Israel Safari! Hai Bar Nature Preserve in the Negev!

Driving south through the Negev to Eilat, Dan & I stopped at the Hai Bar Yotvata Nature Preserve– one of the many wonderful nature preserves, forests, and natural wonders throughout Israel, and had a Biblical Safari! Hai Bar is a nature preserve of the species native to Israel and mentioned in the Bible, all living the “Life of Reilly” in their natural habitat, which includes acacia groves, salt-flats, and sand, and it’s amazing! As much time as I’d spent in the Negev, I’d never been there, and Dan fell in love with it- I think Hai Bar was his favorite place in Israel! Animals we saw included the wild Asiatic and African wild ass, Arabian and Sahara oryx (raised at Hai-Bar Yotvata as part of an international effort to save it from extinction), addax, and ostriches– who got “up close and personal” with us! We also saw the “dark room” and predators in their special enclosures, including wolves, Ruppell’s & Blanford’s foxes, spotted leopard, caracal, wild cat, striped hyena, reptiles, and raptors. We got the CD that enables you to drive around at your own pace and enjoy it all (and know what you’re looking at!), and we took our time and totally loved it! Enjoy our pix- and then go see it all for yourself!
How to get there: On the Dead Sea-Eilat Road (90), Hai Bar is between Kibbutzim Yotvata and Samar, 35 km north of Eilat. You can take Egged bus 390 from Tel Aviv, 397 from Beer Sheva , 444 from Jerusalem and 991 from Haifa to Samar.