The Beauty of the Desert
Good Morning and Happy Friday!
After last Fiday's little hiatus (more on that another time), today's post is a series of pictures I took last year in the Negev Desert/Arava, near Eilat.
Eilat is a fascinating place in terms of its wildlife - from the amazing fish of the Red Sea lapping its shores to the gazelles, desert monitors (*) and bee-eaters in its mountains and the flock of flamingos in its salt pans. It is interesting geographically, too, since it sits within a stone's throw of both Jordan and Egypt at Israel's southernmost border.
As a biologist, I expected the desert to be interesting (this was not my first trip to Eilat), but I was unprepared for the sheer beauty of the place. There is a fabulous sort of austere peace to the landscape and the colours are something else again, changing almost by the hour, as the sun shifts in the sky above. My pictures really do not do the place justice, but here they are, none-the-less
And finally, a couple of shots of one of the (miriad) Greater Flamingos, Phoenicopterus roseus, in the valley below-
-That's all from me for today. Thanks for reading,
See you next time.
Victoria.
Footnotes.
*- There you go, Arctic Foxx- an extra reptile included due to popular demand.... Sadly, I don't have any pictures of one, but you can find a modest selection [HERE].
After last Fiday's little hiatus (more on that another time), today's post is a series of pictures I took last year in the Negev Desert/Arava, near Eilat.
Eilat is a fascinating place in terms of its wildlife - from the amazing fish of the Red Sea lapping its shores to the gazelles, desert monitors (*) and bee-eaters in its mountains and the flock of flamingos in its salt pans. It is interesting geographically, too, since it sits within a stone's throw of both Jordan and Egypt at Israel's southernmost border.
As a biologist, I expected the desert to be interesting (this was not my first trip to Eilat), but I was unprepared for the sheer beauty of the place. There is a fabulous sort of austere peace to the landscape and the colours are something else again, changing almost by the hour, as the sun shifts in the sky above. My pictures really do not do the place justice, but here they are, none-the-less
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| View on the drive from "Petrol Road" near Eilat to Amram's pillars in the mountains above the city |
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| Mountains of the Arava/ Southern Negev Desert, near Eilat |
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| Amongst the Mountains of the Arava |
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| Amram's Pillars: a natural geological feature in the mountains above Eilat |
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| Amram's Pillars with model Nurit climbing in the foreground to show size. Typically Eilat "enjoys" 4 to 5 days' of rain per year (I say, enjoys, because at such a rare frequency, it must surely be a pleasure to get rained upon), yet even at this height, there is evidence of historic rainfall- both in the erosion of the rocks and in the plant growth in the (seasonally dreid up) wadi- beds that run amongst the mountains. |
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The View from Amram's Pillars, looking away from the Mountains and Egypt, towards Israel and Jordan, beyond. To the right of centre, model Nurit (sitting beside her backpack) gives an indication of scale.
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And finally, a couple of shots of one of the (miriad) Greater Flamingos, Phoenicopterus roseus, in the valley below-
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| A single Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, (separated fleetingly from the rest of its flock) wades across the salt pans in the Arava, just to the North of Eilat on the Israeli/Jordanian border. |
-That's all from me for today. Thanks for reading,
See you next time.
Victoria.
Footnotes.
*- There you go, Arctic Foxx- an extra reptile included due to popular demand.... Sadly, I don't have any pictures of one, but you can find a modest selection [HERE].
Wow! That's a very pretty desert. Looks very appealijg (at least until they invent pictures that also give you a feel of the temprature?)
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pictures.
ReplyDelete