We woke up at quarter-to-six, and had a quick breakfast after we packed up the tents and our stuff. By now, having cooked and slept together, the lot of us really felt like a close group ready for anything.
About to start a day's hikeWe drove off to the start of our hike, and had some tea while we waited for everyone else. By the way, Nim is with us, but not the other Academy 2 madrichim. There's also Nir from Academy 1, and 2 Israeli guys. But the star of the group is the dog: "Toto", a gorgeous Weimerarner who eats anything, is a big sook, and is an excellent guide on hikes.
A mountain in the desertToday's hike was an impressive 15 k's or so (12 as the crow flies): the weather started out nice, but before long it was overcast and then raining. Rain in the goddamn desert! Argh! Why do they think we came down here? It never rains in the desert, except when we come! Anyway, the hike was very tiring, but fun: plenty of incredible views from the tops of peaks; winding tracks along cliffs; and time to talk to friends. But it was also cold, wet, and windy; and because of this; we had few breaks and kept up a fast pace most of the day.
When we stopped for morning tea, it was raining badly, and we had to crowd under an overhanging rock. But by lunchtime, thankfully, it had cleared up, and we could eat our pickles and salami in the sun.
The hike is now finished for the day, and we've put up our tents again: this time, in the open. With great labour, we've dug a trench around the line of tents to serve as a stormwater drain. We've also covered the tents with tarpaulin. This is good, because the rain has started again already.
Desert survival has been really fun so far: the best thing about it is that we're a small group, and we really help each other to get things done. But the hiking and camping is also very hard work, and I'm getting worn out by it! It's also hard to find time to write diary entries, since I can only write during daylight. And that's now almost gone.
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Snuggled by the campfire[Tonight] We had a really nice dinner of kebabs and teriyaki chicken. Ofer was really funny: he kept shouting "no bread", because he thought bread would take away our appetites for the meat.
After dinner, we had a really nice campfire where we sang songs and Nimrod played his guitar. The camp atmosphere was so nice and heimische - we all held hands and sang together.