Kfar Hanokdim Negev, Israel

We traveled by car a few hours to Kfar Hanokdim in the Negev desert to have an authentic Bedouin experience. We spent the night in an Bedouin camp called Kfar Hanokdim.

I remember going to a Bedouin camp when I went on Birthright years ago, where we had to sleep in a tent on the floor, so I was planning on the experience being very similar.

We found peacocks right outside our door to great us

Vuala, this was a little different than Birthright. Luckily, for us, with age comes privilege, and we actually got to sleep in a hut with 21st century comfort!

After settling in we met with the local transportation...

Trying to get close without them licking or spitting on us

We hopped on a camel for a ride in the desert overlooking the mountains and local Bedouin settlements.   It's a nice way to see the layout of desert life from a camel's viewpoint. 

We were invited to experience Bedouin hospitality which was very interesting.   We went into a tent to relax around a fire and enjoy some wonderful herbal rose tea (with lots of sugar).  The Bedouins performed an ancient coffee making ceremony and played drums while the coffee beans roasted around the fire. They taught us about their culture, and we asked them lots of questions. They take their hospitality very seriously, any stranger that came into a Bedouin camp was guaranteed three days of food lodging and protection.  They also asked us a few questions too-mostly about politics.

There was really great sunlight outside of the tent with a beautiful view of Masada in the distance.

If you're hungry with Bedouin hospitality you won't leave the table with an empty stomach.  We started off with different salads: Arabic vegetable salad, thick tahini salad, cabbage salad, homemade pickles and a thick Pourna Pita with Za'atar (hyssop herb) and olive oil.  They then brought out Magluba- a rice and vegetable dish served on a thin pita bread, and shortly afterwards we were served grilled meats.  These dishes were lavish and delicious, the food kept on coming!

We were so full we fell right into food comas after dinner.  Luckily for us since we went to bed early we were able to get up and watch the sunrise over Masada before heading south to Eilat.

The colors just got better and better

 Rise and Shine!

It was a cool experience visiting the Bedouin's and riding the camels will be something we will remember forever, now it's time to travel further south and see what Eilat has to offer us!