As the tour bus drove past countless "danger mines" signs we
prepared to set out on a 4 hour hike along the Gilabon river. The
Gilabon river is in the Golan Heights in the northern part of Israel,
surrounded by scenic mountains and trees. We began the
hike with a short lesson on the history of the Gilabon; the main source
of water for the Kineret and Israel. The River, along with the rest of
the Golan Heights, became a part of Israel during the 1967 six days war.
We started the hike along the river and were given the opportunity
to taste sabras, or prickly pear; then we climbed down rocks covered in
gum. We hiked past trees that bent over the path and over slippery rocks
in the river and finally arrived at the destination: a beautiful
waterfall. Looking around at the natural beauty I felt a sense of pride
that this place was my homeland.
At the waterfall we found that one could actually stand on the
rocks behind the waterfall and look out past the thundering falls onto
the arid desert--it was a breathtaking contrast. We spent some time
swimmingl and splashing each other.
After eating lunch we finished the hike. The second half consisted
of a never ending verticle staircase from the base of the valley back to
one the same altitude we started at, a perfect opportunity to burn off
some schwarma and falafal. We then traveled to the Gadot lookout where we learned more about the war against Syria. We also played in an army bunker.
After taking one too many pictures of the surrounding hills we
piled back into the bus and rode to our final destination Dadalhadan
park, where we rested after the hike, played guitar and ukulele, and for
dinner, handmade pizzas in a tiny oven.
We finished with night circles where we debriefed
the day. At last we returned to our respective Israeli's homes to rest
up for another exciting day.
Sincerely,
Josh Pitkofsky
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