A Two Day Tour Of Northern Israel Part 2

"The hat is fine but the head too small."

-Jewish Saying

I pulled these photos from google. They're pretty much 100% the same as what I saw. I thought it against my best interest to bring my phone to take the pictures, and my instinct proved very correct. After all, you WILL get taken from your raft and soaked.

Just a fair warning, the majority of this post will probably read a tad like an action adventure, because frankly our kayaking down the 'rough' Jordan river came about feeling like one. You'll see.

Anyway, ahem,

We woke up and had breakfast at the hostel at 7:30, loaded up and hit the road a half hour later.

From there we went to a post just outside the Lebanese border. This was probably one of the sadder parts of the trip, and our guide apologized several times that she had nothing positive really to tell us about the situation there. From where we were situated we could see a large earthworks and construction site; it turned out that it was a site being built by Hezbollah, moving massive amount of earth from the interior. From what our guide told us, the site was presumed to be bunkers being built.

Now on to something not depressing, our kayak experience!

When we arrived we were explicitly told not to leave the rafts. This is important because virtually all of us ignored that, between switching boats, being dragged from the boats by fellow kibbutzim and even Israelis.

That's right, we pretty much went full pirate on the Jordan river.

Our group divided up into three large kayaks, each holding four people with one holding five. Roy and I decided to separate, knowing the others would treat the kayaking as a race, and took a two man raft. Even though we went into the water well after the others we easily reached them, ramming literally every boat we possibly could while we figured out how to get in sync with each other's rowing. Each time we successfully rammed a boat we shouted 'Merica!'

I personally made it a mission to attack the girls' boat, splashing them as profusely as possible. I might be 25 and the oldest in our group, but I do know how to act ten years younger also.

Then again, so did the Israelis. Boating brings out the ten year old in all of us.

Perhaps the most dramatic part of the trip, for me at least, was when I was dragged from the kayak and nearly lost my glasses, and definitely lost my excellent water bottle.

It was about then Zack, our resident Jewish Hulk separated Roy from the Kayak and while I was able to get on board Roman hopped on. Turns out he has a passion for boating, especially kayaking I never knew about. Then again, being in a desert region of the world probably doesn't lead to much boating conversation either.

And when I say he was good at kayaking, I mean extremely good at rowing. He immediately got in sync and we propelled down the fairly shallow water. In fact, we reached the end of the river for the kayaking portion we actually turned the kayak around and plowed upstream. I mean its not like the current was insane, or even forceful, but that was still something.

Turns out reconnoitering with our group was kind of a huge mistake, because they immediately boarded our kayak and pulled me from it while Roman jumped ship and swam back to the girl's boat. I ended up with the paddle so they pretty much had to drag the boats by hand, or use their hands as oars.

Meanwhile I swam back and forth between the boats, I think inventing a new sport where you use kayak oars to swim. I got to entertain quite a few Israelis doing that, especially since I got good enough with it I was able to also go upstream. I call it body-kayaking.

After that we saddled up and headed back.

The only other particularly of note that occurred was on the way back we pretty much let our security escort out on the side of the road near Haifa, also known as the middle of nowhere. It seemed like a combination of when someone lets a beloved dog out forever into the wild, and a bit like we forgot we had him with us and remembered and then let him out.

Believe me, I wasn't the only one who made remarks about how oddly abrupt his departure was.


And that wrapped up our trip to northern Israel.