|
Thursday, 25 December 2008 00:50 |
 |
|
On Sunday there was a meeting in the spirit of the sustainable tourism workshop led by Professor Mansfeld to discuss bicycle tourism in Eilat. All present believed that bike routes, or what often are done as bicycle/pedestrian routes, are a good idea and applicable to Eilat. However...[read more] |
| This meeting, not a part of the official sustainable tourism workshop led by Professor Mansfeld but announced at the last workshop meeting, was a non-starter. For personal reasons, I had debated whether I would spend the 2-3 hours attending or simply request the high points afterwards from the organisers to present for our readers. Since I turned out constituting 33.33% of the attendance, I'm glad I went. The speaker, Itamar Shapira, who has organised bicycle tourism in other parts of Israel and was presenting this talk as a volunteer, found himself facing a room filled with a grand total of three participants: yours truly, Dr. Yakov (‘Yankeleh') Dafni, a marine biologist who has spent his whole life being very involved in any ecological matters, and Anna Schwartz who does permaculture at a kibbutz in the region and whose husband Eitan has the mobile astronomy observatory. |
|
For those who ‘really wanted to attend. but...[fill in the blank]' - you'll have another chance. The lecture was cancelled and we simply talked for about half an hour. Dr. Dafni lamented the fact that people with the best intentions gather together to try and start something rolling, but efforts start out enthusiastically and then fizzle away. Sometimes they remain: The Coral Reserve was the first of its kind in the world, a nature reserve to preserve coral reefs. It is still well and flourishing.
All present believed that bike routes, or what often are done as bicycle/pedestrian routes, are a good idea and applicable to Eilat. One is already being built along the road to the south beach, and there are areas like the birding region, salt works, or even as far as Timna that could all make for good bicycle tours. Besides construction of the paths, there would need to be signposting, including grades of difficulty, and watering stations. The hills of Eilat and the frequent winds are also a factor in considering the difficulty and attractiveness of any given route being thought about.
|
|
