A 63 mile ride today, three large descents and one difficult ascent. Amazing views of the desert and desert ecology. Reaching 45 miles an hour down steep cliffs, hairpin turns, highly dangerous at times. Starting with an early morning prayer service, and an Ibex staring at us, ending with camels and the ARAVA institute, with the graduate students talking about their lives and work. My group had a student from Jordan, a West Bank Refugee camp, and three Americans, one from Alaska, doing amazing conflict resolution and environmental research and advocacy, on water, on algae, on policy, etc. The kibbutz we stayed in, kibbutz Ketura, was founded by many people with North Carolina connections over 40 years ago. It still thrives in the desert. Forty students working on the kibbutz at the Arava Institute. The red mountains of Jordan looming all around us.  Dinner with a barbecue feast, with barbecue tofu too. Off to bed to get ready for the last day of biking and the route to Eilat along the Egyptian border.