If we were asked to compose guiding principles for emigrating to Israel, one of them would be: “A high degree of flexibility and spontaneity is a must.” Especially in the last few months, a generous “scoop” more of both is in order. We had a few plans that we had to change again and again. Excursions were canceled, workshop and official appointments were unsuccessful and we couldn’t rely on some people. So we were all the more delighted to be invited to visit a goat farm on the border with Lebanon to have a look around and learn a thing or two. We and three excited children were in the car.

Our youngest didn’t enjoy the car ride, so we took a longer break after an hour. His nerves were slightly damaged and a phone call dashed our hopes for the planned trip: “I apologize, you can’t come today. I’ve forgotten a doctor’s appointment and have to cancel.” That was too much. Disappointed children’s faces in the back seat. Sitting tensely in the back of the car, we were on the verge of bursting with frustration.

Sure, you think about going home again. We were somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

How good that you can reach for an app these days. And how good that all these years of practice, or let’s say the exhaustion of our flexibility, have made us take another look at what’s around. Because to be honest, once the frustration has set in (including that of the last few weeks), it’s hard to get involved in anything else. Even simply accessing an app can become an insurmountable obstacle. However, one reason for the quick change of heart was our children.

Is this really how we wanted our children to remember the day? None of them would have understood why we were frustrated. All they would have seen from us was that something wasn’t working and then you give up.

In fact, there is something in this region that we didn’t know yet. Yes, even after so many years of touring Israel, we still haven’t been everywhere.
To keep the suspense alive, we didn’t reveal where we were going. So we drove to Yodfat, a village at the end of a mountain range. The panoramic road there alone is one of the most beautiful routes in the north and worth a trip in itself.

Where had we been drawn to? A biblical excavation site? A synagogue? Or Tel Yodfat (link to an external page about Tel Yodfat), the remains of a well-known Jewish city?
No! The Funks went to the monkey forest.

Another treasure in our memory

And here we saw one thing that we love about the Israelis. Although we were late, they still let us in without putting pressure on us to hurry.

To everyone’s surprise, there were many other animals such as emus, peacocks, donkeys, horses, birds and even a wild boar. The monkey forest was founded in 1970 and the charm of its founding period has been preserved in small details. The zoo is wonderfully unspectacular and concentrates on the essentials, the animals. The focus is of course on the monkeys. They were the stars of our children.

Most Israeli parks have spacious picnic areas, just like here. But as we were too late, we had to look for a spot outside. In our case, this was even better, as it led us to a small promenade with restaurants, cafés and small stores.

Perhaps it was a compensation for the canceled trip to the goat farm when we found a small cheese boutique. The smell of fresh cheese and herbs filled the stylishly decorated room. While Alex and I couldn’t get enough of the cheese, there was only one thing that mattered to the children: the ice cream machine.

We enjoyed goat’s milk ice cream and plenty of cheese in the shade of the trees not far from the cheese boutique.

An almost messed up day turned into a treasure of family memories. And while I’m reading part of the text out loud, our three-year-old comes around the corner and shouts enthusiastically: “Yes, monkey forest!”