Banana Land!

Welcome to Banana Land!

January 15, 2012

Our church group had an activity at a small amusement park in Jericho.  The reason for choosing Jericho was because there are members of the branch who live in Bethlehem and Ramallah (both in the West Bank) who are not allowed to come to Jerusalem for church.  Jericho is about 45 minutes northeast of Jerusalem, just north of the Dead Sea.  

Although our group left the church at the same time, we ended up with only one other car and neither of us had the exact directions.  We had to pass through a number of Palestinian check points on the way there.  Jerusalem is controlled by Israel while Jericho sits in the West Bank, also referred to as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  The West Bank sits east (and north and south) of Jerusalem but west of the Jordan River.  The other Palestinian territory is the Gaza Strip, which sits in the southwest part of Israel adjacent to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Jerusalem is a relatively green city, with many trees and plants.  Going west toward Tel Aviv (i.e. the coast of the Mediterranean Ocean), there are rolling hills, citrus groves and farmland.  However, after exiting the tunnel under Mount Scopus (Jerusalem) heading east, suddenly, the desert hits in dramatic fashion.  We began our descent from 2,500 feet above sea level to the lowest point on earth with the air temperature warming up along the way.  Although the Dead Sea is almost 1,300 feet below sea level, it was hard to tell with the mountains of Jordan in the distance.  The landscape is completely barren, like the moon.  We were amazed to see Bedouins living in tents in the shadows of the brown hills.  Green is scarce.  Right around Jericho, the land has been cultivated in a few areas, providing a beautiful contrast of green.  We had to ask ourselves, "How is it that there is so much fighting over this land?"  And we are here during the "wet" season before six months of no rain.

Jericho was an intriguing city, much smaller than Jerusalem.  It claims to be the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world - thousands of years old.  The downtown area was full of outdoor shops and the Mediterranean architecture and palm trees gracing the area were delightful.  Many buildings didn't have glass on the windows.  We weren't sure if that was the style or if they were still under construction.  After finding ourselves in the middle of downtown Jericho and the "souk" or Arab bazaar, we asked some soldiers for directions.  On the way, we passed the Mount of Temptation and told the kids about the area, including the story about Joshua and the walls of Jericho.

The picture above is taken from the "bounce house" at the bottom of the pavilion where we had a picnic.  Many stray cats joined our picnic.  They are a common sight in Israel although they look amazingly healthy and happy.  The palm trees and flowering plants are beautiful, but in a few of these pictures you can get a glimpse of the hills surrounding the area.  They are as brown as can be, but the contours and caves were masterful in their own right.

Walter got to drive his first car.  He had a great time!

There were tons of these little "kiddie" rides and Grant and Truman loved it.

The "bounce house" had quite a few inflatable slides and jumping areas.  Notice, however, that it is still outdoors.  The ground is sand.  To my surprise, the kids all had to take off their shoes and socks when they went into this area.  The kids thought it was great.  In my mind, I was remembering the stray cats.  Needless to say, we went straight to the bathtub when we got home!  The kids had a great time and jumped and played without reservation.  It had rained the day before and there was a puddle in one part of a jumping area.  Of course, Grant fell into and got soaked from the waist down.  I never thought to bring a change of clothes, but he was undaunted and played as if he were dry.  He rode home in just a diaper.

Here is Margaret the monkey climbing up and Grant the adventurer sliding down.

I love the camel.  There was a young man selling rides, but our kids weren't adventurous enough to climb on.  As we went home, we saw the man riding his camel home alongside the road.

Above: Some friends in our group.

Below:  They also had the trampoline/bungee ride.  Because we waited until the end of the day, there was no one waiting in line and the people running it let our kids jump to their hearts content.  The two workers bounced them high in the air, taught them how to flip and let them jump until they were begging to stop.  It was a great treat!

Grandma Megumi got to come with us.  We were grateful to have her still visiting!

We were never sure why the place was called Banana Land.  The only banana themes we found were the rocks on the hill by the picnic pavilion that spelled "Banana Land" and the grove of banana trees (loaded with green bananas) by the parking lot (below).  Behind Grandma and the kids, there is a steep hill descending about 15 feet leading to the banana trees (the light green "bushes").

We are thankful Kevin has a car to use from work (especially since we still haven't been able to buy a car due to bureaucratic hassles).  The Palestinians like the United Nations, so being in a UN car made things very simple at their checkpoints.  We were a little worried about going home through the Israeli checkpoint, but gratefully it went smoothly.  Checkpoints can take hours.

Our first outing in Israel turned out just right.