Treat all five of your senses with a Bio-Tour of organic agriculture at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu.
With the summer in full swing (and heat, and humidity), we have featured a variety of eco-tourism options in the Middle East over the past few weeks. Some options have been delicious (such as the organic goat cheese farm in northern Israel) and some have been aesthetically fascinating (such as the public buses-turned-bed and breakfast suites in the Negev desert), but not all have been multi-sensual. Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, one of the foremost organic kibbutzes in Israel, claims that it can provide an eco-tour that will please all five senses.
Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu invites visitors to what it calls a “Bio-Tour”, which they describe as a “unique tour in the clean air and the chemical free environment of organic farming at its best. Experience with all your senses. See, hear, smell, taste and feel.”
The Bio-Tours have a variety of attractions, and can therefore be tailored to each group, whether you decide to go alone, with family, with young children, or with friends. The lengths of the tours can vary as well, and usually range between 2-3 hours.
Various stops on the extensive Bio-Tour can include:
- the organic pomegranate vineyard
- the kibbutz’s compost heap
- facilities for growing, drying and processing organic herbs S.D.E. Spice Factory
- the fish farm
- the Bio-Bee factory that manufactures insects as an organic form of pest control
- the Benishti observatory
- the organic vegetable garden
- the organic date orchard
- the organic grape vineyard
- the Bengali Fichus park
Read more about eco-tourism in the Middle East:
WWOOF Your Way to Organic Food in the Middle East
Arava Institute’s Ultimate Trans-Boundary Middle East Eco Tour this Winter
A Quick Guide to Traveling by Bike in the Middle East
Hey Karin, Do you have any idea what percentage tourism makes up for total income/earnings on Kibbutz farms. I have statistics from 1998 saying tourism made up for 5% of total income while industry and agriculture made up for roughly 90%. Do you think this number has changed in 2010?
Sensuality and kibbutz Sde Eliyahu are two concepts I would never ever imagine sitting together, but okay! It can work.