Adam is the Owner of Adam Sela-Challenging Experience, a company offering custom desert adventure tours, jeep tours, mountain bike trips, desert treks, rappelling and canyoning adventures, ecotours, camping trips and educational tours in Israel. With a qualifications as a rappelling instructor, desert tour guide, high angle rescuer and paramedic, Adam has offered more than two decades of safe and
unforgettable adventure. Highly regarded for his equally fun and professional demeanor, Adam customizes each event to meet the needs of each group, precisely organizing a timeline that will allow for optimal enjoyment. Driving his company’s growth through sustainable relationships with local industry partners and clients alike, Adam has developed a reputation for delivering unparalleled adventure in Israel. Challenging Experience and Ecotourism. We believe that real ecotourism is all about education - teaching the masses about our ecosystem and how best to leave as little impact upon it as possible. Most people consider deserts to be 'dead' - not only are they not 'dead' but they are incredibly rich and fragile ecosystems that need to be protected even more than many others. Marks left by careless travelers in the desert can remain for generations. A simple tyre track will damage the important and brittle crust that holds the desert soils in place and may even change the course of a small stream bed thus diverting what little available water there might have been away from small plants and shrubs that have grown to depend upon it. Even bio-degradable waste which one may commonly discard in much wetter climates will not decompose and may upset finely balanced equilibriums. Studies around the world have shown that true nature conservation is all about sacrifice - man cannot avoid having any impact on an ecosystem he visits so any activity will have some kind of impact and the more activity the greater that impact. This model for nature conservation dictates that the only way to truly preserve an ecosystem is to stay out of it all together and in order to keep some areas 'untouched' one must sacrifice other areas that will bear the brunt in their stead. In Israel's Negev desert there are areas that have been set aside as effective 'no go' areas. Even in areas open to tourism visitation and modes of transport are closely governed by strict nature conservation laws that closely govern the way in which we may tour. Our very livelihood depends on our ability first and foremost to protect the ecosystem that is the basis of our business. We are proud that the authorities responsible for nature preservation in Israel have included members of our staff in their nature preservation enforcement team as voluntary rangers. This is a rare honor as it is a clear statement by those authorities that not only are we not considered to be a danger to the ecosystem but we are able to actively help protect it. Man has for a very long time now been a part of many ecosystems and not all human activity is necessarily detrimental. Man and his accompanying animals indeed fill very important niches especially in desert ecosystems like those in the Negev. We invite you for an eye opening look at 'grassroot' ecotourisim in Israel's Negev desert - to learn about man's sometimes critical role in these very special ecosystems. Ecotourism. Israel is a real melting pot of cultures and religions. It is of course the origin of the main three modern religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaisim as well as the less well known Bahai faith. The desert regions of the world have traditionaly been the retreats of those less able and or willing to compete for the wetter and more fertile regions and or those peoples who seek to distance themselves from regimes they prefer not to interact with. Over the past 400 or so years the Negev has been the home of the nomadic Bedouin tribes that originated from the Arabian deserts. These desert nomads today live through out the middle east their success due in main both to their choice to occupy those harsh regions less attractive to other peoples and their willingness to never seek autonomy in the region that they occupy. Indded for the most part few have tried to rule the Bedouin leaving them instead to eek out their living in an area otherwise deemed to be worthless. Ethnic Experience. In recent times what with the advent of engines capable of powering not only vehicles, that are able to shorten distances and ease transport of goods and water, but also power water pumps the Bedouin have ceased their nomadic wanderings preferring instead to establish permanent places of abode. Some of these Bedouin tribes still live very traditional life styles. We have struck up a working relationship, based on true and strong friendships, with some of these families and will be happy to share with you ethnic experiences that are fast fading from the desert landscapes. The Bedouin people are famous hosts and are happy to share their homes with passing travelers whom may in turn enjoy a generosity that is all to hard to find in today's modern world. Join us for a short visit to a traditional Bedouin tent for a glass of hot sweet tea followed by dark bitter coffee that is served as part of the traditional and all important coffee ceremony. There are a several tourist sites that offer Bedouin Experiences some of which we work with but we also can take you to an authentic Bedouin camp where you can enjoy a totally grassroots experience visiting the family in their home (tent) and seeing how they really live. We will be happy to include a Bedouin experience in your jeep tour or as a "stand alone" experience. Join us on a journey of discovery - come and visit the Negev.
