Day 11

Today was an easy day, hardly any walking. Unfortunately we got off to a bad start. We stayed right on the Reed (aka Red) Sea last night on the bay of Aquaba in the city of Eilat. The first scheduled activity was to snorkel there. They had a beautiful coral reef with tropical fish. We really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was perfect, it was warm with slightly cool but incredibly clear water. Another lady from our group was going in at the same time, and she kind of freaked out so TJ helped her get to the next dock. She was wearing a life jacket, but was not a very good swimmer and panicked every time a wave came. It was quite windy so the waves were splashing in her face. She couldn’t go back since it was against the current. Thankfully TJ survived and brought her to safety, even though she didn't make it easy on him. Heidi was left by herself, floating along and enjoying the scenery. There were plenty of non-stinging jelly fish and tropical bright blue/yellow fish, and like 200 little white fish in a school. The choral reef was also quite beautiful also. Heidi was taking her time and stopped to rest on some of the buoys they have available to allow you to take a break from kicking. Halfway to the exit dock, Heidi noticed that her arm hurt, and thought she had scratched it on the buoy. She stopped to look at it, but she didn't see anything on her arm. By the time she got out it though, it felt like it was on fire. She rinsed it off and noticed that it started to welt up. After waiting for TJ to get out (leading one stray sheep down the coastline of the red sea took a jolly good time, parting the sea and walking on dry ground would have made it quicker and easier). After we figured we were lied to and believed it to be a jelly fish sting we went to the snorkel instructor there. They told us that it was toxin from sea urchins that attached itself to those buoys. One of the employees applied vinegar to Heidi's stings and then aloe, which soothed it. As of right now, it still burns, though to a lesser degree. It's been a fun time though.

After our fun at the Red Sea, we went to a life sized model of the Tabernacle, and our guide explained how the Israelites moved it and function of the Tabernacle. For me, it gave me more of an appreciation for God’s holiness and how He was faithful to Israel.

We went to a "zoo" that contained native Israeli animals. It was more like a small wild life preserve. We saw venomous snakes, hyenas, and other animals that the Israelites would have had to deal with while wandering in the wilderness.

Here is a picture of a couple of porcupines huddled up together. The bobcats, wolves, and leopards were cool too. Tomorrow we get to swim in the dead sea. We're pretty excited about that! We'll write more soon.