The Nature Reserve at Ein Gedi

This past weekend Uma, a friend from Arabic class, and I went to the nature reserve and waterfalls at Ein Gedi. I don't know what I expected, but was pleasantly surprised with the beautiful turquoise color pools, the sound of trickling water, and lush vegetation that surrounded each fall.
It is always excruciatingly hot in Ein Gedi (near the Dead Sea) in the summer, but the hike up the mountainous trail wasn't as bad as I had feared. About every eighth of a mile or so we would come across a new fall and pool which only seemed to get more impressive the higher we climbed. It was refreshing to swim in fresh water and the ancient rock formations composing the base of each fall, decorated with vines and greenery, was really something special. Uma and I both had a good laugh when I told her the last thing I ever pictured myself doing was swimming in waterfalls in the Middle East. I guess there's a first time for everything.

On the way back down, we ran into some of the wildlife that lives in the park. There was a large group of Orix (a deer like creature) and a few Rock Bunnies. I have no idea what the name of these funny looking creatures are in English, but the Hebrew translation is "rock bunny." Yes, they climb rocks like its nobody's business, its they're pretty impressive actually, but they look like no bunny I have ever seen. You can check them out yourself on the Ein Gedi album.