The Dead Sea
Last weekend, I went with my roomie and ten others to camp out and hike down the west coast of the Dead Sea. We hired a sherut (15-passenger van/bus thingie) to drop us off at Mizpe Shalem, a small village/tourist trap on the shore of the Dead Sea where we filled up water bottles and headed north about a mile to set up camp out in the middle of nowhere and explore. We spent Saturday night around a pretty good campfire of desert brush, singing praise songs, sharing favorite Bible passages, and finishing the night with a couple great rounds of Mafia and one of the better views of the stars that I've seen. Sunday morning (we attend church at the Jerusalem Assembly on Shabbat, Saturday morning), we headed south along the coast for about eight miles, ending at En Gedi where the Nahal David forms some great pools which we swam and relaxed in. The trip was very tiring (I developed a love-hate relationship with my pack, Big Bertha by the end of the day), but also very fun and adventure-filled. I'm really beginning to love my fellow IBEXim, especially Ry, as well as this beautiful and war-torn Land which is so close to the heart of God. Note the link on the right to Ryan's blog and the IBEX website, both of which have (or will have) more pics and info on our Dead Sea trip.
Our Dead Sea group minus Heather Zorichak
Huh?
Big Bertha and I wishing for solid ground. I got stuck almost up to my knees in this famous Dead Sea mud after this and Ry had to rescue me by taking Big B so I could work my way out. It made me think of quicksand and had me pretty nervous for a while there...
The desert is a beautiful place
We thought this was some kind of mortar round or RPG
We saw some interesting land formations, these are called sink holes.
The current debate: plant or animal? I think its some kind of animal quill. Its about 11 inches long, hard as wood or bone, and quite sharp on the dark side. A desert treasure!
posted by Nate Boone @ 10:42 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
looks like fun...the desert is suprisingly pretty...have ridiculous amounts of fun,
miriam
Not fair!!! I want to be with you in the Holy Land. I have been enjoying your pictures, so keep posting them. I would also have to agree that it looked like a quill myself. Take it easy Frankenboone.
lil' bro, i think that's a manufactured tire spoke.
OK, so the official from Todd is this is a porcupine quill. Big porcupine! Funny story, Todd jumped a little when we told him about the mortar shell, apparently a former IBEX student brought a live one back once and left it in his dorm. When the moshav found out, they called the army and they came and detonated it. Don't worry, this one's just a shell, we think... :)
Post a Comment
<< Home