MITZPE RAMON

You are now about 900 m. above sea level and on the rim of the Ramon Crater, a unique geological phenomenon comprising ancient rock strata and well-preserved fossils (Triassic and Jurassic).

Fossilized life dating back almost 200 million years shows that this area was the domain of long-extinct marine reptiles.
Gradually the grey and lava black mounds in the depths of the canyon were exploited for their ceramic clay, gypsum and glass-sand ingredients.

Mitzpe Ramon began in 1954 as a camp for men building the highway south to Elat. If you drive past the houses, up the hill, and turn left to the Nabataean Inn, you get a truly superb view of the canyon from the observation post. Next to the inn, you'll find a gas station and a park of modern sculptures. There is a youth hostel in Mitzpe Ramon, tel. (07)588443, and a field school for groups and hikers in the area, tel. (07)588616, operated by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. The Nature Reserves Authority has a Visitors' Centre here, with an exhibit on the area, which organizes tours and hikes (tel. (07)588691).

Nearby is the only alpaca farm in the Middle East, which may be visited (entrance fee tel. (07)588047).
This is also the inhospitable territory through which Moses led the Israelites, for it forms part of the Wilderness of Zin (Numbers 20).

Statistics alone are impressive - the Ramon Crater is 8 km. wide, 37.5 km. long and 300 m. deep. To the west of this look-out point is Mt. Ramon, rising 1,035 m. above sea level, making it the highest point in the Negev desert. A modern observatory has been built here.

Remain in low gear as you descend into the crater for the road winds sharply over its 300 m. descent. The jagged walls of the crater have a hushed force about them while the dappled colours of burnt sienna, beige and black down below make it look as if some artist has been at work.

Roman roads are still recognisable and are used by the mining companies in transporting minerals out of the crater. The roads connected towns on the trade routes, and Nabataean potsherds have been found in profusion.
The road courses up and down over hills until it suddenly leaves you suspended above a big bowl of earth known as The Plain (Hameshar). It is dotted with broken tamarisks.

You think you have reached the lowest part of this terrain but again the road looks down on another flat and stony basin. You cross Nahal Paran, which, after the winter floods, has to be detoured as the water lingers across the road until it evaporates or finally sinks in. If it is impassable when you reach it, make sure that your detour is over stony ground because tyres get bogged down quickly in the softer earth over which water has already evaporated.

The scenery throughout is bold and expansive, with the sun playing tricks with the colours of the mountains, and the prickly acacia bushes holding out in a wilderness of erosion.

Ninety-five kilometres after Mitzpe Ramon, the road climbs. When you reach a point where the road begins to descend, you are confronted with your first view of the Arava, its pink sands splashed over the sides of the Edom mountains before you in Jordan. Within a few minutes you are at a crossroad, Qetura, with Elat 52 km. to your right on Road No. 90 and Sedom and the Dead Sea to your left, some 140 km. away. (From Shizzafon or the Tzomet (junction), which you passed 15 km. earlier, there is a new road, No. 112, to Elat through Biq'at Uvda and Biq'at Sayarim, along the Egyptian border.)

The Arava is part of the great Afro-Syrian Rift Valley that runs all the way down to Kenya, and at first glance it seems almost as forbidding as the route you have just crossed. But after a few kilometres you pass Kibbutz Grofit, whose green orchards break the barren monotony.

There is a cafe at the entrance to Kibbutz Yotvata, a few kilometres further on. The large dairy herd here supplies Elat with much of its milk requirements. (See Route No. 23.)

The Hai Bar National Biblical Wild-Life Reserve is located here. Entry is via the Tourist Centre opposite the kibbutz. It serves as a breeding centre for a unique collection of animals in danger of extinction, most of which lived in the area in biblical times. Drive along the 8 km. round road and see the white oryx, ostrich, wild ass, etc., which roam the reserve freely. Recommended visiting hours 8.30 - 3 p.m. Entrance fee.

About 12 km. from Yotvata, a tarred road leads to Timna Park and Solomon's Pillars, and a little further south another road branches right to the Timna Copper Mines. The recently opened Timna Valley Preserve covers an area of about 60 sq. km. and includes many varieties of desert flora and fauna. The ancient mines from the Chalcolithic - Early Bronze Age are the earliest shaft and gallery mines discovered to date and may be examined by visitors. An entrance fee is charged. It is advisable to leave Solomon's Pillars for the return journey, or for the tail- end of Route 23, because by now you should be hot and tired enough to flop into the cool waters of the Red Sea at Elat.

The Jordanian port city of Aqaba is the first sight to greet you as you near Elat. Then the hotels on the north beach, and the downtown parts of Elat, appear on the horizon.

Pass Kibbutz Elot on the outskirts of Elat. Drive straight through, past the airport, and you are in the centre of a tropical paradise.