Elyse in Haifa: Israel Extreme!

This Friday my friends were able to go on an adventure into the Galilee area of northern Israel. A few months back, I came up with the idea that it would be fun to repel from one of the many mountains here in Israel, and I researched a few good companies with my dad. After a lot of planning, a group of seven friends (including myself) were finally able to go. We were picked up at 7:00 a.m. and driven by our guide from ‘Israel Extreme’ to Alma Cave in the Galilee. The drive there turned out to be scarier than the rest of the day’s activities – a lot of dirt paths and winding roads!

When we first arrived at Alma Cave, our guide, Moshe, set up a rope for us to swing across the opening of the cave, which was my personal favorite activity of the day. The height was initially scary, but we were harnessed in very well. The swinging was thrilling, and it was easy to relax and allow the rope to hold you up.
After our rope-swinging over the opening of Alma cave, we were able to crawl through it, with the help of many man-made steps and railings. Once we reached a certain point, Moshe had us turn off the headlights on our helmets and have a moment of silence to understand the intensity of the experience. It was so interesting to be sitting completely cut off from the world for a few moments, but we were all glad to see the sunlight again when we emerged from the cave.

We broke for a quick lunch on the field outside of Alma Cave, then drove to our next destination, Qeshet Cave. I have yet to understand why this is called a cave because it looks more like the side of a cliff. It was here that we were each going to repel (almost 160 feet) down the side of the rocks and into the base of the cave. There happened to be a lot of wind that day, which made the process a lot scarier, especially when I was about to step backwards off of a mountain! Everyone in the group made it successfully down to the bottom of the cliff, but the adventure wasn’t over yet! Once we got back on solid ground, we had to hike back up to the top of the cave before getting in the car and heading home. The hike up was overlooking the Galilee area, which is luscious and green at this time of year.

After a loooong day, we arrived back to Haifa campus just before Shabbat, where we showered, ate dinner, and got ready for the next day’s adventure…