Touring Israel with a tour guide

Simon says: "Welcome to my Blog!" Even if you've been following me for a while, you know I post here about Israel's incredible flora and fauna, tours I've led & places I've explored all around Israel - but that doesn't tell you much about the person behind the lens. So here's my story. 👇 I grew up in North London, the middle child between an older sister & younger brother. Frequent family holidays to Israel planted a seed: one day, I'd make this extraordinary country my home. That dream took a while to come true! After school, I spent a year here on a kibbutz - & digging into history on an archaeological site. Then I headed to the US for a summer as a camp counsellor with troubled teens, & then back to the UK for a History degree at Leeds University. I built a solid career in Facilities Management, leading support teams in pharmaceutical companies, & corporate finance.....but Israel kept calling. In 2006, I finally made the lea...

#imagineisraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Lychees (Litchi chinensis) This slow-growing fruit tree, sensitive to temperature, humidity & inadequate watering was planted in my garden in 2007. This year we have the best crop, ever! Harvested commercially from late June to mid-July, Lychees are harvested & packed the same day, & shipped in refrigerated trucks to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem plus supermarkets across Europe. Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands & Italy. The lychee is from the same family as peaches, cherries, apricots & cashews which all belong to the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) alongside with rambutan & longan (planted the latter, 3 days ago). The fruit's shelf life is very short. It only ripens on the tree & deteriorates very quickly after harvest, which is why exports require refrigerated transport & same-day packing . Did you know? one cup of lychees gives you over 100% of your daily vitamin C. They also contain powerful poly...

#imagineisraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Simon says: "Let's discuss the kosher grasshopper loophole - meet the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)" The Torah makes an exception for 4 specific types of locusts (Leviticus /Vayikra - וַיִּקְרָא - 11:21-22 ) when discussing the prohibition against eating insects - because they have 4 walking legs + 2 leaping legs. It’s a very specific anatomical loophole. BUT only Yemenite Jews have an unbroken oral tradition identifying the exact kosher species. Everyone else lost it. Without that tradition, rabbis banned non-Yemenite Jews entirely, to avoid eating the wrong bug. So yes - same locust. Kosher for one community. Not kosher for another. All because of who remembers. So today, a Yemenite Jew can eat a desert locust, but an Ashkenazi Jew (generally) cannot - even if it’s the exact same bug. A few wild facts about the desert locust itself: Diet: Voracious herbivores. They eat their own weight in vegetation daily....leaves,...

#imagineisraeltours #simonostertourguideisrael The Wedge-snouted Skink (Chalcides sepsoides) Did you know the Wedge-snouted Skink (Chalcides sepsoides) is a sand-swimming specialist? 🏜️ This elusive lizard is rarely seen on the surface because it "swims" efficiently under the sand using snake-like movements. Its limbs are greatly reduced for this unusual lifestyle. Found in the sandy deserts & dunes of southern Israel, it’s a master of camouflage & temperature control . They're viviparous (give birth to live young) & shift between being nocturnal in summer & diurnal in winter . ✨ Key Facts: • Habitat: Sandy areas, dunes, & dry shrubland . • Diet: Insectivorous – feeds on small invertebrates . • Status: Least Concern, with a stable population. Want to 'swim' through sand like a sea snake? Let’s 'Imagine Israel' together! https://imagineisrael-tours.com/ TripAdvisor reviews https://shorturl.at/aIR47 Google Reviews: https://g.page/r/CRp...

#ImagineIsraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Most people only know Macy's for amazing shopping, & the Thanksgiving Parade (pictured) - until a few years ago I didn't know about the Netanya connection. But the story of Nathan Straus who helped build Macy's, is one of the most remarkable philanthropic journeys in American history. Straus wasn't the founder of Macy's - Rowland Hussey Macy started the store in 1858. But in 1896, Nathan & his brother Isidor became co-owners, eventually turning it into the retail empire we know today. What happened next is where the story gets extraordinary & of particular interest to those of us who know & love the beautiful coastal city of Netanya...including my 93-year old mother-in-law who went hang gliding along the coast for her 90th birthday treat to herself! When in 1904 Straus visited Ottoman Syria (also known as Ottoman-controlled Palestine) with his wife Lina, as part of a planned Mediterranean tour, he deve...

# ImagineIsraelTours # SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael I want to tell you about a very special date palm." 🌴 During World War I, 'Nili' was a secret Jewish spy network operating in Ottoman-controlled Palestine. Their mission: help the British defeat the Turks, ease the suffering of the local Jewish population, & advance the cause of an independent Jewish Homeland. In 1917, Avshalom Feinberg - one of Nili's leaders -set out across the Sinai Desert on foot, accompanied by Yosef Lishansky. Both were disguised as Bedouin. Their destination: Egypt, where they hoped to establish contact with British intelligence. They never made it. Near Rafah, they were attacked by Bedouin. Feinberg was killed. Lishansky, though wounded, managed to reach British lines. Feinberg's fate remained unknown for 50 years. Feinberg had been carrying dates in his pocket. Over the decades, a solitary palm grew from one of those seeds, on the very spot where his remains lay hidden. When Israeli for...