Tiyul LiHaSafone (trip to the north!)

This weekend, my program took us on a trip to the north of Israel. I had been to the golan heights during birthright and done some hiking and stuff there but since being in Israel this time, I havent made it north of Akko- which is a shame because the north of israel is SO beautiful! so we left early friday morning and drove up the coast to the northern galilee. we spent the day in the mountain doing random activities like blind folded trust walks and some ropes work -pretty day-campy but alot of fun. after a day of driving and playing, we went to our hotel which was a kibbutz in nahariya. the kibbutz was right on the beach and we got to hang out there for a little (and nap) before dinner and bedtime at the kibbutz...other people went to the pub at the kibbutz but i was too tired :(
the next morning we woke up early and headed to see the caves at rosh hanikra. rosh hanikra is located right at the border of lebanon (like u can see lebanon) right at the north western tip of the country. we took "the worlds steepest cable car" down to the caves which were soo beautiful. there was some mystical spiritualness happening there but i just thought it was pretty. after we went up to the israel/lebanon border control which is the only place where people can pass through the border..but not even people just UN personel and soldiers (the only other way to get back and forth is to fly) here our tourguide spoke to us about 2 soldiers that were kidnapped many years ago and after much negotiation their bodies were brought back through that border. this transitioned into a discussion about Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped 4 years ago by hamas and has captivated the country and been the subject of many failed peace discussions. after our time at rosh hanikra, we went to a hike in the valley of kizev- a gorgeous valley the top of which is the village where gilad shalit is from. once down in the valley, there was a stream that continuously got in our way and most of the hike was us perfecting the art of not falling into the stream as we jumped from rock to rock to get across the stream. i was one of few people who did not fall into the water. success. the hike was so gorgeous and along the way we stopped for discussion with our tourguide about the history in the north of israel and also about gilad shalit. after the hike, we returned to the kibbutz for some rest and dinner. that night we were supposed to go to the town of rosh pina but we couldnt :( so we went into nahariya instead and got fro yo...yofi.
on sunday, we awoke and drove an hour or so east towards the golan. we did another hike through the amud stream/valley which was beautiful as well- we were a "bit" sore from our hike the previous day so it wasnt as joyous a hike but it was still beautiful. after this hike, we drove to the yarden river to go rafting!! it wasnt the most intense rafting but it was alot of fun and i was lucky to not fall in or die while hitting a tree/rock which was what my boat did the majority of time. after some rafting we changed clothes and started our three hour bus ride back to tel aviv..of course with a quick stop for some FALAFEL! yumyum
the trip was quite exhausting but it was so much fun! my bus was basically a largeeee group of my girlfriends and we got to have lots of bonding time while sweating and getting to see some beautiful parts of Israel. next up, is another 3 days of school before jetting of to EGYPT! this is the big trip i've been waiting for allll semester and i am sososoo excited its finally here! its getting more and more evident how little time we have left in israel which is really sad but also making us concentrate on making the best out of the 5 or so weeks infront of us! i know it has sounded like im never leaving but just so everyone knows i do have a flight home and i will return to the states on may 30th!
thats all for now! xoxoxo