Exploring The Desert With The Experts BACK

Perhaps the best bargain for instructive and enjoyable - though not pampered - tours are the hikes and vacation camps run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI).

Experienced guides who love their work and can cope with any emergency explain the natural and human history of particular areas and reveal hidden places of beauty and interest. Children are welcome on many trips, except those limited to ``good hikers,'' that is individuals with the experience and stamina required for long treks over difficult country.

Nights are usually spent in sleeping bags under the stars or at field study centres. Toilet facilities in the desert are of course non-existent. (``When in the desert do as the Bedouin do.'') Evening ``entertainment'' for those who want it includes campfires and lectures on the terrain or the wildlife.

The Elat SPNI Field School sells an excellent map of the region, showing possible hiking routes. Visitors are warned, however, against going into the desert without an experienced guide. It is extremely dangerous to do so at all times of the year - in summer, the heat can be disastrous in the rainy season, flash floods are a menace.

The Field School offers free information to members and non-members alike. Tel. (07)372021.

Other SPNI offices in Israel:

Tel Aviv: 4 Hashfela St. (near the Central Bus Station), tel. (03)3350635.
Jerusalem: 13 Heleni Hamalka St., tel. (02)252357, 244605.
Haifa: 8 Herzliya St., tel. (04)8511448.