Biking, Hiking and Rafting

Today this beautiful day in Israel started off with a fantastic bike ride in the Hula Valley in the North of Israel.  We biked around the bird nature preserved and enjoyed the views and time all together.  From there we went on a short water hike and cooled off in the river.  We then enjoyed homemade pita pizzas and ate way too much since we were about to embark on rafting on the Jordan River.  Everyone enjoyed paddling down this special river, splashing, water fights, knocking some people off boats and especially just relaxing in the cool water of this river.  We finished off the day by going to the Naot factory and then back at our home base we celebrated a couple birthdays and some students watched the movie 'Syrian Bride'.

Excerpt from IST student on the Negev Desert Experience from a few days ago...
"We went to the Negev Desert for two days and two nights and I've never had a cooler experience. The hiking was definitely a "hot" experience.  We were all sweating so hard in places we never knew we could sweat but the rewards were amazing.  Watching the sunset and taking pictures in the dim light was so cool and different.  We arrived to to the camp site around 7:30pm and the sun was nearly setting over the desert horizon and the heat was fading on the first night.  I have never seen so many stars & constellations I can recognize as well as the occasional shooting star!   As I watched the stars underneath my sleeping bag, for a moment I forgot about the rocks jamming into my spinal cord which was indeed an Israeli miracle.

In the morning we hiked up a full mountain for a few hours that no one was expecting...at all, but it was incredible.  The climbing was frightening but easy to get used to.  We arrived at the desert springs and I actually threw off my sweaty clothing and jumped into the cool spring.  The rewards, once again, made the heat, sweat & exhaustion so worth it.   The Negev desert experience was my moment,"  - Sarah Kaplan

Entering the Naot Factory