Mon. Feb. 28 – Luxuriate at Ein-Gedi, a botanical garden oasis in the desert

Summary:  Swim in Dead Sea; leisurely day with Uri
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OK, I'm three days behind writing and I REALLY don't want to spend all evening doing this!  So here are the basics:

• Asked for the morning to myself.  Such a relief to follow my own rhythms for a few hours!  Read my silly book.  Danced by a banyan tree.  Fancy buffet breakfast alone. A little email.  Stroll thru the kibbutz and botanical trail to big indoor pool, nice swim.
• Dunked in the choppy, famously buoyant Dead Sea with Uri and Christopher, lay in the sun and breeze singing songs (Read more -- see videos and photos)
• Day rolled sweetly by together -- napping, singing, doing Playback, exchanging massage, sitting on a bench with a vista of the Dead Sea and Jordan's distant shore.  Fabulous buffet dinner, memorable carrots with tarragon and coriander seeds.
• Got cranky by the end, realizing I had been paying attention to everyone else all day (or for weeks!) and not asked for enough myself.  I miss my friends!

Here's my banyan dance spot:

And us fooling around a different banyan at night:

Uri leaning against his favorite baobob tree:

Christopher doing email by the banyan: