Sde Boker and Mitzpeh Ramon

Although it happened somewhat by accident, our stay at the Leonardo Hotel turned out to be excellent – a person could really get used to staying in hotels like this! The beds were very comfortable, the A/C perfect, and the pool a ton of fun. But, the real treat was the breakfast…oh, the breakfast! This was Israeli breakfast par excellence. Four different kinds of egg soufflés, twenty different kinds of cheeses, delicious homemade bread with jams and butter, danishes of all kinds (rugelach, chocolate croissants, bourekahs, cinnamon rolls), dozens of kinds of dried fruit and seeds and nuts, fresh fruit and many kinds of yogurt, individual sized shakshuka, an omelet station, tons of salads, and our favorite, a big bowl of orange halves and a juicer to make your own fresh squeezed orange juice.

Reluctantly, we pried ourselves away from breakfast (having eaten way too much - a theme that would follow us the whole day), went for a great swim in the pool, and then hit the road for Sde Boker.  As we drove, the land around us became increasingly desert. We saw camels by the road (and signs warning us to watch out for camels crossing), Bedouin tents on the hills (we are learning about the issues with the Bedouins. For example, they set up tents where ever they like, without regard to land ownership. Then, within their tents, they sometimes build shacks, or eventually houses, and it appears they have just made a temporary tent settlement, but then it turns out they are living there permanently as squatters on the land). We also saw amazing agriculture with fields of trees or vines in the midst of sand.  

In Sde Boker there is a satellite campus of Ben Gurion University, which houses among other things the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Studies. Through Abe’s cousin Roy, we had arranged for the institute director, Eilon, to give us a tour. Wow, did he roll out the red carpet for us! We had an amazing tour of the research labs, learned SO much about water research and all of the cool projects they are doing there (a few decades ago there, a scientist developed a way to produce reverse osmosis membranes big enough to use on a large scale (e.g., by city water filtration plants) and this is the technology that most of the world still uses to purify or desalinate their water). We learned that thanks to excellent desalination techniques, the Kinneret and Jordan River, and ground water, Israel has a very secure and stable water supply (much more so than you would think as you look out into the vast desert). We saw the cool labs with simulated rivers where they do experiments on river conditions, and the climate controlled rooms where they can simulate the impact of climate change (e.g., if it gets 1 degree hotter during the day and 1 degree colder at night) on water quality. We talked to several of the scientists/faculty, all of whom were so generous with their time and expertise.  Eilon had also ordered a huge and delicious lunch (where we again over indulged!) of schnitzel and salads and rice and so on, set out cookies and cakes for the kids, brought coffee and drinks, and so on. 

After we toured the facilities, Eilon brought us to an amazing site - the tomb of Ben Gurion and his wife, and told us the remarkable story, which we had only heard pieces of before. The (true) story is that when Ben Gurion was prime minister, one of his visions was to develop the Negev to be able to absorb the many Jewish immigrants who would come. Once he was traveling in this area and he came to kibbutz Sde Boker, a very small and very idealistic agricultural settlement (Boker in Hebrew means "cowboy") and he decided that was where he wanted to be. He soon resigned from his political office and applied for membership at the kibbutz (in 1953). His membership was narrowly approved and they put him in charge of managing the sheep herding. Although he rejoined political life a few years later, when he retired for the second time he returned to Sde Boker and lived out his life there. He and his wife were buried in a spot he loved under a stand of trees overlooking a beautiful part of the desert mountains. Part of his vision was that to draw people to the Negev, Israel needed to built a university there. And so they did, and so it is now named for him "Ben Gurion University of the Negev."  

We stayed for a long while in this spot, watching the ibexes climbing over the rocks, and talking about Ben Gurion's vision and what came of it. Everyone we talk to in Sde Boker radiated pride in the area and in what they have built there, and in coming to live in that area really as new pioneers and helping it grow into a thriving community and epicenter of academic research. Very inspiring.

Finally, we drove a bit further south to Mitzpeh Ramon. This town grew up around the most magnificent natural landmark in all of Israel - the Maktesh Ramon - a 25 mile long, quarter of a mile deep crater. We checked into where we are staying (a amazing deal. There is a summer program here (Asher Ruach Bo) for kids from troubled background and they have rooms for the participants. But, the program hasn't started yet so the rooms are empty. They are renting them out at extremely low rates. A true win-win. We get a great place to stay and they recoup their costs a bit on the rooms. 

We went out for a late afternoon walk along the crater and ended up hiking along the rim of it for a half mile or so. in the gorgeous evening light. Breathtaking! We continued our tradition of playing ring around the rosie (or "ashy-rosy" as Sylvia calls it) at famous Israeli landmarks (we've played at Mount Herzl, on board the Af al pi chen, on the edge of maktesh rimon and more). The unexpected

fun of traveling with a 2 year old! We also learned there that Sylvia can do a complete split - also quite impressive! Finally, we ate dinner in a restaurant Elion had recommended called Hahavit  a great, fun atmosphere, huge yummy salads and pastas (among other things), great music playing, an incredible selection of Israeli boutique beers. A perfect way to end an amazing day.