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| The cliffs of Makhtesh Ramon at Mitzpe Ramon |
David and I have long wanted to take a short winter vacation in Eilat. This year, we just decided to go ahead and do it. I booked a room for us at Kibbutz Eilot (located 3 km north of the city of Eilat) for 2 nights (the 25th and the 26th of December, 2011).
Here are some pictures I took on this trip. Rather than driving down the Jordan River valley and past the Dead Sea (the shortest route), we decided to go on highway 6, west of Judea and Samaria (the area also erroneously known as "the West Bank", the name given to it by the Kingdom of Jordan during the 19 years of illegal occupation of it, from 1948 to 1967).
We ate lunch at a pizza place in a mall in Be'er Sheva. Then we continued south to Mitzpe Ramon, a town that sits right at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon, a deep, dry valley with steep walls. The picture above was taken from the spot where the highway leaves Mitzpe Ramon and starts down into the makhtesh.
Here's a friendly Nubian ibix (we thought it was a goat, but the picture in the Wikipedia article shows one just like it and states that it's a Nubian ibix) at that same turnout.
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| An ibix at the overlook of Makhtesh Ramon from Mitzpe Ramon |
This next view is from the floor of the makhtesh, looking back up towards Mitzpe Ramon.
This picture (and the one above, also) was taken on our way back north. This view looks north at two mesas which are on the south side of Makhtesh Ramon.
I woke up early on our first morning at Kibbutz Eilot, so I grabbed my camera and went for a walk. I took the following picture from a spot only 100-200 meters from the border crossing to Jordan. The sun was just about to rise over the Jordanian mountains behind Aqaba, Jordan.
As I walked back up to the kibbutz, I saw this flock of little birds. Although you can only see 5 of them in this picture, there were at least a hundred in the flock.
Along the shore of the Red Sea south of Eilat, there is a coral reef. The structure in the picture is the above-water part of an underwater observatory there. Inside the small round center part, there are 2 interleaving spiral staircases by which one can go up to the balcony at the top of the tower or down to the underwater observatory. The city of Aqaba, Jordan, is in the background of this photo.
This is the view south-southwest from the balcony at the top of the tower. The mountains in the background are in Sinai, the vast territory given by Israel to Egypt in exchange for a promise that they would not attack us. They've kept the promise so far (at least at the governmental level), but, with the current turmoils there and the rapid ascent of the Islamicist parties, it's anybody's guess how long that will last.
Before going down to the underwater observatory, we took a short cruise on a ship that has windows below the water level. The young woman who was the guide on this little trip narrated everything in fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English!
Next, we went down to the underwater observatory. The views from both the boat and the observatory were absolutely stunning! Unfortunately, they generally didn't photograph very well. In real life, there are vivid colors, but in the photos, nearly everything seems blue-green. Nevertheless, you can get a little idea of the beauty from this photo, taken from the observatory.
In the afternoon, we were quite tired of being on our feet, so we took a drive up highway 12 into the Eilat Mountains, located immediately west of the city. Here's a view of the Red Sea taken from up there. Judging from Google Earth, the mountains in the distance, and possible even the smoke near the middle of the picture, are in Saudi Arabia!
Here's another nice picture from the Eilat Mountains. This small tree seemed quite lonely there in the nakhal (wadi), but it made a nice frame for my picture.
We really enjoyed our short vacation in Eilat and the Negev. At this time of year, the weather up here in the North is really quite cold, and it's a constant (and expensive!) battle just to keep the house reasonably warm. In Eilat, on the other hand, it was warm enough to be comfortable in a short-sleeve shirt, at least by late morning. It WAS cold at night, of course, but not nearly as much as here!
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| Looking up towards Mitzpe Ramon from the floor of Makhtesh Ramon |
This picture (and the one above, also) was taken on our way back north. This view looks north at two mesas which are on the south side of Makhtesh Ramon.
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| Taking pictures, looking north at 2 mesas on the south side of Makhtesh Ramon |
I woke up early on our first morning at Kibbutz Eilot, so I grabbed my camera and went for a walk. I took the following picture from a spot only 100-200 meters from the border crossing to Jordan. The sun was just about to rise over the Jordanian mountains behind Aqaba, Jordan.
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| Sunrise over the Jordanian mountains behind Aqaba, Jordan |
As I walked back up to the kibbutz, I saw this flock of little birds. Although you can only see 5 of them in this picture, there were at least a hundred in the flock.
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| Little birds near the entrance of Kibbutz Eilot (3 km north of Eilat) |
Along the shore of the Red Sea south of Eilat, there is a coral reef. The structure in the picture is the above-water part of an underwater observatory there. Inside the small round center part, there are 2 interleaving spiral staircases by which one can go up to the balcony at the top of the tower or down to the underwater observatory. The city of Aqaba, Jordan, is in the background of this photo.
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| Tower above the underwater observatory at the Eilat coral reef (Aqaba, Jordan in the background) |
This is the view south-southwest from the balcony at the top of the tower. The mountains in the background are in Sinai, the vast territory given by Israel to Egypt in exchange for a promise that they would not attack us. They've kept the promise so far (at least at the governmental level), but, with the current turmoils there and the rapid ascent of the Islamicist parties, it's anybody's guess how long that will last.
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| Looking south-southwest from the tower, towards the Sinai (Egypt) shore |
Before going down to the underwater observatory, we took a short cruise on a ship that has windows below the water level. The young woman who was the guide on this little trip narrated everything in fluent Hebrew, Russian, and English!
Next, we went down to the underwater observatory. The views from both the boat and the observatory were absolutely stunning! Unfortunately, they generally didn't photograph very well. In real life, there are vivid colors, but in the photos, nearly everything seems blue-green. Nevertheless, you can get a little idea of the beauty from this photo, taken from the observatory.
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| A view of the coral reef and fish from the underwater observatory |
In the afternoon, we were quite tired of being on our feet, so we took a drive up highway 12 into the Eilat Mountains, located immediately west of the city. Here's a view of the Red Sea taken from up there. Judging from Google Earth, the mountains in the distance, and possible even the smoke near the middle of the picture, are in Saudi Arabia!
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| Looking south-southeast from the Eilat Mountains, towards Saudi Arabia |
Here's another nice picture from the Eilat Mountains. This small tree seemed quite lonely there in the nakhal (wadi), but it made a nice frame for my picture.
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| A lone tree in a nakhal (wadi) in the Eilat Mountains |
5 comments:
great pics, Arlan! I never made it to that part of Israel in my two trips to Israel. It's....dry.
Yes, Barry. Very dry. And that's a good thing.
I love that route to Eilat. Driving through the desert, through Mitzpe Ramon, is simply spectacular! I might be going in January; you've convinced me to drive up 12 to the mountains! :)
We had considered driving back via 12 (which joins 40 later). However, it was closed where it started down a bit after going up, up, up. I presume this is because it passes very close to the Sinai border further up.
Great pics. I do so want to do the Winter Eilat holiday one of these years. This year was obviously not possible consider I am on the wrong side of the pond.
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