Day 7 — Birds, Beersheba, and Bedouins
Tonight I’m writing sitting at a primitive table, with a tree-stump bench, at a Bedouin tent in the Negev Desert. No internet access here, but I’ll upload two days-worth tomorrow night when we’re in Jerusalem. I want to write about today before I forget, though!
Our first stop this morning was at a bird sanctuary, the International Birding Research Centre in Eilat. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was a fascinating story of an important work. We learned about the importance of this place as a migration route for many kinds of birds. It’s a stopping and feeding place for birds coming from all over Europe to Southern Africa and back.
The importance is that as man’s development has encroached on the area — with Eilat becoming a major beach recreation center — the greenery that the birds depend on has diminished substantially. If not for the birding center with its greenery, water, and insects (read “food”), many birds would have no place to stop for many miles and might not make it across great patches of desert.
During the talk, we saw three live birds that three of us got to release. I was happy to release the last one — such a light and beautiful thing. Releasing that life to fly was a wonderful feeling.
After seeing an ostrich egg and getting a tour of the facility, we were on our way to Dimona in the middle of the desert where we had lunch. This was a truck-stop kind of place, and I remember that when you travel, truck stops are the best places to eat because you know the truckers know the best places to eat, right?
Then it was on to Beersheba where we saw “Abraham’s Well,” or a well in the area anyway. Probably not the one mentioned in the Bible because the construction around it was too recent, but there were many wells in this area, so at this point, one’s almost as good as another.
This was a quick stop, then we drove past the current town of Beersheba, which is quite large. We were heading for the desert and our night at the Bedouin encampment. Here we got checked in, took another camel ride (slower than at Petra and in a bigger group), then were off to an initial welcome where we sat around a fire, had tea and/or coffee and pita bread. While this was being prepared, our speaker invited three in the audience to come up to share a traditional song; Linda was the drummer and Max sang. A young girl from another family was our dancer.
After this, we heard something about Bedouin life and had an opportunity to ask questions. Then it was back to the tent. We had all been curious about the accommodations here, so here’s the story. Our group is all together in one big tent area. We have four men in the group and they’re braving it along with all us women. A short distance away (maybe 50 feet?) are the “baths.” Within a nice enclosure are four bathrooms with sink, toilet, and shower. So even though there are only four bathrooms for 18 of us, I’m sure we’ll work it out. I decided to take my shower tonight to beat the rush in the morning, so I’m unsticky for my sleep tonight.
In the tent, we each have a pad, sleeping bag, and sheet. They also provided one towel each, so we really have all we need.
So, as the sun was going down, we headed for dinner. This was “family style,” with us sitting about seven to a table. The food was excellent but as has been the case at every stop on this trip so far, there was too much of it! No chance of us going hungry (or of me losing weight!)
Then it was back to the tent and a campfire. Could a sing around the fire be far away? No. So to the melodious sounds of singing, I got out the computer and started my usual culling of picures and writing. As I write, the lights are now out and some of our group has already fallen asleep (I can tell from some gentle snoring). There’s a fabulous breeze and the temperature has cooled to the mid-70s, I’d guess. It’s going to be good sleeping, so I’m heading that way. Good thing I have that “Just Light” flashlight app for my iPhone, otherwise I’d be stumbing around in the dark.
Pictures from today:
