Mad Max Goes to the Negev

Sometimes it’s the little things that open your eyes to different cultures. Like waking up in your hotel room, heating water in the kettle they provide, and making a bit of instant coffee just to kick start the day before breakfast. But it’s not instant coffee, you realize, with that first gritty sip…it’s super fine ground beans used to make thick, strong Turkish coffee (let the grinds settle to the bottom of a very small cup). Bitter and sludgy and super caffeinated! Let’s go! But I digress, so let me back up…

We have two nights at the Kedma Isrotel, a beautiful new hotel/spa in the northern Negev Desert, in the town of Sde Boker (on the map towards the top). We arrived following the David Ben-Gurion Memorial, and after a restful night we arose to a fantastic breakfast buffet where we were all bound to overeat (since that’s what you do at buffets, right?!).

As we’ve done for many days now, we gather in our trusty van with Hilik at the helm, especially excited about our first stop: Mizpeh Ramon, where we will get to ride ATVs (“I wanna drive!”) through the desert. I pictured ATVs that would be more like a four-wheeled motorcycle if you know what I mean, but no – these are jeep-sized, four-seater, beefy, knobby-tired, rollover-no-problem, all terrain beasts! Woo hoo! This is gonna be fun.

We meet up with Chaim at their warehouse in an industrial area that is also very artsy with galleries and cafes. We sign releases (did anyone read that?), get our safety briefing, a quick lesson on how to drive this thing and helpful tips (when you go through water, do NOT stop), and we’re off! We start slow, but are quickly rolling along and it’s a BLAST. Chaim says to keep up with him, and we do just that – bouncing around, leaning through corners, up little hills and down small valleys, over some small lakes the recent rains have left behind. It’s dirty and splattering with mud and the engine revs loudly – but Janell and I still manage a rendition of “slip sliding away” as we glide through the slick, water-filled ruts.

At one point, we stop and Chaim tells us to switch to low gear so we can make it up a rock wall. Seriously! In front of us is an almost vertical “step” about 3 feet high – and another just beyond that. No way…we are climbing over that? And yep, this sure-footed, truly independent-suspension four-wheel drive animal goes right on over. Awesome.

While the journey is certainly a highlight, the destination turns out to be spectacular. We are on the edge of the Makhtesh Ramon and it is just mind blowing. It stretches as far as you can see in both directions, it’s depth beckoning you to peer over the edge of its sheer cliffs.

Chaim makes some Turkish coffee and opens a box of little snacks for us. Tea time at the crater’s edge, you might say? You wouldn’t! As we are schooled, a makhtesh is not a crater. The Makhtesh Ramon is the world’s largest “erosion cirque,” meaning it is not formed by a volcano or earthquake or tectonic plate movements but rather it is cut by massive rivers flowing here millions of years ago. Geologic technicalities aside, by any name it is simply…spectacular.

Over the hill and dale of this barren landscape, Janell the Daredevil driving this time (“…will this thing go any faster?!”), we make our way back to the garage, passing the occasional oasis of campers…a vineyard whose vines are bare for the season…a bedouin camp with a couple horses. The desert seems like nothing should be here – it’s rocky and dusty and the hard earth unforgiving – but many call it home.

After a tasty lunch at a hippy-dippy sort of vegan place, we make our way to the Makhtesh Ramon Visitor’s Center. It’s not only THE vantage point (complete with a new hotel right on the edge), but also a place to hear about Ilan Ramon, an Israeli astronaut who was killed when the space shuttle Columbia blew up in 2003. The makhtesh is not his namesake but he is a national hero so it’s fitting his tribute is here. The Ramon Crater on the far side of the moon is indeed named after him.

First there’s a very cool 3D presentation showing how the makhtesh was formed, after which we crowd into a room for an intro to Ilan Ramon shown on ceiling-mounted TVs interspersed between hanging space suits and Israeli air force uniforms. This gets us in the mood for the big screen show we see next, featuring interviews with Ilan and others as they train for their mission, and on the mission itself. There are bits including his wife and children – and knowing how this ends, we all get a little choked up. There’s a very short clip of the space shuttle debris barreling towards earth, and the room goes dark…until the curtains pull back and we are on the moon. Or so it seems – the view out over the makhtesh just doesn’t look real. Through the panoramic windows it has a Hollywood feel, and you have to remind yourself that you are looking through glass and not a movie screen. It’s just amazing.