DAY FOUR: Part 2

So after the Dead Sea we
headed off into the desert
to have a little 4x4 fun.
Our group was divided up
into jeeps. Some started
out in the Land Rover's getting
the tour of the desert and
others started out in the ATV's
cruising around. After an hour
and a half we met up and
switched vehicles. I went on
the tour portion first. In our
jeep we had Noelle, Heather,
Andi, Daniel, Amber, Janie,
Kevin, myself and our very
handsome driver, Ammi. We
stopped at different spots and
he would tell us different things about the desert. It was very interesting. The picture to the left is our driver and tour guide.

This is a picture of the ATVs taken from the lead jeep. It was a crazy fun ride. Our driver asked if we wanted to listen to some music, we said yes, so we listened to Mambo #5 as we drove through the desert.

We had been driving up on the top and then we drove down into the valley. It was a very very steep drive down. I was glad that I was in the jeep and not on one of the ATVs! It was an amazing view though. In the valley the walls are made mostly of chalk and they crumble at your touch.
After the jeep rides we started our trek to the Kfar HaNokdim Bedouin Oasis. It is an oasis in the desert that is a "tourist" spot where people can go to learn about the Bedouin people and experience some of their lifestyle first hand. In this picture of the desert, the dark patch on the left is a shepherd with his flock of goats, the small squares in the forefront are bales of hay and on the right hand side you can vaguely make out the highway winding out from the dunes. We were now in the Judean Desert. It was kinda crazy to think of it while we were there. We talk about Judea and Samaria in class and at church but to really be there was wild and kind of mind blowing. Not something that happens everyday.

When we first arrived we had the opportunity to ride camels. This is something that I had been looking forward to the whole trip. Ya...so...camels are scary...and the don't ride like horses at all. But it was fun and I guess that's one more thing that I can strike off of my list of things to do in my life:)

This is Lisa and a camel, she was brave to get so close. Lisa is from Ontario and was the seventh member of our Canadian team. Lisa and I hit it off right away becoming good friends ... I think it started over a cup of coffee in Tel Aviv.

Miss you.

On the camels saddle there was room for two people, Heather and I rode together. It was hard to get pictures while on top of the camel so I was stoked when this one turned out.



So here we are riding towards the Bedouin Oasis on our camels. It was a short ride but still really fun.
In the camp this was the tent that we ate supper in and the girls slept in. it was just like camping (except for the checking for scorpions)because we had a huge bonfire that night with worship and a time of personal ministry. It was an awesome time with God that night. I went off a ways and just gazed at the billions of stars that were out. It was amazing. God spoke to me a lot that night about illusions that we have about life, about ourselves and about Him. It was good and fit more pieces in the puzzle that I've been trying to figure out for awhile. So that was the end of Day four. It was a crazy, fun-filled day that we all enjoyed. Oh and incase Daniel is reading this, I guess that not washing your hands after you ride camels DOES make you stronger, I'm not dead yet:) Ya ya I know...GROOOSSSSSSS