Desert walks, even short ones, are not for the fainthearted. For someone who has walked in the New Zealand wilderness - for three times as long in a day, and with three times as much weight on their back - the sun, sand, stones, sights and sounds of a desert environment can unproportionally be more burdensome and can play with ones mind. We were in Southern Israel, the Negev Desert which covers 63% of the country. In the Negev lies the depression known as the Makhtesh Ramon, a massive naturally-formed crater from millions of years of flooding, folding and rising upon the landscape. It used to be home to an ancient sea in fact. Mile after mile of walking tracks cover criss-cross the crate, popular with Israelis and foreign tourists alike. Multi-day hikes are available with
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