Kibbutz Lotan — “Birding Without Borders” -
A Real Vacation in Israel
by Charlie and Karen Schudson
Hiking, cycling, bird-watching, snorkeling, strolling under the stars …. a perfect vacation, and all this, including our own apartment and all our meals, for less than $50 a day. Forget the Caribbean; we found all this in Israel!
Our son, Ben (a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College), and his fiance, Sara (a graduate student at the Pardes Institute), were living in Jerusalem. To support them and Israel during difficult times, we visited often in the last two years. Last April, they took us to one of their favorite places, Kibbutz Lotan.
For nature lovers, Kibbutz Lotan offers the perfect vacation. Founded by Reform Jews twenty years ago, Lotan is an environmental showcase specializing in eco-tourism. Home to some of Israel’s leading environmentalists, Lotan will help you design your personal tour of Israel (and even pick you up at the airport). Depending on your budget, interests, and time, you can stay at Lotan, travel throughout the country, or both. You can design a purely eco-tour, or incorporate religious and historical exploration as well.
Lotan itself is an eco-classroom. Constructed of stucco-covered garbage (yes, garbage!), Lotan’s buildings have “truth” windows — plexiglas sections spaced along the walls revealing their recycled contents. While our comfortable apartment had modern plumbing, our needs also could be met while walking the grounds — Lotan’s clean, solar-powered “outhouses” automatically pipe classical music to your stall the moment you close the door.
For avid hikers, bikers, birders, and divers, Lotan is thrilling. Hiking the nearby Negev was spectacular. Snorkeling in Eilat, only a thirty-minutes away, was superb. And the birding was absolutely amazing.
Located at the Israel-Jordan border, just north of the Gulf of Eilat, Lotan is on one of the world’s most magnificent migratory corridors. With a Lotan ornithologist as our guide, we simply walked a few minutes from our apartment, sat in a shady spot by a pond, and let the birds come to us. Soon we saw dozens of species we would never see in America.
From high-flying flocks of cranes, eagles and storks, to perching Bee-eaters and White-crowned Wheatears shining like gems outside our door, the birds brightened each sun-drenched day. And each day was gorgeous. Daytime temperatures in the eighties allowed for swimming in Lotan’s beautiful pool. Sixties at night provided peaceful sleep.
Peaceful? But what about that barbed-wire border and watch-tower a hundred yards away? Well, welcome to Jordan and “Birding Without Borders.”
"Birding Without Borders" is the Israeli-Jordanian initiative to learn a lesson from our feathered friends. Under an agreement resulting from the 1993 treaty between the two countries, Lotan's guides simply unlock the border gate (and give guests the combination so they can do it too). We walked into Jordan, hiked a short distance, and watched from special birding shelters developed by naturalists from the two nations.
Talk about a win-win-win-win! Lotan provided a great time with our children, a wonderful vacation for us all, an important commitment to peace and environmental cooperation, and support for Israel.
And Israel needs us — in Israel! Lotan is struggling. Its economy is driven by eco-tourists from Europe, most of whom stopped coming once the intifada started. The birds, however, are still flying.
We do not mean to trumpet Israeli tourism without acknowledging the real safety concerns. We admit that, but for our need to support our children during tense times, we could have been content in Door County.
But now having made three trips in the last two years (and having our other son, Joel, make a fourth trip to visit Ben and Sara), having celebrated Passover in Jerusalem, and having traveled throughout Israel during these difficult times, we have seen that life in Israel — vibrant life — continues.
And we can say that Israel still offers travel as delightful and fascinating as any in the world. Nowhere else, on a wonderful vacation, can we all support our faith and our future just by being there.
Contact Lotan Center for Creative Ecology
Mark Naveh
lotan-ecocenter@ardom.ardom.co.il
Tel: +972 8 6356811; +972 8 6356935; +972 54 9799033
Toll free (while in Israel): 1800 2000 75
