A Lebanese man takes on a bucking bull at Lebanon’s very own dude ranch… do you think he made 8 seconds? If you’ve always dreamed about cowboys and Indians, stop. They fought and killed each other and it was grisly. But the southwestern ranch lifestyle is entirely less violent and now it’s possible to taste […]
Green Prophet’s Arwa measures her family’s carbon footprint to Hajj. Last year, my auntie and her family- the Hussains– did one of the most important things that a Muslim can do in their lives. They fulfilled one of the five pillars of Islam and went to Hajj which is a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi […]
In three separate (and unusual) incidents, a white-tip shark attacks tourists off the coast of Sinai’s Sharm Al-Sheikh. I don’t think anyone who has watched the movie can enter a large body of salt water without the Jaws theme song thumping ominously at their amygdala. Human beings have a prehistoric terror of what they perceive […]
Use the heel-toe express to wander through Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. The Middle East is a pretty amazing place (just ask any of the locals), and there is a lot to see. A LOT to see. So it would be a shame to miss anything by sticking to conventional modern (and polluting) forms of […]
You can cycle through the Middle East, with some advance planning: ie burka coverings for women going through Saudi Arabia, and special VISAs for Syria. Image via Tyson Manering while cycling through Jordan. Bicycle touring enthusiasts interested in going on biking tours of the Middle East are now discovering that this sport is not just […]
[image via: robert_hornung] Sharm el-Sheikh, in the Sinai region of Egypt, has been a thriving tourist location for decades due to its incredible beaches and vast coral reefs. Its great attraction to tourists has also been its downfall, however. The reefs are currently under threat due to the dust caused by erosion. With tourism accounting […]
When Israel declared its new national bird, the hoopoe, Green Prophet was on the story. Little did we know that so was American fake newscaster Stephen Colbert, complete with Hebrew pronunciation. “Congratulations, Israel. Just as America soars like the might eagle, may you emulate the noble long-billed hoopoe by squirting fecal matter at intruders,” says […]
Special guest desert dwelling activist and academic Lucy Michaels, gets to the heart of the matter with a classic eco text: “The burnt cliffs and lonely skies … all that which lies beyond the end of roads:” From Desert Solitaire and why Israel’s deserts need their own Edward Abbey. In the late 1950’s, a young […]
As a Green Prophet studying at Ben Gurion University, for the last two weeks I have been out of school due to rockets on Beer Sheva. Earlier this week I took advantage of BGU’s location in the desert to hike away from the sirens and remember the beauty of being outside in the undeveloped areas […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WqjOn1sxQw[/youtube] For those of you out there who may have been planning an eco tourist trip to Israel but have… ahem… postponed your plans for the time being, don’t cancel all of your vacation plans just yet. Katan Adventures, a New York based travel company, might be able to provide help planning an alternative trip […]
If you choose to live in the heart of the Negev desert – or any desert for that matter – chances are, you’re pretty in touch with nature. Because you’re surrounded by it. There just aren’t any of the modern distractions that many of us know and love, like movies, frozen yogurt stands, etc. But […]
If you don’t know what a yurt is, have no fear. Most people don’t (including yours truly). But yurts, with their portability, suitability for nature trips, and simple low-tech structures are highly suitable for eco-tourism – so they definitely deserve our attention. And it certainly is exciting that yurts are entering the Israeli tourism scene. […]
It’s September already and officially the end of the summer (not that you would notice by the still-scorching Middle Eastern climate). As the temperature begins to cool down (slightly), the next couple of months offer the ideal time to hit one of the many hiking trails, forests, or natural springs in Israel. But sometimes enjoying […]
“The crisis is at root one of perception; we no longer see the cosmos as alive, nor do we any longer recognise that we are inseperable from the whole of nature, and from our earth as a living being. But there is hope, for as the crisis deepens, the call of anima mundi intensifies.” Stephan […]
“The illumination is made possible thanks to the emergence of an exhilarating new discipline, one that integrates unprecedented knowledge of plants as living organisms with their fossil record and the role they play in driving global environmental change. “As we do so, we can see clearly that plants are not ‘silent witnesses to the passage […]