Sea turtle egg-laying season at the Mediterranean coast

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Something told me, late last night,  to post my turtle pictures.
And today I wake up to discover that today is WORLD TURTLE DAY!!

It is now turtle egg laying season along Israel's Mediterranean coast, but sadly, this sea turtle didn't make it.

My town's touring group visited here in March and we saw three dead ones.

Each year about 300 sea turtles are washed up onto Israeli beaches after being harmed by marine waste, fishing nets, hooks, boat motors, etc. 

Now, during the spring and summer laying season many volunteers and park rangers come to the beaches to assist and protect the endangered sea turtles when they come ashore and later, when the hatchlings hatch from the eggs.

The Israel Sea Turtle Rescue Center does good work.
You can see their videos and photos on Facebook at  המרכז להצלת צבי הים .

When the coast was less built up, less urbanized, the females would swim ashore, lay their eggs in a sandy nest, and immediately return to the water by following the moon's reflected light on the sea.
But the beach we visited is close to the big Arab town of Jisr az-Zarqa.
The turtles now often get confused and turn instead toward the light of the town and lose their way.
That's why volunteers are needed.
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UPDATE May 23:
See also photos, video, and info about Israel's turtle rehab center:
https://www.israel21c.org/nursing-sea-turtles-back-to-health/

And more information from this good article:

Under cover of darkness in May and June, female sea turtles make their way from the waters of Israel’s Mediterranean beaches to the seashore, where they dig nests and lay dozens of eggs. In August, the hatchlings start cracking their way out of their shells, and begin a perilous trek to the relative safety of the water.

Israel is home to loggerhead, leatherback, green and softshell turtles – all endangered due to decades of hunting, pollution, manmade dangers and habitat disturbances caused by human activity. The newly laid eggs and the hatchlings are quite vulnerable to predators and the hot sun. Left on their own, only a few survive.
Since the mid-1980s, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority has been sending out rangers and volunteers in the summer months to move nests to protected beach reserves or incubation farms.

(Linking to Camera-Critters,  ABC Wednesday and Our World Tuesday.)
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Forest to Plate in Kfar Sallama, Galilee

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The most delicious vegetarian lunch I've ever tasted!

This young Bedouin brought huge trays to our tour group directly from the kitchen window of the family preparing all these fresh dishes.

Here the basket of hot pita came.
All the ingredients were local, in season, organic, and -- did I say? -- delicious!
Some were grown right there in the yard where we ate, while some were gathered in the wild.
In fact, the business card of  the family enterprise reads  FOREST to PLATE.

Right there in the yard, between the modern houses of this village in the Galilee, is a diwan, a Bedouin tent of hospitality.
If our tour group from Meitar had been a few decades younger, we could have eaten inside, sitting on the ground.
You can see video of guests dancing there to live Arab flute music at The Bedouin Experience in the Galilee page on Facebook.
Their website is in Hebrew but has photos and music.

The old traditional Bedouin embroidered dresses are always nice to see.

The Galilee is covered with olive trees and still the oil production does not meet the local demand.
So many foods are made with olive oil.
In the garden an old olive crushing stone was on display.

Right under an olive tree!

One of the village's mosques.

Kfar Sallama has more than 3,100 inhabitants.

A photo of the village from 2008, from Wikipedia.  I'm sure Kfar Sallama has expanded since then.
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Very interesting is this list and map of Arab localities in Israel.
Check out the Northern District (ya'ani, the Galilee) especially.
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(Linking to ABC Wednesday K-day.)
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Pagoda-style roofs in Bedouin village

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I have been following live broadcasts of  Pope Francis' August 13-18 pastoral journey to South Korea.
At today's Mass he spoke to 50,000 young people from 23 countries gathered in the Castle of Haemi and preached (in English!!)  on the theme of the 6th Asian Youth Day--“Asian Youth! Wake up! The Glory of the Martyrs Is Upon You!”

Some of the Korean architecture reminded me of  a few houses I see from my bus between Meitar and Beer Sheva.
The pagoda-style roofs seem to be a popular theme in newer Arab houses.
The ones in my photo are on the outskirts of  Bedouin village Umm Batin,  also known as Abu Kaf. 

Why do they need such big villas next to their farm, you ask?
Bedouin families average six to ten children.
Israel bans polygamy,  but Bedouin men often marry two to three wives and can have families with as many as 25 children.

 The Negev desert makes up 60% of the Israel’s land mass, but it is a sparsely populated area that holds only 8% of the country’s population.
About  700,000 people live in the Negev.
This includes over 200,00 in  Beer Sheva.
It also includes an estimated 200,000 Bedouin citizens.
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UPDATE:  Broadcasts and videos of the Pope in Korea can be seen at http://www.vatican.va/video/index.html
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(Linking to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
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A great day of learning

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It was a great day--everything I saw was new!
Well, it was all ancient, but it was new to me.

First there was free admission (for International Museum Day) at the Bible Lands Museum.
Then at 4 p.m. I took a guided tour outside of Jerusalem, part of Yad Yitzhak Ben-Zvi's 3-day marathon of 120 tours.
Our bus took us to the Inn of the Good Samaritan and to Martyrius Monastery.
More on those in the coming days!

The ruins of the monastery are in the middle of a city of 39,000 Jewish Israelis.
The young city of Ma'ale Adumim is just 7 kilometers east of Jerusalem but all around it is desert, the Judean Desert.
Just before 7 p.m. the last rays of sun illuminated its white buildings high on the hill.

Less than 10 minutes later we passed this Palestinian village.
The green lights on the mosque's minaret, to the left, were already shining in the dusk.
For a good look, click on the photo, then click again on the image that opens up.
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I thought the layers of colors in the desert sky would be nice for SkyWatch Friday meme.
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(More about Ma'ale Adumim at the website of a resident and at Wikipedia.
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Flags over the houses in Wadi Ara

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We took the bus from Jerusalem up north to Tiberias recently.

These pictures I took from the bus show the long stretches of Arab villages (and one city, Umm al-Fahm) that line both sides of Wadi Ara.

Also known in Hebrew as Nahal Iron, the area is inside the Green Line (the 1949 armistice lines).

Lots of tall mosque minarets.

The houses look big because often several generations of the family will live in one house.

But what I really wanted to show you is that these days many houses are flying the flag of their favorite World Cup team.

Enlarge the photo above and the one below, and see what country's flag you can find.

Yep, Italy seems the most popular!

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Sharing the soccer fever for That's My World Tuesday.

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Mount Tabor

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For That's My World I wanted to show you Mount Tabor, as seen from the bus that goes between Jerusalem and Tiberias.

When the bus turns toward the flat, fertile Jezreel Valley, you suddenly see a mountain looming in the distance. It is only 460 meters above the valley floor, but still it "looms."

The hill is strategically located on the main north-south ancient road and was an important fortress during the First and Second Temple, Greek, Roman and Crusader times--the scene of many battles. This Via Maris (Derech Hayam) went from Egypt to Damascus and was one of the most important trade routes in the ancient Middle East.

If you click the photos you can see agriculture on the slopes.

Around the base of Mt. Tabor are Arab villages such as Deburiah and Iksal and the Bedouin Shibli-Umm al-Ghanam.

About half of the population of Galilee (Israel's northern region) are Arab citizens.

In Christian tradition Tabor is identified as the Mount of Transfiguration, on top of which Jesus was transfigured.

Today both the Franciscans and the Greek Orthodox have monasteries on the mountaintop.

You can see the outline here of the Church of the Transfiguration.

The site is accessible by car only from the north side, by a winding narrow road.

Or, you can always climb the 4,300 stairs that were built in the 4th century for the Christian pilgrims.

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Psalms 89:12 names two mountains:

"The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name."

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For wonderful aerial photos of Mt. Tabor see http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Tabor.html.
and a Franciscan video about the mountain and the church on top. 

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