We ended the day at Gan Garoo, a park with animals and vegetation from Australia. The park name comes from the Hebrew name for garden “gan” and the last two syllables of kangaroo. Gan Garoo is located at Kibbutz Nir David in the Jezreel Valley not far from Bet She’an. At the park, there are kangaroos, koalas, Australian emus, parrots, bats, emus, Australian sheep, and koalas.We were provided with an excellent guide who showed us around the park and provided us with information about the Australian animals there. Our tour started with a visit to an area in which several Wombats hung from the ceiling. In an aviary, we fed the parrots there who would sit on one’s head or shoulder while feeding.
Touching and feeding the kangaroos is allowed in designated areas and several kangaroos came up to be fed by hand and be petted by members of the CAARI group. Our final stop in Gan Garoo was at a Koala area where we saw an 18-year old female Koala named Mindy, happily ensconced in a small Eucalyptus tree.
We left Gan Garoo and returned to our hotel in Tiberias for our first Shabbat dinner and an Oneg Shabbat that followed dinner. At 4:00 PM,
CAARI gathered to light Shabbat candles and sing Shalom Alechim. Dinner was followed by a meaningful Oneg Shabbat led by Gloria! A great first week of CAARI.
Shabbat Shalom,
Burt and the CAARI group
