Take Flight with Nature Israel | Nov. 2024

Activities:

• Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport - Airport transfers and VIP fast-track services are available and not included.

• Opening Evening Cocktail Reception - Get-together for orientation, get to know your group members and introduction to the trip.

• Tel Aviv - Crowne Plaza Beach Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - Every morning you'll enjoy a delicious Israel buffet breakfast at your hotel.

• Meet at the lobby of the hotel with Jay Shofet for an overview of SPNI

• A walk along Hayarkon River - Visit the Rosh Tzipor bird sanctuary and enjoy a morning walk along Hayarkon River, part of the Israel National Trail. During the visit, we will hear from Dana Tabatchnik, manager of SPNI's River and Streams Rehabilitation Project.

• Travel to Kibbutz Maagan Michael

• Lunch and tour of Kibbutz Maagan Michael - Eat lunch at kibbutz dining hall, meet with Gershon Peleg, former CEO of SPNI, and tour of SPNI Field School and Start-Up Nature Rewilded Wetlands

• Break before dinner

• Dinner at a local restaurant.

• Tel Aviv - Crowne Plaza Beach Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out

• SPNI's educational programs - Visit a school in south Tel Aviv, meet with SPNI educators, and receive an up-close look at SPNI's educational programs.

• Hot-air balloon over Tel Aviv - You're invited to an amazing experience - hover over Tel Aviv in a hot-air balloon! Get a bird’s eye view of Tel Aviv city and the Gush Dan Metropolis, the urban planning in the past, and a look into the future of urban nature in the city. (weather depended)

• Visit to the Sorek Desalination Plant - A lecture and tour at the Sorek Desalination Plant in Palmachim. This is the world’s largest seawater desalination plant. See first-hand how this facility uses seawater to provide fresh water to the local population.

• Group lunch on route - Meal included.

• Visit Har Tayasim in the Jerusalem hills - See how the forest recovers after the fires and what SPNI thinks should be done about afforestation.

• Drive to Jerusalem and check-in to the hotel.

• Dinner on your own and free time - Meal and transfers are not included.

• Jerusalem - IBIS City Center Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel

• Morning bird watching at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory - This is a center of education, science, and community located next to the Knesset. Experience an unforgettable up-close bird banding activity and learn about Israel’s vital importance to global bird migration.

• Levi Eshkol House - tour and presentation - Levi Eshkol is arguably Israel’s most underappreciated Prime Minister. Get a guided tour of Israel’s Historic Prime Ministers’ Residence, where Ben Gurion and Golda Meir also resided, and learn about Levi Eshkol’s impact on Israeli-American relations and the building of the National Water Carrier. The Eshkol House is also the home of SPNI’s Jerusalem community. We’ll meet with community professionals and hear about SPNI’s work on the municipal level.

• Lunch break at Levi Eshkol House

• A visit to the beautiful Gazelle Valley - Located in the heart of Jerusalem, the Gazelle Valley was saved by SPNI and turned into a world-class urban wildlife site. It’s a very special type of park, and a haven for the endangered Israeli mountain gazelle. Amir Balaban, our Director of Urban Nature, will tell you the story of how the park came to be and how it’s being used as a model for urban sustainability in Israel and around the world.

• Off-the-beaten-path tour of the Old City - Tour Jerusalem’s Old City and meet the people and places that make this place so unique. Explore the craftspeople in the Old City - Tour Jerusalem’s Old City and meet the people and places that make this place so unique. Meet artisans who are highly skilled in their crafts, in which the knowledge has passed in their family for generations. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Dinner on your own and free time - Meal and transfers are not included

• Jerusalem - IBIS City Center Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel & check-out

• Dead Sea Boat Ride with Dead Sea Revival Project - Take a boat ride on the Dead Sea in a small group motorboat and see amazing salt formations and scenery. During this unique experience you will enjoy the wondrous muds, salt pearls, salt diamonds, water springs streaming to the sea and sink holes filled with sweet water. Learn about the ecosystem and the environmental issues connected to the Dead Sea.

• Drive north along the Jordan Valley

• Light lunch at Kfar Ruppin

• Kfar Ruppin - birdwatching - Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin on the banks of the Jordan River is home to one of SPNI’s most ambitious initiatives – to create an artificial wetland, to support mass bird migration and global biodiversity. You’ll hear about the complexities of managing an artificial wetland and SPNI’s bold goals for replicating this model nationwide.

• Travel to the hotel, check-in and dinner at the hotel.

• North - Pastoral Kfar Blum Hotel

Activities:

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Army For Protection of Nature - Together with Director Guy Sali we’ll learn about how the local IDF bases take responsibility for protecting the nature of the Golan, and the critical ecological corridor near Tel Dan the links the Golan and Galilee. We’ll travel up to Mutsav Shifon that overlooks Majdal Shams and meet and talk to the soldiers there, then head back towards to meet different soldiers in that ecological corridor for a talk and brief walk.

• Hike in Tel Dan - Tel Dan National Park combines a lush nature reserve with a biblical archaeological experience and includes a short wheelchair- accessible trail. At the heart of the park is “Tel Dan”- the capital of the ancient northern Israeli biblical kingdom.

• Authentic lunch.

• A visit to Hermon Field School - SPNI is the biggest provider of environmental education in Israel, including hundreds of classes each year at our network of Field Schools. We'll hear about our ambitious plans to revolutionize sustainable building in Israel together with experiential environmental education.

• Beit Ussishkin Nature Museum - Discover ancient artifacts, wildlife displays, and a glimpse into the cultural heritage of northern Israel.

• Dinner at the hotel.

• North - Pastoral Kfar Blum Hotel

Activities:

• Magical sunrise tour of Hula Valley - Undoubtedly one of the annual highlights of Israeli nature is the phenomenal experience of watching 40,000 cranes take off from the Hula Valley while the sky rises over the Golan Heights. Bring your binoculars and cameras for one of the best nature experiences available anywhere in the world.

• Travel back to the hotel, eat breakfast and check-out

• Visit the Hula Nature Reserve - Follow the boardwalk around the restored lake and see fish, birds, and perhaps a water buffalo or jungle cat.

• Farewell lunch and closing session

• Travel to Ben Gurion Airport - OR drive to Tel Aviv for those who are extending their stay.

• Fly back home - we look forward to hosting you again in our beautiful country!