Magical Mitzpe Ramon

After months of longing, we finally piled ourselves into a rental car and headed out for the weekend to go camping! We headed southeast an hour and a half from Be'er Sheba to a magnificent hole in the ground called Mitzpe Ramon. Camping in a foreign country brings up all sorts of issues one takes for granted when you are in a familiar place. For example, we didn't know where to buy firewood. Trees not being in abundance here in the middle of the desert, we headed to the local Bedouin market and almost got the car towed in the process. Needless to say, we left empty handed. The desert contiued on with its standard fare of sand, a bit of green as its spring here these days, and rolling hills. And then, all of a sudden, you come around a corner, and here it is: Mitzpe Ramon Canyon.















Contiuing out of town, undettered and commited to reach a campsite by sundown. Arriving in the park, we passed the government issue campground advertising an authentic "Bedouin Experience" with covered campsites, full plumbing, hot showers, and a vending station. We wanted to rough it, so on we drove. We continued a ways, pulled over, and set up camp. Here we are enjoying ourselves, in the process of gathering firewood from the dead shrubs in the area.















Much to our surprise, around sunset a camp ranger showed up to tell us about all of the rules we were breaking: dog not on a leash, disturbing the shrubs, fire without a permit, and on it goes. He was nice enough not to give us a ticket which at that point would have totalled several hundred dollars. Sadly, we packed up our wilderness camp and headed back to the government issue camp site. Foiled again! So we passed a night under a blanket of stars so full its hard to imagine there is room for them all. Awoke early to make some tea, and head out into the wilderness.

We hiked, camped, and enjoyed a hot summer day in March. Lovely. On the way home we happened by a secret lake and enjoyed a brilliant spring sunshine, while Jed took his first full dip and swim in the water. He was running around with such joy, everyone in the park was at full attention watching Jed enjoy his time at the lake. We caught an inspirational spring sunset, seen here, with trees and flowers blooming all around.















I am also including here a photo or two from a sculpture garden just outside of Be'er Sheba where we took Jed to wander around yesterday. The land around town is green and serene. Soon, it will be a big dust bowl again, but for now, its lovely.





























Its amazing how much ground one can cover with a car. Donations are currently being accpeted for Sera and Adam's "Buy a Car" fund...send your checks today! For those of you planning a visit while we are here, this is a great time of year. We will keep the tea pot on for you, hope to see you soon...