TL-46-929 Update 1

After an insane day of travel with a six hour layover in Madrid, our group finally landed in Israel late in the evening on Tuesday to be greeted by the rest of our Israel Outdoors staff! We headed straight to Kibbutz Almog to try to get some sleep before our first real busy day ahead. The next morning we gave some broader introductions to Birthright, discussed our itinerary, and played some icebreaker games so the group could start to learn more about each other. Our first stop was Ein Gedi, and seeing daylight for the first time everyone got to finally see what surrounded us – endless views of the desert mountains. We hiked the trail and played a bit in the water before heading to a jeep tour where we went off road to see more of the desert up close. The jeeps dropped us off at this amazing hidden spring in the middle of the desert, so we took a dip to swim. Later, we arrived at the Bedouin campsite and had a traditional Bedouin meal served in a tent while sitting on cushions on the floor. That night we slept – and I use that term loosely – in the Bedouin tents at the campsite, only to wake up at 2:30 to prepare for our sunrise hike of Masada that morning. We got to the top of Masada by 5:30am, just in time to see the sunrise. We learned about the history of Masada and found an ancient water hole where we had a spiritual moment as a group saying the Shema together for the first time in Israel. Following Masada we went to the Dead Sea and floated as a group! 

Sylvia and Jordan