More of the Golan

Our day started with a movie called Oz-77 which dramatically and emotionally depicted first- hand stories from the battallion which fought in 1973 in the Golan. Although it was told in Hebrew and we had to read the subtitles, we were able to understand what occured at the place that we were now standing. After the movie, we went over to Har Bental. From the top of the mountain, we were able to see the Hermon, Syria, and more of the Golan.

Then, Maya (our tour guide) explained to us how the mountain used to be a volcano. She demonstrated how the magma erupted using a bottle of Coke, which was shaken and then exploded. Poor Ilan!

Then she helped us gain a better sense of the geography of the land and the rivers by using Dov's hand and arm as a drawing board!

Don't worry, the marker will come off eventually. Until then, Dov will become real familiar with the rivers and lakes in Israel!
Then we got to walk through the trenches and bunkers which were used during the times of war.

Even though it felt a little scary down in those bunkers, we did enjoy pretending we were in the army!

After stopping off at Burger Ranch for a delicious lunch, we headed over to Emek Hachula, or the Hula Valley, where we saw a great 3-D movie. It was really interesting to learn how the Hula Valley is central stopping point for birds migrating from Europe down into Africa. We then took a nature walk where we were able to see some of the birds and other animals in the swamps and trees of the valley. Along the way, we stopped to make our own birds out of clay.

All in all, it was a nice and relaxing day, one in which we got to learn a lot more about the geography and history of Israel.