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RIDING THE RANGE IN ISRAELWHERE THE MIDEAST MEETS THE WILD WEST- or -YIPPEE-YI -AY, OY-VAY- or -SHALOM, Y'ALLBy Evelyn Kanter
Of course there are horses in Israel. It would not be the "land of milk and honey" without wranglers and beekeepers. But a dude ranch simply is not what most of us expect to find in this most holy and historic of destinations. Of course, religious and historical sites are a must on any visit to the Holy Land, but take a break from the spiritual and the educational and have some fun. For the adventurous, the Galilee is an undiscovered gem Vered Hagalil is the largest Western riding school in Israel, with more than 100 purebred Arabians and quarterhorses. But, "we don't play dude here," says Yehuda Avni, the Chicago-born owner and founder of a 40-acre spread he describes as a guest farm. In addition to the horses, there are some 100 head of cattle, and most of the fruits and veggies served in the on-site restaurant are grown on the farm, including the pecans which are baked into a delicious and not cloyingly sweet pecan pie I sampled on a post-ride snack. Vered Hagalil sits along the so-called Salt Road, used since Biblical times to transport goods, including salt, between Europe and Africa. Our horses did not move any faster than those ancient travelers because the rocky landscape is dotted with sadddle-sized boulders of grayish-brown volcanic rock. They were belched up eons before recorded history by the now-dormant volcano near Mt. Hermon, at Israel's extreme northern tip. Mt. Hermon is tall enough to be snow-covered for several months a winter, when its slopes actually are dotted by skiers and snowboarders! The rocks prevented galloping or even a brief canter. Just as well, since it seemed sacreligious to give the sturdy creature beneath me a meaningful kick when the view between my horse's ears included the eucalyptus-studded hillside where the Sermon on the Mount was delivered. We rode past thorn trees such as the one which ensnared David's son Absalom. Guide Yafr Ialovitz, born and raised on a kibbutz nearby, said these trees live to be 1,000 years old because "they have no natural enemies. The birds won't go near them, neither will the cattle or the bees". He also pointed out the wreckage of a Syrian MIG jet, downed in l967 when Vered Hagalil was shelled and strafed by its neighbor. Moments later, my view was filled by the symbol of peace, as a flock of wild doves scatters at our approach. Vered Hagalil offers rides from one hour to week-long pack trips. Overnight rides include visits to archeological sites not accessible even by four-wheel drive jeeps, including isolated settlements from the 3rd and 4th centuries, plus the Horns of Hittin, where a Moslem army changed history in 1187 by defeating the Crusaders. Overnighting at Vered Hagalil does not mean sleeping bags and campfires. Individual cabins, each with a patio overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the cities of Tiberius and Caperneum downhill from the ranch, are luxurious and romantic. These stone and cedar cabins are as beautifully appointed and spacious as any condo in the real Wild West. The cabins were designed by one of Avni's daughters. One son is the local veterinarian, and several grandchildren help out in the gift shop and in the fields. The American West is popular in Israel, via movies and music, so there's also a Western-style rodeo with both barrel racing and a horseback version of musical chairs that I’d never seen before. When the country music stops, riders have to dismount and sit down on one of the chairs in the center of the dusty stadium. Last one to grab a chair wins. It’s hokey and fun, and much more popular with Israeli families than with visitors. But children are children everywhere, and giggles are an international language wonderful to hear.
This is no mighty Mississippi or churning Colorado. Rather, it is a mostly quiet, shallow and mostly brown river, far less impressive than you would expect from its Biblical reputation. Again, Syria is a few hundred yards to the left and Lebanon even closer on the right, across the valley floor, and floating down the river gives you a mighty sense of the area’s history.. The Kfar Blum kibbutz sits at the headwaters of the river, where it is met by the feeder Baniyas and Hasbany streams to form the Jordan. The kibbutz rents modern inflatable two-person kayaks that are easy to steer and hard to flip over, even for beginners. We floated past a border of tall trees that hide cultivated fields from view, so it seems like an uninhabited area. The only rapids were a less-than-memorable three-foot waterfall that marks the beginning of the true Jordan. As at Vered Hagalil, most Jordan River rafters are Israelis. Kibbutz spokesman Dan Sasson, originally from Minneapolis, said rafting and riding are not "what tourists usually do" on a trip to Israel. Pity. Traveling around by raft and horse -- the same way Biblical residents travelled – transports you much closer to history than from the inside of an air-conditioned car. TRAVEL TIPSReservations for Vered Hagalil are via M.P. Korazim 12340, Israel, tel. 06-934964. There may be more rooms in guest houses in the Galilee than in "regular" hotels. One such facility is the Ein Gev Kibbutz, on the shore of Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Kineret). There are 150 guest apartments accommodating up to six people each, a pool, lakeside beach with children's playground, and a terrached restaurant that serves up to 800 meals a day, mostly St. Peter's fish, caught fresh that morning from the lake. Contact the Israel Hotel Reservation Center, at 800-552-0141, which represents most of the country's kibuttzim and guest houses. INFORMATION:Contact the Israel Ministry of Tourism |
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Riding
off into the sunset here, the view between my horse’s ears is neither
Colorado’s Front Range nor Texas’ sagebrush. Instead, the shimmering pastel heat waves of evening soften the contours
of the Golan Heights on the left, Lebanon's hills on the right and the Sea of
Galilee directly ahead.
The
next day, I went rafting on the Jordan
River.