I like it Eilat!

Sorry, couldn't resist on the title....

We just got back from such an amazing trip, I want to write it all down before I forget!

Sunday
We woke up bright and early to pack and get ready to go! We grabbed our suitcases, took the bus to the Budget Rental place, and picked up our car. Adam was super nervous to drive in this city of crazy drivers. (It wasn't even a question whether or not I would drive in this city), so we took our time navigating the streets. He did great, and finally we were out of town on our way down to the very bottom of Israel. As we first got out of Jerusalem, it felt a bit like driving through the midwest, as it was very flat. As we got further south, the landscape started to remind me of being on Mars. We passed a few cities, but other than that there was no civilization, and mountains and desert for miles. We drove through windy mountain passes, and it was breathtaking at every turn. At one point we stopped at an overlook to take pictures and say Shehekiyanu, thanking God for taking us to this moment. It was a beautiful moment to remember.

After about 5 hours of driving (We took a long route to avoid the West Bank. Its perfectly safe to drive through on the highway, but it still feels a little scary to go through checkpoints), we arrived in Eilat. After driving through the desert, it is truly a sight to see! It almost feels like arriving in Las Vegas, with all of the hotels and attractions. We arrived at our hotel, which was not really a hotel. Though I booked it on a hotel website, it turns out it is an apartment complex for workers at the many hotels in the area. It had a really nice pool, bar, and it was clean, so it worked for us! We immediately went to the pool to cool off, as it was very hot there! After, we went to a nice dinner on the tayelet, a boardwalk along the beach. Since we were so tired from driving and swimming, we called it an early night for our adventure in the morning!


Monday
 Eilat is situated on the Red Sea, which is absolutely gorgeous. The water is clear, so its perfect for snorkeling and swimming on the beach. We decided that it was very important to see some beautiful marine life, so we chose to go to Dolphin Reef, a private beach that is has its very own dolphins! For 7 years, the beach was "open" meaning that the dolphins were free to swim out to sea, but chose to stay near the beach to be fed and interact with people. Eventually, the situation proved to be dangerous for the humans and the dolphin population, so the beach became closed, though it is a very large area. If any of the dolphins are unhappy or have trouble integrating, they are sent to the Black Sea through a special program. The dolphins here are treated with respect, and the rule of the place is to let the dolphins choose if they want to interact with humans. You can pay to go snorkeling or SCUBA diving alongside them, but they are never forced to "swim" with humans. The result is really beautiful because they end up happily swimming around among the humans. We decided to swim in the beach area away from the dolphins, and snorkel with the fish. We then went over to the other side to the dolphin observatory, where we sat on a dock and they swam and played under out feet. It was such a serene place and a surreal experience. Highly recommended if you go to Eilat!

That afternoon, we went back to the tayelet for a delicious sushi lunch (cringe...I know) on the beach. Our friends Megan and Ashley had arrived in the area, so we invited them to come back to our hotel and swim. It was fun hanging out by the pool and soaking up the sun! After a siesta, we met up with them again for dinner at a place on the water called Pago Pago. Quite delicious! Afterward, we went for a walk along the marina to see the yachts parked there. We each picked out which boat we would want some day. We happened to walk into a crazy busy fair, with shops selling phone cases, purses, clothes, and jewelry. there was a big group of Lubavitchers dancing and singing as well! It was a very fun night!

Tuesday
Adam ended up finding a super cheap deal to a spa in a hotel along the water, and with lots of twisting of my arm, we decided to go there to hang in their pools and jacuzzis and to get a massage. I thought that it wouldn't be very nice because it was so cheap, but it was incredible! they had waterfall pools and whirlpools and the most relaxing swing ever, where I ended up falling asleep. Im the states, spas seem to be a place where couples or groups girlfriends go to spend a relaxing day. In Israel, we saw several groups of friends together, being loud and having a great time. It was still an amazing experience!

After another good lunch on the tayelet, we decided to see some more marine life. We went to the Underwater Observatory and Marine Park, where they have an observatory completely underwater, so you get to see the coral and fish in their natural habitat! You go down the windy stairs, under the water, and it is one of the coolest things I've ever seen! In an aquarium, you know that the water stops after a few feet, but here you could see that the water goes on forever. At the top of the building, there is a beautiful view of the water, and you can see that you are right next to Jordan on one side and Egypt on the other!

We ended up eating a small dinner at our hotel bar before bed. A GREAT day!

Wednesday
We packed up and said goodbye to our cute "hotel" and headed back up north! We knew we wanted to go to Yotvata, a very special town  a kibbutz where they make delicious milk products and "shoko" (chocolate milk), so we went to their big store on the side of the road. We wanted to take a tour of the kibbutz, and then meet up with Adam's childhood friend, Noa, who lives with her family on the Kibbutz. Lucky for us, there was no tour in the morning, so after some delicious Yotvata hot shoko, we had to find something to do for a few hours. We ended up down the road in Chai Bar, an animal reserve. We toured around the "predator cages" and saw snakes, rodents, foxes, and jaguars sleeping in the sun. We even saw some turtles mating and fighting. It was very exciting! the coolest part, is that they have a "safari experience", where you can drive into the reserve and see the animals in the wild. We followed behind the feeding truck, so we knew the animals would come close. It was so cool to see  donkeys, gazelles, oryx, and addax hagning out in their natural habitat, not behind a fence in the zoo. They even gave us a CD to play in the car that talked about the different animals, and how they go to the reserve. Many of them were endagered species that were brought there to breed! My favorite part were the ostriches. They are HUGE and so funny to watch with their giant legs and worm-like necks. At one point they got very close to our car, and we kept screaming, "Don't do it! It's a rental!" We laughed so hard and were only a tiny but scared of being eaten by ostriches.

After our safari, we went back to Yotvata to meet Noa and her husband for lunch on the Kibbutz. We ate in the dining hall, and they told us about life on the Kibbutz. They are both doctors, and are not kibbutz members, so they told us they pay a fee to live there and receive all of the amenities of the kibbutz. Members work on the kibbutz, so they don't receive a salary. Everything is communal, including food and amenities. This Kibbutz does very well, and the quality of life is very high. The milk products they make are very famous in Israel, and we enjoyed drinking shoko and banana flavored milk on the way home! Noa gave us a little tour, and we saw all of the cows, and the milking room. They put all of the cows on a rotating circle, kind of like an industrial merry-go-round. The workers attach the milking machines to the udders, and they go around in a circle until they are done. We also got to see cute little baby calves who were just born. One still had an umbilical cord attached!

We spent the rest of the day driving home, appreciating the mountainous desert. However, we were very happy to see the green hills of Jerusalem as we came home. It was truly an incredible trip, and I will never forget all of the amazing things we did!

L'hitraot!

Here are our pictures!

Eilat Sukkot Roadtrip!