Nimrod Fortress

Today we went to the remains of the Nimrod Fortress on the slopes of Mt. Hermon in the NE corner of Israel. It's way up on top of a hill! It was built in the 13th century by the Ayyubis and the Baybars to protect the road to Damascus, presumably by someone with the unfortunate name of "Nimrod".
Here is Libby at the exit of the secret passage from the fortress. The stairs were steep and wet and dark, so I had to hang on tight to Dad!
The Rock Hyraxes have their own secret passages!
Here we are at the Gamla nature reserve. The town of Gamla was on the steep hill behind us. In 70 AD there was a last-ditch battle here between the Jewish rebels and the Romans, and it ended badly for the rebels. We hiked to the ruins and got really muddy!
We also saw Griffin Vultures, Dolmens megalithic structures, a waterfall, and other cool stuff.