Ein Feshkha

March 29

This place is a nature reserve next to the nothern Dead Sea. Underwater aquifers are close to the surface here, sometimes even coming above the surface and forming springs. This makes conditions ripe for the flourishing of greens. Though this is a nature reserve, the plants growing in it have only been there for the last century, as the Dead Sea used to have a much larger area, and covered what is now Ein Feshkha.

Due to the diversion of ground water for agriculture, the heavy demand on the Jordan River to meet Israel's (and Jordan's) water needs, and a natural cycle of evaporation, the Dead Sea shoreline is receding at a rate of 1 meter per year.

The tall grasses of Ein Feshkha, next to the northern Dead Sea. 

Fern forests at Ein Feshkha. 

Huge palm tree. 

Freshwater pool draining into the Dead Sea. 

My teacher, Clive Lipchin. He is the director of reseach at the Arava Institute. 

Look how far it has receded in my lifetime! 

An old Jordanian palace, later Israeli restaurant, and now abandoned, used to sit right next to the sea. 

Parents come to visit

(Part 1)

March 26-28

Reunification. 

The whole family. 

Tel Aviv, from the old city of Jaffa. 

My father stands for HaTikvah, the Israeli National Anthem, during a recording of moment that David Ben Gurion declared Israel's Independence in May 1948. This building, Independence Hall, has been preserved to look like it did that day. 

Foot. 

Doron is an exceptional tour guide, and this is his third trip with my parents. 

My cousin Amanda, who is studying in Haifa this semester. 

The theatre at Caeserea. 

The ancient Roman harbor city of Caeserea, the first to have a water breaker harbor. 

An old Aquaduct in Caeserea which once brought water to a city of 60,000. 

A panoramic of the Jezreel Valley as seen from the top of Mount Carmel. 

The grave of the first and only Israeli Astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who died when the Shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas in February 2003. 

Sunset over the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. 

The Jesus Boat. This boat found preserved in mud on the bank of the Galilee dates back to the time of Jesus, and thus attracts many Christian tourists. 

A sign on Mount Bental in the Golan Heights. 

A soldier trains to use surveillance equipment on Mount Bental in the Golan Heights. In the distance it is possible to see Syria. 

The Banias, a tributary of the Jordan River, in Israel's nothern Dan Nature Reserve. 

My sister Rachel, left, and her friend Jen from home in the Dan Nature Reserve.