Travel to Southern Israel – Episode 318

Nir

Chris,

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the last podcast about the Negev and the Chaundra’s enthusiasm and passion about the place – she is so right.

Two comments:
The dead sea is the lowest point on earth at -423 meter or -1388 feet below sea level and not 100m. Probably even much lower because we are losing about a meter a year these days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea

The Makhtesh that she mentions is not really a canyon according to the geological definition. A Canyon, generally, has a river that carves its shape with an entry and exit point. A Makhtesh is a unique geological formation, only found in Israel – it’s closed on all sides, no river flows through it and it only has one exit point.

This is the definition from Wikipedia:

A makhtesh (Hebrew: ??????????? ([ma??te?]), plural: ???????????? ([?ma?t???im]) – Makhteshim) is a geological landform considered unique to the Negevdesert of Israel. A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley which is usually drained by a single wadi. The valleys have limited vegetation and soil, containing a variety of different colored rocks and diverse fauna and flora. The best known and largest makhtesh is Makhtesh Ramon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhtesh

Brad

Chris,

I sure enjoyed the information about Israel. Chaundra did a wonderful job in describing the trip. I was jogging as I was listening to the show, and the time just zoomed by. I could picture in my mind the desert and all the places of interest she described. Thank you Brad