Tiberias, Israel

As far as Tiberias goes there is not much to the city of note. Well, not anything we saw in our short time there. We even neglected to travel to the holy sights on the Sea of Galilee such as the sight where Jesus was said to have walked on water. Jeff wanted to go but Anelia assured him he could not repeat the performace. We did, however, take in the national parks of Gamla and Yehudiya for some hiking and wild-life spotting. The hiking in the parks is world class, you just have to remember to stay on the paths so you don't wander into the military" firing" zone (where the Israel army practices almost daily) or onto a field of landmines. We stuck to the path. Literally! The rain the previous night made the mud stick to our shoes, making high heels out of our runners. In Yehudiya national park we checked out the strange Meshushim pools. Meshushim means hexagons; the pool is named after the shape of the basalt pillars that make up its walls. This impressive scenery is created by the cooling of layers of lava floes, undisturbed and slowly, over a long period (last picture). The highlights of Gamala where the Griffin Vultures wheeling high overhead. Huge birds who were on the verge of extinction in the area but thanks to the Gamla nature reserve are on the rebound. It was an excellent day of hiking capped off by some soaking in the hot springs of Hammat Gader. The hot springs themselves are not that imrpressive (again we are spoiled in Canada) but they did the trick all the same. It was a great day.