Day 8: Exploring the Outdoors in Israel
This morning. we loaded the bus for our trip back to Jerusalem before jamming our day full of activities to finish our time in the Golan. We started with a jeep tour through the Hula Valley. This fun off-roading trek took us through the farming fields of the kibbutzim, crossing the Jordan River, picking fresh fruit and traversing steep hills. We ended the experience in a local spice shop where many of us purchased spicy blends from fresh bins.
After lunch, we continued to the north western corner of the country to Rosh Hanikra. This site is located on Israel's border with Lebanon. The Mediterranean Sea has crashed into the rocks for thousands of years carving out grottos with beautiful vistas from within the rock. We boarded our second cable car of the trip, the steepest and shortest in the world, and descended to the site below. On our tour, we learned that the site was also the location of a rail line intended to connect Africa to Europe that was being constructed by the British during the British Mandate before Israel gained its independence.
In the afternoon, we began our trip south to complete our week outside of Jerusalem. Our 3 hour trip back provided some great bonding time. We finished the evening with a relaxing pool party.
Tomorrow, we have a full day of touring with a community service activity to give back.