Haritun Cave (R+Caving)

We start our day with a twenty-minute hike through the Judean mountains, with gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains, scenery that still looks almost the way it looked in Biblical times. We pass hundreds of archeological ruins, from a range of periods, some as old as 3000 years ago. The hills are riddled with caves, large and small, some of which have served as shelters for over 5000 years, as evidenced by the pottery shards and other archeological finds.Our hike ends on top of a beautiful, impressive cliff, 40 meters (over 130 feet) high from which we rappel down to the base. (There is a hiking path if you prefer.) At the bottom of the cliff is a year-round running spring that accumulates in a small cistern where you can “cool your heels.”From there, we go spelunking (caving) in Haritun Cave, the longest and largest limestone cave in Israel (3,450 square meters, which is over 37,000 square feet!), with four main levels, at least 55 “halls” and over 4 ½ kilometers (2¾ miles) of tunnels! We will explore this vast network of underground wonders with headlamps to penetrate the pitch-black darkness, crawling and climbing through nature and history.Keep in mind that this cave involves crawling through tight spots, which makes this cave difficult for big-boned people.Estimated time: 3 ½-7 hour