Rainforest in Extreme Desert

Eilat’s botanical garden and rainforest was planted on an abandoned army post at the northern entrance to the city.

The three founders cleared the ground of rocks and built terraces, stone by stone by hand as in the times of the Bible, to prevent erosion and further salination of the soil. 

A reverse osmosis plant removes salts from the water, until they become as pure as rain. The purified water then emantes as mist from tubes placed in the trees. The mist creates a micro-climate that uniquely enables the growh of tropical plants under the canopy of the sky. 

The garden is organic. The desert soil is fertilized with compost alone. No use is made of pesticides, or any other chemicals.

Today the garden hosts about a thousand species of trees, shrubs and herbs collected from all around the world and sprouted from seeds on location in a special nursery.

You can walk the trails, rest in the coffee house, drink herbal teas from the garden, buy Arava liquors and tropical plants from the nursery.