Put Foot in Israel

29/12/2020

Here's another side of tripping in Israel to consider.
TL:DR - Enjoy nature, but take your garbage home with you. Especially your toilet paper.
As a newly qualified tour guide (I got my license in February - great timing!), I thought I'd be showing tourists around the country. Instead, I'm working in a country-wide program (called פרויקט 500) with the National Parks Authority to clean up sites around Israel.
It's not at all what I expected to be doing, but it's such a necessary job because while our nature sites are beautiful, they're all strewn with litter - especially the most popular ones.
At one site, we collected over 150 garbage bags of rubbish. True some of these sites have probably never been cleaned. But 150 bags!
We've also picked up large items that are fly tipped - sofas, freezers, anything that can be dumped, we've found.
And toilet paper & wipes. So, so much toilet paper & wipes!!
Despite many people thinking that the paper will just rot, it stays around for a long time and where one person goes, everyone goes...
Hopefully when we all get back out into nature, you'll start noticing that places look cleaner and it's more enjoyable for everyone.
So, don't forget to take all your rubbish home with you, pick up that extra piece of garbage you see lying around and enjoy all the beauty this country has to offer.

03/11/2020

Every year in Israel, the first rainfall of the season generates tremendous excitement particularly in the arid south, where people rush to witness the flash floods which magically turn the usually dry wadis (riverbeds) into sometimes raging torrents.
This phenomenon of a bone dry summer followed by a wet winter is unique to the climate of the Mediterranean.
The word "Yoreh יורה" comes from the second paragraph of the Shema -Deuteronomy 11:14
"וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ, יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ I will grant the rain for your landin the season, the early and the late"

18/03/2020

I worked at the Beit Shemesh salvage dig yesterday.

I drove alone in the car, stayed far away from people as I worked and enjoyed being in the outdoors and surrounded by history.

16/03/2020

There hasn't been too much to laugh about in the last few days, but from now on I'm hoping to keep you up-do-date with some of the the lighter and happier things that are going on here.

Starting with this: a man has returned a 2,000-year-old catapult bolt to the City of David National Park - just 15 years after he stole it.

The reason for the sudden return was because he felt the end of the world is near.

While the world isn't ending quite yet, it's the perfect segue into the question: what have you "borrowed" that's overdue for return?

Put your answers below.

Best one gets a tour of the City of David with me.

12/03/2020

You might not be able to visit Jerusalem right now, but here's a little quiz to help you learn more about the holy city.

Click the link below to get started.

https://m.me/putfootinIsrael?ref=w9721649

Travel Israel with Adir - half-day, full-day and mutli-day tours.

09/03/2020

I can't pretend I'm not disappointed that after all my hard work, my career as a guide has been put on hold.
My first group, which I was supposed to take around the Kinneret yesterday, was cancelled.
Along with many, many other guides - among them good friends - and those involved in the industry, I am just holding my breath and hoping this situation passes quickly and that life gets back to normal without causing too much damage to people's livelihoods.
Looking forward to helping you put your foot in Israel when circumstances allow.

08/03/2020

Gotta look for the positive....
This little hiccup is giving me plenty of time to work on my branding and marketing.
Trying to decide between the two logos below.
Which one do you prefer, and why?

04/03/2020

Early on election day, we headed to the Taavura Truck and Transport Museum in Ramla.

With its collection of vehicles used in Israel from 1948-1978, it's a great spot for anyone who loves vintage trucks and vehicles.

It's also the perfect spot for kids. They can climb in, on and around the trucks. And some of these beasts are massive, as you can see in the photo.

There's plenty of shade, spots for eating and a film detailing history of the Taavura company.

The museum is open year round and although there is shade, it gets hot in summer so I'd recommend getting there early.

Admission is free, which means it can get busy although when we went it was pretty empty. We're definitely headed back there.

http://www.taavura.com/taavura-museum

02/03/2020

🌹🥀🌺 Every spring, Israel goes flower mad and people head to the south to see the blooms. With all the rain this year, we have an extra special treat - the area around the Dead Sea is flowering.

On Friday, we took a family tiyul (trip) and went to see them for ourselves.

The site of the hills down to the sea bathed in red was magical, and so unexpected.

If you can make it, go and see them before this rare treat vanishes and the desert goes back to its regular, but equally beautiful, colors.

25/02/2020

The beautiful Kinneret

25/02/2020

☔️ It's another rainy day in Jerusalem.

😃 Did you know the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) is currently just under a meter below the upper red line of 208.87 meters below sea level? That’s another way of saying it’s almost hit the desired maximum height of the lake.

If the lake rises above this level, there’s a real danger of flooding and damage.

💦 There’s been so much rain the Israel Water Authority is planning to open the Degania dam at the southern end of the lake to release the surplus water down the Jordan River to prevent flooding.

🛁 Alternatively, it could increase the amount of water it pumps out. This water feeds into the National Carrier pipelines and end up in our taps.

Until 2015, 175 million cubic meters of water were pumped annually. Since the water level dropped in 2015,only 30 million cubic meters are pumped out a year.

24/02/2020

24/02/2020

Einot Tzukim in February. Perfect weather and no crowds!

24/02/2020

After two years of hard work, over 80 field trips and two exams, I'm a licensed tour guide!

26/12/2019