The Dead Sea Works Visitor Centre and Metsoke Dragot

Mister Handmade in Israel and I recently spent a few days in the area of the Dead Sea. The war is still raging here in Israel - not long ago we buried another young soldier who grew up in the city where I live and who was in fact in the same battalion and special unit that Gadi was in. But sometimes you need to take a little time to breathe, so I persuaded my other half to take some time off work.

For our first day I booked tickets for a tour of the Moshe Novomeisky Visitor Centre, an open-air museum located at the site of the original Palestine Potash Company plant and workers' camp in Sodom, a town commonly known as the location of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Palestine Potash Company was founded in 1929 by Moshe Novomeysky, with the support of British engineer Thomas Gregory Tolock. The first plant was established in 1930 at Kalia, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, followed in 1934 by a larger facility at Sodom, on the southern shore.

The company quickly grew into the largest industrial enterprise in pre-state Israel, at its peak accounting for more than half of Mandatory Palestine's exports. Its operations relied on evaporation techniques, creating shallow pools lined with waterproof salt soil. As the salty water dried, it produced potash - a pinkish-orange, potassium-rich salt formed from ancient seabeds that had evaporated millions of years ago. Output from the Sodom plant was shipped north by boat to Kalia, and from there transported by truck to Jerusalem and the port of Haifa for export.

The plant complex also developed into a small community. By 1940, around 300 people lived on-site, including 40 women and 20 children - making it the southernmost permanent Jewish settlement in Mandatory Palestine. At the time, the only way to reach the southern plant was by boat across the Dead Sea.

During the War of Independence, the Kalia plant was destroyed and the Sodom plant shut down. In 1952, the Dead Sea Works was established as the government successor to the concession, and a year later a road was built linking Be'er Sheva to Sodom. With improved access, a new plant was constructed, and production resumed in 1955.

The Visitor Centre, spanning the original workers' camp area including the dining hall and workers' accommodations, highlights the vision and determination of those who transformed the Dead Sea. Our guided tour used modern technology, such as virtual reality goggles, to transport us back in time and show us what life was like for the potash workers in the 1930s and 40s.We learnt about the geological processes that created the Dead Sea (the formation of the Syrian African rift valley), the process of mineral extraction from the Dead Sea, and the heroic story of the pioneers who established the original Potash Company site, overcoming harsh living conditions in an isolated region. It also addressed the ongoing balancing act between environmental conservation and economic development.

Afterwards we stopped briefly at the shores of the Dead Sea to take some photos. An ecological wonder located at the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea sits at 439 metres degrees below sea level and is the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
We then continued north along Road 90 before turning onto the winding road that leads to Metzoke Dragot, the travellers village where we planned to stay. Metzoke Dragot is located on a cliff 21 metres above sea level and overlooks the magnificent view of the Dead Sea on one side and the rugged Judean Mountains on the other. 'Metzoke' means 'cliffs of' in Hebrew, while 'Dragot' is the name of the area near the Dead Sea, named after Nahal Dragot (Dragot Stream), a nearby desert stream that gives the area its name.

We chose to stay in a "tent" perched on the cliffs overlooking the Dead Sea. The views were spectacular! Our boutique tent was rather more upscale than a basic tent. It was spotlessly clean and very comfortable, and came with air-conditioning, a double bed, TV, electricity/charging stations, and private bathroom facilities! Two sunbeds were placed outside the tent, next to our own private dipping pool. I spent hours sitting in the pool reading an excellent book, 'The Lion Women of Tehran'. There was also Wi-Fi available at the site. It was not luxury hotel standard, but definitely much more pleasant than basic camping and we loved the experience!

We ate dinner in the Metzoke Bar, a café-bar overlooking the Dead Sea. On the first evening I enjoyed a veggie burger, then the next day I tried the vegetarian schwarma made from seitan. I loved the cold Metzoke Beer, though sadly it seems that it is only available at the bar there. The Israeli breakfast included eggs, bread, labane, tehina, vegetables, and hot and cold drinks. It was very good.

Nubian ibex, a desert-dwelling goat species, wander through the site and I jumped up from my chair several times to take photos. Metzoke Dragot's cliffs, wadis (ravines), rocky slopes, and limited water sources make it suitable for ibex. They are very comfortable with people and we saw them often.

This isn't a paid post - Metzoke Dragot simply turned out to be the perfect place for a short stay, with just the right balance of comfort, sweeping Dead Sea views, and a peacefulness that made it hard to leave.

* This post has been shared on Saturday's Critters, Nature Notes, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and Tuesday Turn About.

Nahal Arugot

You may remember that back in May, when I celebrated my 50th birthday, we planned to go hiking in Ein Gedi, the biggest oasis in Israel. Well, it turned out to be too hot that week but Mister Handmade in Israel suggested that we go on his birthday instead. June actually felt cooler than May this year, so when his big day came around, off to Ein Gedi we went!

There are two major nature reserve hikes in the Ein Gedi area. Nahal David and Nahal or Wadi Arugot. Nahal Arugot seems to attract less visitors, which can be advantageous during a pandemic, so we set off very early on Mister Handmade in Israel's birthday and were at the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, by 8am!

Nahal Arugot is one of the few canyons in the Judaean desert with water all year round. It has a number of springs that provide water throughout the entire year. It is also the longest running river on the western coast of the Dead Sea and flows into the Dead Sea, passing through Ein Gedi. The water is fresh and very drinkable (there is a free of charge cooler for filling up any half empty water bottles next to the ticket office). Kibbutz Ein Gedi, on the hill to the south of the river mouth, uses the water for its own consumption but also markets it as a bottled mineral water.

The Hebrew name Nahal Arugot means "flower beds". It is based on the Arabic Wadi Araja, "the ascending brook". This area is where David hid from the pursuing King Saul (1 Samuel 23 29: "And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi"). Nahal Arugot was also one of the sources of water to the ancient site of Ein Gedi, which dates back to the Chalcolithic period (approximately 5,000 years ago).

There are two paths to choose between at Nahal Arugot - a dry hike on the river banks, overlooking the river from a high steep cliff, or a walk in the water. We chose to walk in the water, which turned out to be a little harder than we expected since it includes some climbs against running water and river crosses with slippery stepping stones. It also took us longer than the 1 hour each way that we had been advised, but the scenery was beautiful and there was a lot to see and enjoy.  

Due to the fresh water and the high temperatures of the region there is vegetation such as oleander, Capparis, Calotropis Procera (the poisonous Apple of Sodom) and saltbush in the valley. There are also a lot of tamarisk trees. These are evergreens with small scale-shaped leaves. They blossom during the summer with a white-pink flower. These trees were frequently planted by the Jewish National Fund in arid conditions for shade - in the Negev, in the Jordan Valley and by the Dead Sea - but the trees at Nahal Arugot are natural. Most botanists and bible scholars believe that the Eshel tree planted by Abraham in the Book of Genesis, was Tamarix aphylla; "And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba ..."

There are also many acacia trees. The Acacia raddiana is a thorny tree that has a single trunk and round branches and is the most common acacia in Israel. It grows in the Negev, the Arava and Judaean desert. The Acacia tortilis is a another thorny acacia tree with a number of trunks. It is easy to recognise because of its multiple trunks and umbrella shape. This tree also grows in the Arava Valley and on the Dead Sea shore up to Ein Gedi.

The path, which alters between wet and dry, leads all visitors to The Hidden Waterfall ("Mapal Nistar"), above. It is the highlight of the hike! We started to wonder if we had walked right past it, since the hike had taken us longer than an hour, but once we saw the pool and waterfall at the end of the lower path, we knew that we were in the right place. It was a beautiful sight and a wonderful way to cool down! I stood under the pounding water for a natural massage. (Yes, I have a photo of it. No, I am not posting it here!). There is another pool and waterfall higher up but it was recommended to only walk as far as this waterfall in the summer heat and, truthfully, it was enough for us.

Just as a matter of information, the waterfall is one of only two places on the route where eating is allowed and it was the perfect spot for a lunch break.

I was excited to see Nubian ibex, below, as we hiked back to the starting point. They roam around the cliffs and steep slopes which are its natural habitat. At one time the ibex almost became extinct but were rescued thanks to stricter enforcement of the nature reserve laws and strict prohibition on hunting. One might also see rock hyrax, Golden spiny mouse, porcupine, river crabs, Agama Lizards, striped hyena and more. The most exciting would be footprints of the single Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) that once survived at Ein Gedi, though the last time it was spotted was 2007. The species is now presumed to be extinct here.

We had originally intended to take the dry path back from the waterfall to our car, to enjoy the spectacular views and dry off, but the stream and shallow pools were once again irresistible. We were soon splashing in the water and an hour or so later were back at the trail head. We had hiked a distance of about 7 km and spent around 5 hours in the canyon.

Nahal Arugot had proved to be an amazingly beautiful hike and it was just about the right time of the year to do it. Any later would have been too hot. The hike is apparently lovely during the winter months and if you happen to be there at the right time, you get to see some beautiful flowers like the desert tulip and other rare species. I'll definitely be going back!

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Sharon's Souvenirs, Our World Tuesday, Nature Notes, Travel Tuesday, My Corner of the World