Rosh HaNikra

Sierra and I decided to go camping. I had never actually been camping before. I mean the kind of camping where you carry your own tent on your back, bring food, build a fire, etc. I was thoroughly excited for the idea- you know, hard core camping. I told my director I was leaving, and he was less than thrilled, but I left anyway. I traveled up to Rosh HaNikra, a beautiful little spot on the border of Israel and Lebanon. Famous for its grottoes, Rosh HaNikra reminded me of the Blue Grottoes of Capri, Italy. (Though Capri beat them in awe factor) Guarded heavily by a base in between Israel and Lebanon, the grottoes boast the steepest cable car dissension in the world. We took that down to the grottoes, watched an adorably cheesy introduction video complete with water splashing on your head during the dramatic parts of the film. We went down to explore the caves. We met this adorable family form North Carolina with two kids with accents that make you want to pinch their cheeks like a creepy aunt! We reminisced about the good ole US of A and chatted for a bit about what brought us to Israel.
Sierra and I tromped around for a while through the area, taking in the salty sea air, the sun peaking out through the clouds and the beautiful crashing water inside the grottoes. After enjoying a refreshing Israeli beer and soaking up the beauty of north Israel, we hopped in a cab and headed toward Achlifa Beach, a small private beach. Adjacent to a camping ground, there were hammocks in bungalows, a beach side bar, a lifeguard tower and a beach with fine white sand that stretched on forever. We set up our tent piece by piece and built our fire. I had never done that before, but success happened! Can I just say, toilet paper starts a darn good fire. We roasted marshmallows, made some new friends and taught them the art behind a good s’more. None of the Israeli’s had ever heard of s’mores before. We relaxed all night, met tons of interesting people but were kept awake much of the night by a huge party that was going on in a private venue down the beach.
Waking up to the bright blue water of the Mediterranean was stunning to say the least. We woke up, cooked a hot breakfast on our portable stove and layed on the beach until the sunset.