Camping out on the beach and a visit to the Jerusalem Zoo

Our Campsite

The great thing about September in Israel is that at least a part of every week is a holiday! For the final holiday of the month, a few friends and I decided to camp out on a beach called Nachsholim, somewhere between Netanya and Haifa. We caught a bus to the area, got off, and looked around. We were about a 30 minute walk from our destination, but luckily we knew which way to go. When we got the camp site, it was nearly dark, so we set up the tents and started cooking dinner. We cooked our meals on a small burner we brought with us, and sat around the campsite with the nearby sound of waves crashing and a beautiful view of the sea and stars around us. The stars were incredible! We saw lots of shooting stars and some new constellations that we don't have in the US.

Pools under the Cliffs

We woke up early the next morning, with the sun burning through our tents and begging us to come outside and swim in the sea. And so, that's what we did all day. We explored the area, found some really cool ruins of the city of Nachsholim, and some pools that had collected under the cliffs. After a long day of relaxing in the sun and swimming in the Mediterranean, we watched the sun set and cooked dinner. The stars were even better the second night!

So Many Shells!

The next day, I stopped in Tel Aviv to shower and repack before heading off to my weekend with Anat and Yoyo! We relaxed almost as much as we ate, which was a lot! That night, we made a tv dinner and watched Avatar on a huge projector screen in Anat's living room. The next day, we went on a family trip to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Each display has a biblical theme with a quote from the Bible. Pretty cool. At the back of the zoo, the last setting is Noah's Ark, which has mostly African animals. There was a long bridge that led up to a replica ark. The backdrop of the entire zoo is Jerusalem, which is awesome. On the way back from the zoo, we stopped in an Arabic village called Abbu Gosh for really good hummus and dessert.
By the time I got back from camping and Anat's, I was exhausted, but I still had to study for my Ulpan test. Studying is the perfect excuse for going to the cafe across the street for some delicious hot chocolate and a great end to a very exciting holiday season.