Ahhh, the Mediterranean with its yellow light, fresh, salty smell, warm air and temperate water. We realized how tired we were and made a decision to stay and relax at the beach for the day. This meant giving up a day later in the trip, but the wide open views and the sunny, warm weather convinced us we could benefit from the day of rest.
We spent the afternoon with feet in the sand, collecting and trading shells, reading, and a few of us swam, despite the recorded public announcement loudly warning us, often, that swimming was prohibited because there wasn't a lifeguard on duty. Not a lot of people paid heed.
In the late afternoon we packed up our rental car and headed into the deserts to find our bedouin tent for the night. I'm not sure how I found this little place, and it took a little persistence to get to the right person to book it, but it was worth the effort. (david@desertcamping.net) There were definitely exclamations of, "Oh my awesomeness" all around. This was a highlight for our teenagers.
It was late when we arrived. Our host offered us some fresh herbal tea, from herbs growing right in the main tent, and sweetened it with date syrup. It was so amazingly delicious. We sat around talking with this young man (an employee) about his views on the conflict in Israel. He lives in a nearby Jewish settlement that was created to accept religious and non-religious people. He is non-religious, and he made a choice to not care about the conflict; he doesn't have control over the situation. It is political. As all young people serve two years in the Israeli army, he expressed frustration that the Palestinians don't have an army, so there isn't an army to fight with, therefore, Israel doesn't declare war. However, the Palestinians commit violent acts against innocent people all the time. He got a little worked up about that. We asked if it was safe to go to Bethlehem or Jericho. He thought Bethlehem would be okay because it is close to Jerusalem and it relies on tourism, but Jericho, maybe not.
The tent was remarkably clean and comfortable. No bugs. (That is important to me.) The bathroom was outside, porta-potty-like, but better, and had a fresh water sink. It was my kind of rustic!
I'll add here that it was our 19th wedding anniversary. We wouldn't have spent it any other way than a day at the beach, with our girls, and a bedouin tent! Life with Geoff is always exciting!
We woke up the next morning, and all of us, minus Tennie, went on a hike.
Just beyond these hills is the Dead Sea. The landscape was so desolate and beautiful.
Below is the tent we slept in.
This little bedouin tent outfit offered a dinner and breakfast, but it wouldn't have accommodated all of our dietary needs, so we didn't do it. It would have been awesome, I'm sure.
Up the road a bit was a place to ride camels. It was only a short ride, but it was a great experience through beautiful scenery. A camel standing up and laying down is quite a ride!
Our guide took a selfie. He was great.
Very fun.
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