Wadi David

This morning I went out hiking in and around Wadi David, while Mariella chatted with a new friend before going on a solo hike to Wadi David. The hike was in a majestic canyon. The terrain looked like a martian landscape. It was apparent that nothing could live in this habitat. I wish I had a functioning camera to share the beautiful scenery. I walked from the mountain side down to a dry canyon river bed with humbling walls towering around me and no other person in sight. After soaking in the silence I continued hiking out of a canyon to Ein Gedi Spring. It was amazing to see a location with no life, utter emptiness, and then a river of life flowing out of the rock. As I approached, life was teaming around the oasis high upon the mountain side. There was a frog basking on a rock, birds perched on the branches of reeds surrounding the spring. There were also Rock Hyrax everywhere and Ebeks (a dear like animal). Christ referred to himself as the “living water” and that the water he offers will cause people to never thirst again (spiritual imagery). When Christ spoke these words it must have been a powerful word picture to the people of his day who could not exist without life giving water. The wadi is a location where some think David hid out while Saul was trying to kill him (1 Samuel). Here are some photos an Israeli guy and a Russian guy took using our SD card. Tomorrow we plan on catching a bus south to Eilat to obtain Egyptian visas then we hope to cross over to Jordan and hike around Petra. We’ll see what actually happens.