I read a lot about this unique place – Makhtesh Ramon (kinda fan of such unexpected things to read). So to visit it was a fream come true and an absolutely fabulous experience.
Makhtesh Ramon is an erosion cirque 40 kms long in a Negev desert. It is a very special place, only could be found in Israel and Egypt (the second one is not that big, though), so the Hebrew word”makhtesh” is now used all over the world as an official geological termine. Can you even imagine that?
I will try to explain how it appeared, though I can hardly understand it myself. First of all there was only world-wide ocean Tetis, where the underwater ground was formed. After the ocean left, that ground started to move. And a mountain hard from outside and soft inside was formed at the Ramon. With the times rains and winds made halls in it and water together with the inner soft parts started to flow from one side before one port didn’t totally crushed. So today Makhtesh Ramon is a half-circle 500 meters deep.
You can easily learn ancient history here in Ramon, while everything was kept in this mountains since the earliest ages. Lava lakes, ancient predatory snails’ remains and unusual crystals can be found here. Almost all Mendeleev elements painted this place into a rainbow: zinc, uranium, iron, copper, lead, cadmium, cobalt. Even only writting it I can’t breathe because of how huge it is!
Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to even glance at all this. First of all, probably the tour was not made for it:) And secondly as we only started a heli landed by as, asking us to leave Makhtesh because military operation was about to start there.
I’m sure they were talking about training operation, not the real one, cause there are many military bases all over the Negev. But anyway it sounded scary:)
Desert influences me a lot. Even if I’m only passing by in a car, I can feel that very special moment of touching history and greatness. So even the short trip to Makhtesh Ramon was a gift for me. When I only look at those landscapes I want this moment to last forever. I want to be a part of it.
I understand that my photos are far from gibing you a scene of what you can see there. As some guys explained me – it is because of a cloudy weather. We couldn’t see clearly and the colors weren’t that bright, but if you want to understand what is Makhtesh all about – look through anton_petrus post – he had just posted some images lately.
Don’t you dare to think noone lives in a desert! Fauna is really huge here, it’s just a little different from the one in forests, for example. They have shorter bodies and longer ears to keep the right temperature under the sun. Unfortunately, the harmony of Makhtesh Ramon fauna was ruined by people, trying to find some useful elements in a ground here. Now they are busy with bringing everything they ruined back.
Can you believe our nature is a perfect source for almost everything we have ever invented? For example, it can really be a lack of water in a desert – not more than 20 mm per year. So plants are getting used to drinking rare salty water. They are saving water in their leafes with the help of special oil. As you crush them up, you receive the coolest cream, that would cost fortune in any resort all over the world. Adding water – and here the soap is. By the way, it’s really effective – the hands are crunching afterwards.
Saying nothing about blushes, eye shadows or foundations:) 🙂
Some more photos from that trip:
Hope you enjoyed that mini-photo-journey. By the way, do you feel that magic while being tet-a-tet with the nature?
