Chapter 27 Tues. May 17th Drive to Eilat

Our much smaller group of 20 heads off on a much smaller bus driven by Jamal, who is our new bus driver and of Druze extraction. After a week of being #28, I have to learn my new number #16. This is going to be tougher than I thought.

We travel on Rd#1 back towards Latrun. We pass many vehicles that had been shot up and destroyed by the Arabs which have been painted and left of the side of the road as a constant reminder of living life in a war zone. We pass the Crusader Stables and then head south on Rd. #3 to Be'er Sheva where we stop at Aroma for coffee and snacks. The coffee at Aroma is better than /Starbucks and maybe equal to Dunkin Donuts and the food served is outstanding for a fast food convenience store. (The closest Aroma is in Boca Raton and I think it's the only one in the US).

Once our rest stop has ended, we continue our drive thru the Negev while listening to the fascinating history of the Nabataeans who lived in the area. They were descendants of the Edomites and lead caravans to Asia for spices and perfume. The Romans had much difficulty defeating the Nabataeans because they had an uncanny knack for being able to find fresh water and new the desert very well. Trajan finally did conquer them. Nabataeans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We continue on to the Sede Boger Kibbutz where David Ben Gurion lived out his life and where he chose to be buried rather than on Mt. Herzel. We drive past many farms and orchards and everything is green. The irrigation is almost all drip irrigation and it is amazing how much can grow in this arid land. The area outside the farms is a brown, dry, hostile environment with not even a blade of grass growing. I don't know what the Ibex live on.

Ben Gurion's living room above.

Pepper tree that Ben Gurion planted on Tu B'shvat in 1964. His modest home is in the background.

Ibex grazing along the road.

On we travel to Makhtesh Ramon Makhtesh Ramon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which is considered the Grand Canyon of Israel. I've been to both places and, admittedly there were dust storms the day we went to Makhtesh Ramon, but Grand Canyon is certainly more spectacular. In any case, this crater (more than a canyon) was interesting. We stopped, snapped a few photos (nothing worth publishing so go to the link) and on to Eilat.