When I arrived to the Green Backpackers, my hostel in Mitzpe Ramon – the smallest city in Israel – it was so cold that I didn’t want to go out. I wanted to stay under the blanket with my hot water pad in front of the heating. The reason is that Mitzpe Ramon is located at the Ramon Crater, 860 meters high, in the middle of the Negev desert. That’s why the summers there are hot and dry while the winters are cold. Because of the wind that it constantly blowing all year round it seems even colder.
In the evening, Lee the owner of the hostel came into my room and gave me a winter coat, so I went out with her to see the sunset which was one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen. The sun was going down over the crater allowing us to witness how it at almost came alive by the spectacular interplay of lights and shadows.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the crater is that it’s natural. Almost all of the other craters in the world developed by a meteor impact or by volcanic activity. But not this one, which is originated by erosion. This geological phenomenon is called Makhtesh and there are only seven in the whole world of them. Five are in the Negev desert in Israel and two in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
The sunset over this huge crater – it’s 38 kilometers long, 6 kilometers wide and 450 meters deep – was just breathtaking. See:
The next day I did a Jeep tour in the valley of the crater. I really wanted to see it from another perspective. The tour guide took us through 220 million years of history starting at the time of the dinosaurs. He explained how a Makhtesh is formed by forming a miniature crater in the sand, made us try some plants that are typical for this region and we enjoyed the silence you only have when you are in the middle of nowhere.
After that, I went to an alpaca farm to do some horseback riding. You probably think now: alpacas in the desert? Horseback riding on an alpaca farm? But yes! It’s actually one of very few alpaca farms outside South America in the whole world. Although a desert might seem the wrong place for these animals whose natural habitat is the altitude of the Andes, actually the climate and altitude are comparable to their home. The owners of the farm fell in love with alpacas many decades ago while doing a backpacking tour through Chile, Bolivia and Peru and decided to bring some to their home country.
It took them years to arrange everything because alpacas are very sensitive animals and it was forbidden to sell them to people who want to bring them out of the area. It seemed almost impossible but in the end they made it and became famous for this risky project.
Today they have around 400 Alpacas, horses, donkeys, camels and other animals, a horseback riding school and a whole house, where tourists can try to weave alpaca wool with their own hands.
The horseback riding lead us to the crater where we enjoyed the afternoon sun and the incredible view.
My last adventure in Mitzpe Ramon was something that was really high on my Israel bucket list: riding a camel. Well, in retrospective it wasn’t the best idea to do horseback and camel riding in one day. I can tell you that it hurt a lot, but it was so worth it! A Bedouin picked me up with two camels and we were slowly riding along the crater in this easygoing running style that is typical for these desert animals. After half an hour we did a break and he started telling me interesting facts about camels. Did you know for example that there is only one country where they have wild camels? And surprisingly it’s Australia! Because the conquerors brought them to explore the desert parts of the country and simply left them there after having done their work. In every other country camels are domesticated and live with Bedouins.
It was a perfect conclusion of my stay in Mitzpe Ramon and as well of my three weeks in Israel. The next day I left the country, but it was for sure not the last time.
Barbara Riedel is a half-german half-Italian “Digital Nomad”: Working independently, she doesn’t need anything else than her laptop & internet, preferably – at the beach. “It’s making me more creative to hear, listen and smell the sea while I’m working”. Passionate for travel, her blog “Barbaralicious“, alongside her two published books – made her just the kind of a rising new blogger & writer ILH loved to host… While in Israel, she stayed connected using a data & cellular package provided by Deal-Sim (available at ILH Hostels).
