Tuesday, October 16th:
And on the Seventh day, we rested!
Day seven….it’s hard to believe we’ve only been here a week (not counting the day we arrived). We’ve seen and done so many interesting and fun things that it seems like we’ve been here longer. As they say, “time flies when you’re having fun!”
This morning we had a well- deserved rest day in the beautiful seaside city of Eilat (aka, “the Israeli Riviera”) located along the Southern tip of Israel on the Gulf of Eilat,with views of Egypt, Jordan and further away, Saudi Arabia. After breakfast at our beachfront hotel, some of us spent a relaxing morning at the pool or taking a dip in the Red Sea, while others went to the Underwater Observatory Marine Park , featuring a view of the coral reefs and marine life through glass windows of the building, which is set in the reef itself.
In the afternoon, many of us went to visit nearby Kibbutz Keturah in the Arava Valley to learn about life in this desert kibbutz and its focus on environmental research and innovations. At the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, located on the kibbutz, we learned about the environmental research being done there. This multinational institute teaches that “nature knows no borders,” meaning that everyone needs to work together to protect the environment. The kibbutz sustains itself financially through its large crop of date trees and producing and selling solar power among other things. It also grows and researches algae for different uses including fish farming and medicines. While there, we visited “Methuselah,” a date tree that was grown from a seed from 70 CE., discovered during an excavation of Masada (pic of Methuselah on the left).
It’s been really interesting to see the different types of kibbutzim on this trip and how each has it’s own culture.
During our trip to the kibbutz, we stopped at Kibbutz Yotvata, the largest kibbutz in the region, and a main source of dairy products throughout Israel. In particular, they serve some of the best ice cream in Israel (mine and many others’ opinion….sorry Ben and Jerry!), which we got to enjoy! We also drove by the "Chai Bar" nature preserve, where we saw ostriches and oryx (like a cross between a goat and a deer).
Dinner was a sunset sail on the Red Sea aboard an old double-masted ketch.
All in all, we had "ai-lot" of fun in Eilat!
Comments
Post a Comment