The next morning after arriving in Eilat (we’re on Monday now) I had a dive scheduled for 9:30 at a local reef. Sarah was going to find some water activity while I was diving and we had to check out anyway, so we had gotten breakfast at the hostel and were getting ready to go nice and early. Sarah noticed a military vehicle in the street in front of the hostel. No big deal, I said, that’s not the direction we’re going.
We walked out to the car. As I was throwing my bag in the back, a woman in military garb stormed up to me. “You go in the hostel,” she said.
“It’s okay, we’re leaving,” I told her. I looked out to the street and noticed there were no cars on it.
“That way?” she asked, pointing towards the vehicle blocking the street.
“Nope!” I said, trying to show her it was not a problem. “The other way.”
“No,” she told me, shaking her head. “No. Not that way. Bomb.” And she hustled off.
I turned to Sarah. “So we’ll just stay here then?”
We stood on a balcony near the entrance to the hostel to watch the drama unfold. Very soon, one of those little bomb robots wheeled down the road.
There was a private security guard on duty at the hostel entrance. Just as I took that picture he said “This is a show for you, eh?” I immediately felt like a jerk. I knew what he was saying; this is their reality, it’s not a photo op. I thought about trying to explain to him that I just think robots are cool, which is true, but instead we got into a conversation about what it’s like having frequent bomb threats, how it affects daily life, etc. He said he suspected that this was nothing but an abandoned bag or package, since that’s usually the case. He said that the bot has a camera on it and a little arm to explore the bag or package in question. The robot operator, working by remote control, sees through the camera and uses the little arm to poke around and see if he can find something that looks like a bomb. The robot also has a shotgun on it so if the operator can’t find a bomb to defuse he can just back the robot up a few feet and shoot the package. Not twenty seconds after the guard telling me that, we heard the bang of the shotgun. Soon thereafter people and cars began to fill the street and we were on our way.
Of course by this time I was going to be late for my 9:30 dive. I didn’t make it to the dive desk until nearly 10 o’clock. The woman asked if I knew I had a 9:30 appointment. I said yes I did but was late because of the bomb scare thing. She was not aware of any bomb scare so I told her where it had been. She shrugged and said “That will happen…welcome to Israel.”
It was a spectacular dive. I chose this particular reef, Dolphin Reef, because I wanted to dive with dolphins and I was not disappointed. Within 20 seconds of submerging a dolphin swam up to our guide and rolled over to have its belly rubbed like a dog. It then swam around our small group (me and two German women), checking us out, frequently swimming right in front of me. Sometimes two or three would come over to play, then they would dash off and disappear from view, but you can still hear their sonar squeaking when they’re out of sight. Sometimes I would be focused on a fish nibbling on a piece of coral, hear the sonar squeak, look up, and there would be a dolphin.
Other than the dolphins there were a few types of coral and an array of fish including the awesome lionfish.
After the dive we went to a nearby attraction called Coral World that is part aquarium, part underwater exhibition. The latter is sort of the inverse of an aquarium; instead of walking among several giant fish tanks aboveground, you are in a tank several meters underwater looking into the sea at whatever happens to be swimming by. Pretty cool.
We walked out to the car. As I was throwing my bag in the back, a woman in military garb stormed up to me. “You go in the hostel,” she said.
“It’s okay, we’re leaving,” I told her. I looked out to the street and noticed there were no cars on it.
“That way?” she asked, pointing towards the vehicle blocking the street.
“Nope!” I said, trying to show her it was not a problem. “The other way.”
“No,” she told me, shaking her head. “No. Not that way. Bomb.” And she hustled off.
I turned to Sarah. “So we’ll just stay here then?”
We stood on a balcony near the entrance to the hostel to watch the drama unfold. Very soon, one of those little bomb robots wheeled down the road.
There was a private security guard on duty at the hostel entrance. Just as I took that picture he said “This is a show for you, eh?” I immediately felt like a jerk. I knew what he was saying; this is their reality, it’s not a photo op. I thought about trying to explain to him that I just think robots are cool, which is true, but instead we got into a conversation about what it’s like having frequent bomb threats, how it affects daily life, etc. He said he suspected that this was nothing but an abandoned bag or package, since that’s usually the case. He said that the bot has a camera on it and a little arm to explore the bag or package in question. The robot operator, working by remote control, sees through the camera and uses the little arm to poke around and see if he can find something that looks like a bomb. The robot also has a shotgun on it so if the operator can’t find a bomb to defuse he can just back the robot up a few feet and shoot the package. Not twenty seconds after the guard telling me that, we heard the bang of the shotgun. Soon thereafter people and cars began to fill the street and we were on our way.
Of course by this time I was going to be late for my 9:30 dive. I didn’t make it to the dive desk until nearly 10 o’clock. The woman asked if I knew I had a 9:30 appointment. I said yes I did but was late because of the bomb scare thing. She was not aware of any bomb scare so I told her where it had been. She shrugged and said “That will happen…welcome to Israel.”
It was a spectacular dive. I chose this particular reef, Dolphin Reef, because I wanted to dive with dolphins and I was not disappointed. Within 20 seconds of submerging a dolphin swam up to our guide and rolled over to have its belly rubbed like a dog. It then swam around our small group (me and two German women), checking us out, frequently swimming right in front of me. Sometimes two or three would come over to play, then they would dash off and disappear from view, but you can still hear their sonar squeaking when they’re out of sight. Sometimes I would be focused on a fish nibbling on a piece of coral, hear the sonar squeak, look up, and there would be a dolphin.
Other than the dolphins there were a few types of coral and an array of fish including the awesome lionfish.
After the dive we went to a nearby attraction called Coral World that is part aquarium, part underwater exhibition. The latter is sort of the inverse of an aquarium; instead of walking among several giant fish tanks aboveground, you are in a tank several meters underwater looking into the sea at whatever happens to be swimming by. Pretty cool.
We picked up and headed north.
