Day 6
In the morning on Wednesday, we woke up in the huge bedouin tents where we all slept. Some of our group did say they would rather stay in a kibbutz, but as a seasoned camper, I was pretty excited for tents. It was a sluggish start, understandably so after four hours of sleep. We crawled out of our sleeping bags and left the tent for breakfast. Those of us who woke up early took the time to wander the site and get some nice pictures while all the Taglit groups were asleep.
After breakfast, we had a bit more energy and we left the dining hall for a small stable to wait for our group's turn to ride a camel. A lot of us were super excited and alot of us had never ridden a camel. I'm experienced with horseback riding, so I figured it couldn't be too hard. It was as really cool feeling to climb on a camel. When the camel stands up, you really have to hold on. Many of us named our camel for the trip, and I named mine "Camela Anderson". The Negev is a beautiful place, and the short camel trek was very fun. Now we can all go back home saying we've ridden a camel in the desert.
We visited the site of Ben Gurion's grave. It was a beautiful view! The group discussed the stories about him, the most important Zionist of all time. We talked about how his dream and belief that the future of Israel is in the desert. I looked out myself and imagined in the vast canyon full of beautiful cities, and I could see where Ben Gurion's fantasy came from. I put a pebble on his,and his wife's grave, and we got back on the bus.
It's hot outside. We drove to a site where we would hike in a desert oasis. It was a fairly easy hike. Many of the guys in our group were skipping smooth stones on the water's smooth surface. We all got some nice pictures, saw a pretty waterfall, and walked back to the bus.
We took the bus to Eilat, (hooray for more free wifi with which to tell our worried Jewish mothers that we are still alive and well), and stopped in front of the beach. We all got out of the bus and changed. The rocky sand hurt to walk on, but the water was beautiful and cold. You could see straight to the bottom and we cooled off from all the hot hiking from earlier that day. After some time swimming we all dried off, feeling refreshed. We filed back onto the bus and drove to a nearby guest house, where we unloaded our bags and took a much needed shower. We had a yummy dinner, after which the rest of us showered and got ready for our night in Eilat. All of us danced the night away, and had an amazing time. Great way to end the night!
Photo credit: @amitmarom3 (header), @glassman857
