasized living off the land and the relationships within the tribe. One day he came across a wealthy pilot who offered his penthouse apartment in the middle of Tel Aviv so the Bedouin could experience Western civilization. After a month the Bedouin had to return home because he hated that people don’t even know their neighbors and walk past so many people without even acknowledging them.

Another stop along the way was a student village near the city of Sde Boker. Student villages are almost social environments built by hand and run by university students. They are similar to kibbutzim but most students have jobs in nearby cities.

CI Activities

The hotel we stayed at was on the property of a boarding school and our view outside was breath taking… only mountains and desert as far as the eye could see. We participated in a drum circle the first night. Everyone was either playing a drum or dancing around for hours. Later, we had a bonfire with delicious kosher s’mores.

Hikes

The group went on hikes, all with different terrains, 3 days in a row. Flash floods occurred in the Negev three weeks prior to my visit so the landscape was much greener than usual and streams still had small amounts of water. Some of the hikes had manmade steps/ladders while others required rock climbing on steep cliffs. My favorite hike involved first climbing straight up then along the top of the long, skinny mountain. I felt like I was in a biblical scene. The whole time I was thinking about how much my dad would enjoy these adventures. I’ll have to take him on some soon!