Day 13: Hiking up to the limit - arrival in Zikhron Ya'akov in the darkness

Another sunny morning, after taking some photos I had to say goodbye to my new friends, the volunteers. On the way I saw a lot of Cactus plants. In Israel they are called "Sabres" or "Sabra" in the singular. Likewise, Jews born in Israel are called "Sabra". They are said to be spiky from the outside and soft and sweet like the cactus fruits inside - a nice description.
After some kilometers I reached the Me'arot Caves - a world heritage site. It is a unique nature reserve known for the caves in which remnants of prehistoric humans were found.

Today and tomorrow there is the Jewish festival of Purim which commemorates the survival of the Jews who, in the 5th century BC, were marked for death by their Persian rulers. The story is related to the Book of Esther. At this joyous festival the kids dress up in costumes.
On the way I spoke to Annika on the phone. She wanted to prepare the next Shvil interview for tomorrow. I also met three women. We started to chat a little bit and they were very interested in my trip and my friendship to Israel. They all said that I am an ambassador for Israel. It was a very lively and cheerful conversation and we took photos and videos. They wanted to see my blog and they promised to follow me.

Some minutes later I saw a team who tries to break the record of being the fastest doing the whole Shvil. Their target is to do it in 10 days. Of course they don't carry around a heavy backpack like other shvilists. Let's see if they can achieve their goal. 

In the afternoon I still had some kilometers to walk to finish my 25 km tour. The last part was not the easiest hike and included a Wadi and I had to walk through a stream with the water up to my knees. I had to give everything and the moon was already shining when I finally arrived in Zikhron Ya'akov.
I went to the grocery store and a Burger restaurant for a Veggie Burger and a beer. It was a great but also very demanding day on the Shvil. Leila tov (good night)!