It was an excellent location to learn about the +/- 1100 species present in the Red Sea. Together with Leras, a marine biologist, I received her help in analyzing the photographic material (pictures) from my UW camera. Initially I was only interested in fish species, though after a while I started to do some coral identification as well. In the Red Sea this is pretty much amazing!

When the time came to say goodbye, I realized that 2 weeks were definitely not enough to explore everything that this place has to offer. I loved every minute of it – the warmness of the sun, the peacefulness of the desert and of the animals, the kindness of the people I have met, the wonderful mix of sights, tastes and sounds and all kinds of experiences that were sometimes challenging and sometimes comforting. I would like to thank Go Eco, my fellow volunteers and everyone at the reserve for making this a one in a lifetime experience for me.

When I looked into the details of the project, the description explained that I would be working in a therapeutic garden. I wasn\'t too sure what this meant... but it sounded like a unique challenge that I could immerse myself in. I soon found out that this garden was less about the flowers and plants, and more about the people. I was fortunate enough to have kindhearted and soft-spoken managers that taught me how to work with the nature and children simultaneously.

My favorite part of the day was on the way to the Old City when we passed a group of palm trees. Our guide made us stop and told us to look at all the trees. He asked if they were all the same and then explained how each palm tree was a tree that grew slightly differently. For me this was the perfect image of Israel, a place where everyone is growing separately yet still a unit growing and developing together. It made me realize that life is not about them or us, but about everyone just in different places.

I loved working in the garden, Shlomo was a great teacher. It was lovely being able to spend a few hours under the sun, working with such beautiful flowers; especially since I come from a big city! The plants grown in the greenhouse are also grown by the students, and they later sell them to raise money for the school. I also got to work with the animals, which was my favorite part. The school has chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits, birds, chinchillas, and more that I’m sure I’ve forgotten. I loved my baby goats the most!.

Working at the Coral Reef Conservation project was one of the most amazing experiences I have had. The people who work there are friendly and accommodating. There is lots of joking, laughing and I was made to feel like part of the family. Work tasks varied on a daily basis. My favorite thing to do was explore the reef. It is really beautiful and it felt good knowing that I was helping to conserve the reef.

Who hasn’t wanted to take some time off from life’s routine and escape to a new and different place, free of stress and filled with new experiences; to find a break from the monotony of everyday life. It is tragic that so often in our lives we are not aware of the wonder all around us and that we don’t always need to travel across continents to experience satisfaction and happiness...

I always wanted to visit Israel, it is such a beautiful country, it’s multicultural, multi-faith, and the amazing people there really attract me. Israel as a desert country contains an extreme diverse flora and fauna; this is due to its geographical location. Israel is situated between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, therefore Asian and African species have mixed together and evolved into many endemic species that are only found in Israel!

The team at the Desert Wildlife program is fantastic. The banter was brilliant and I felt very at ease with all of them straight away. I loved the fact that each member of staff injected their own love and passion for their work and that rubbed off onto the volunteers as well. Every day was a day of learning something new whether it was about an individual animal’s diet or how a specific species would live free in the wild.

We got to set a falcon free, watch amazing felines devour calve legs, run around with a playful fox and have deep and fun conversations with the rangers. It was one of the best experiences I\'ve ever had and would recommend volunteering in Israel with wildlife to anyone who doesn\'t mind getting dirty and is up for hard work.

It was amazing to watch the animals\' individual habits and how they expressed themselves. Each had their own personality. A lot of time was spent fixing enclosures and fixtures for the animals but it was rewarding to see them move from smaller enclosures to larger fixtures with more space and room for them to live and thrive that is more similar to the wild. Almost every night a ranger would come ask us if we wanted to join for the night feeding. It was so great to feed the animals at night..

The program was such a learning experience. Each day was different with different tasks to complete. The rangers were very patient and taught how to do each task well that was given. They made sure that I was comfortable with what I was doing and if not then they made it an option to do something different. Practically the only thing that was the same was feeding the animals each morning and cleaning enclosures of either the desert night life or the predators. After that was completed, each person would start on other tasks that were given to them.

The reserve is a safari where ostriches, oryxes, Addaxes and donkeys live and a place which looks like a zoo, where animals are in cages (raptures, vultures, owls, porcupines, lizards, turtles, snakes, foxes, fennecs, jackals, hyenas, wolves, parakeets, caracals, leopards, sand cats, wild cats, sand rats….).The volunteers’ apartment is next to the safari (we can see the ostriches everyday), but we have to cross the safari to go to the place where we work (about 10 min by car).

I’ll always remember Miriam, a severely disabled pupil, whom I was primarily supposed to be with! During my last visit in the school, when Miriam’s father came to take her home, Miriam took my hand and waved goodbye. Usually she just left without any gesture.

Every day, Yael and Ella would guide me through new recipes, techniques, and how to overcome the challenges of baking vegan (without eggs, dairy, etc). By the end of my three weeks, I was familiar with almost all the products and techniques used in the bakery..

There were so many great take -away experiences from my volunteer time at the Hai Bar that it is difficult to name just a few. It by far exceeded my expectations

As my volunteer time came to a close, I felt so inspired and so confident that I couldn’t wait to go home and show off my newfound knowledge of vegan baking...I am so very proud of myself for having the courage to experience one of the best adventures of my life.

Overall, I learned a lot on this trip, including being around exotic animals, the culture and travelling on my own. It was a wonderful experience and I could not have asked for more!

Everyone from Gnarly Troop was helpful, supportive, and friendly all throughout the experience, and the project definitely lived up to our expectations. It is an experience I´ll always remember, and I would definitely recommend it. 

At the risk of repeating myself, it is impossible to describe precisely what I experienced. You have to live it to believe it. In conclusion, it was a fabulous and deep human experience volunteering in Israel!

When I went to the Animal Shelter for the last time, I noticed that my favourite dog, Looq, had been adopted...It was really a holiday to remember! A country to go back again.

The most rewarding part of my experience was the family I gained. Omri, Ziv, Chen, Omessi, and Golan—these guys weren’t just my co-workers they are my brothers.

Taking part in this project opened up new perspectives for my future life and opened a lot of windows to see the world and the to perceive the wide spectrum of opportunities/changes to change or to take different directions.

There is a very special thing about this population, you can form relationships without much conversation. Even though I speak basic Hebrew, it wasn’t enough to converse; however, I was able to make quick connections with the participants by engaging in the activities that they enjoyed i.e. jewelry making and card games.

Working at the wildlife center has the perfect balance of being active and relaxing, and even many of the volunteer tasks have a very noticeable rhythm and method. It was so easy for me to adapt for this reason, and my volunteer hours gave me so much time to reflect on my experiences while simultaneously helping a small ecosystem.

Exploring the vast, ancient city of Jeresh on our first day was an incredible introduction – the city of a thousand pillars didn’t disappoint! You wouldn’t expect an ancient, Roman city quite like it, so far east and so well preserved; but it certainly was impressive, sticking out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of the modern, Middle Eastern apartments only a stone’s throw away.