When Honeybun was 3 and Sugarplum was 15 months, we took our second cruise, a Holy Land Experience. The ship sailed from Instanbul and visited Israel, Athens and Kusadasi, Turkey. We took the trip with my parents and sister and it was an amazing experience!
We spent a total of 3 days in Israel, docked in Haifa which is north of Tel Aviv. We were originally scheduled to spend the last two days docked in Ashdod, near Jerusalem but due to a missile being fired and unknown conditions, we stayed docked in Haifa and had to do all of our journeys and visiting from there.
After a day exploring the Sea of Galilee area and a day exploring the streets of Jerusalem, the third day was a relaxing one. We drove through the West Bank to get to the Dead Sea. While I’m never one to turn down adventures, I was a bit nervous being in such a volatile area with my children, but we were with a great local tour guide and had no problems, even when we got stopped at a checkpoint and had to have our passports thoroughly checked over!
Swimming in the Dead Sea was one of the most amazing and wonderful experiences of all our travels. Not only the lowest land point on Earth at its banks, it’s also the deepest salt lake in the world and one of the saltiest. Swimming in the Dead Sea was like no other experience I’ve had before.
The concentration of salt allows you to effortlessly float on top of the water and the mud of the Dead Sea is known for its high mineral content and is used in many cosmetics. After swimming in the sea and soaking in the mud, our skin was so soft and refreshed! (you can with some Dead Sea Clay soap from Sugar and Oats in my current May Baby Giveaway!)
Even the girls had a great time. We didn’t let Sugarplum get in too far as we didn’t want the salty water getting in her face but she loved walking around and even Honeybun who insisted she was not going to go in too far did eventually decide to try to float (then panicked and didn’t want to do it!)
After swimming, showering (you have to rinse off after, the salt leaves quite a residue!) and changing, we had a delicious lunch overlooking the sea. It was a beautiful day and we loved trying the smorgasbord of local food our guide recommended (though I had to explain what a smorgasbord was!)
After finishing up lunch we headed to Masada for a visit. The ancient fortification sits high above the Dead Sea and was spectacular to visit! There is a visitors center at the bottom of the hill where you can learn more about the palace built by Herod the Great which was then turned into a fort and was used to hold off the Romans during a resistance of Jewish people fleeing Jerusalem from 66 to 74 AD/CE (btw, when did this change?) After exploring the museum we headed up the mountain on a cable car. There is also the option to walk up, but with the girls that was not even a choice for us!
Due to the climate of the region, the fort is amazingly well preserved. Some of the dwellings have been partially reconstructed to show how it would have been originally and there is a model of the entire area, but most of it is left to your imagination to decide what life would have been like. It was fascinating to see and learn about how the “rebels” survived for years on top of a mountain with no way in or out. Specifically, the collection system for rain water and flooding from other areas was amazing!
I hope to someday return to Israel and share the experiences and stories with our family again when they are old enough to understand but I am still glad we were able to have the experience when we did!
