Part 3 - Gan Garu by Burt

We ended the day at Gan Garoo, a park with animals and vegetation from Australia. The park name comes from the Hebrew name for garden “gan” and the last two syllables of kangaroo. Gan Garoo is located at Kibbutz Nir David in the Jezreel Valley not far from Bet She’an. At the park, there are kangaroos, koalas, Australian emus, parrots, bats, emus, Australian sheep, and koalas.

We were provided with an excellent guide who showed us around the park and provided us with information about the Australian animals there. Our tour started with a visit to an area in which several Wombats hung from the ceiling. In an aviary, we fed the parrots there who would sit on one’s head or shoulder while feeding. 

Touching and feeding the kangaroos is allowed in designated areas and several kangaroos came up to be fed by hand and be petted by members of the CAARI group. 

Our final stop in Gan Garoo was at a Koala area where we saw an 18-year old female Koala named Mindy, happily ensconced in a small Eucalyptus tree.

We left Gan Garoo and returned to our hotel in Tiberias for our first Shabbat dinner and an Oneg Shabbat that followed dinner. At 4:00 PM, 

CAARI gathered to light  Shabbat candles and sing  Shalom Alechim.  Dinner was followed by a meaningful Oneg Shabbat led by Gloria!  A great first week of CAARI.

Shabbat Shalom,

Burt and the CAARI group

January 15 - Part 2 Beit She'an

From Mt. Gilboa, we drove down into the Jezreel Valley on to nearby Beit She’an, the largest archaeological dig in Israel. This city was included in the Decopolis, a special league of enormous cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.

Beit She’an is one of the most ancient cities in Israel.  The ruins at Beit She’an are in excellent condition and are extensive. Archaeological activity has been dormant in Beit She’an for the past decade. The city extended over an area of some 370 acres, and you can still see the remains of the wall that surrounded it. In addition, several impressive buildings have been uncovered, including a theater (still used for events and shows), a public bath-house (the largest found to date in Israel), public toilets, two magnificent colonnaded streets, a Roman temple, a decorative fountain building (nymphaeum), a large basilica marking the center of the city, and the reconstructed mosaic on which you can see Tyche, the Roman Goddess of Good Fortune, holding the Horn of Plenty.  On to lunch and our last tour site for the day!  
Burt

Jan 15 - Friday by Burt - (Part 1 - Bible Lands Trail)

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Day 5 - Fri, 15 Jan 2016: Today, we started with a short bus tour of Tiberias, after which we drove to the Jezreel Valley, along the western shore of the Kinneret and then south along the west bank of the Jordan River. Along the way we passed Moshav Gesher , numerous green fields with their winter crops, sections of the old Haifa-Aman railroad bed and its old railroad stations, sections of the new Haifa-Aman railroad (scheduled for completion next

year) and its new railroad stations.

Mount Gilboa rises about 2,000 ft. above the Jezreel Valley. To the east, one could see into Jordan. 

Some 3,000 years ago, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. Israel’s first King, Saul, was mortally wounded and took his own life there. In a eulogy for King Saul and his son,

Jonathon, the soon-to-be king, David, cursed the Mount Gilboa battlefield with the words, “let there be no dew or rain upon you.” In spite of the curse, JNF has caused the battlefield to sprout new greenery.

The weather today was much better than yesterday and the view Mt Gilboa was spectacular.

Enjoy the group's pictures from their visit including the spring flowers which are just beginning to bloom.

Next post - visit to Beit She'an.

Burt and CAARI

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Jan 14 - Agmon Hula - Bird Migration

Continuation of Jan. 14 

The visit to Agmon Ha Hula KKL Restored Wetlands, at dusk, was visually stunning. To be so very close to 20,000 elegant cranes and hear the music of their conversations with one another was very special. 

'We took a bird hide pulled by a tractor to see thousands of cranes feeding and to see vast numbers of cranes, a sea of many thousands of cranes getting ready for a night’s rest. We needed rest by then, so it was back to the hotel for dinner and sleep for us too!' (by Howard)