Machane Mitgalgel is actually a combination of a road trip and a camp. On the one hand, there are counselors and prize baring competitions, night activities, and even a color war competition. On the other hand, there is no Single
Camp
Ground . Every day the "Machane" is "Mitgalgel" in other words, moving on. As such more ground can be covered, and places as far as Eilat and the
Golan heights can be covered in a single two-week session.
Pick up time table 1st week
The first session begins on the Sunday the 6th of July, There are a few pick up locations. In Jerusalem Ra'anana and in Givat Shmuel. From there the bus will continue to pick up campers in Ra’anana, at 8:00 Am. And will continue North towards our First activity. Take a look at last moment notices to see exact pick up schedule.
General Location
For the next six days Machane Mitgalgel, will travel and have different activities in the Northern part of
Israel . Thursday afternoon we will head back towards the center and the bus will drop off the campers at the same drop locations where they were picked up on the first day.
Shabbat
The Israeli campers will spend Friday and Shabbat at home. Campers arriving from the
US will either stay with relatives or will be invited to stay with fellow campers or staff members over the weekend. Please let us know if you need a place to stay.
Pick up time table 2nd week
Sunday morning the 13th of July, the second part of the trip begins. Similar to the first week, the campers will be picked up at the different drop locations, however this time starting from Ra’anana at 7:00. From there the bus will continue to pick up campers in Givat Shmuel, at 8:00 Am. And will continue towards Hashmonaim/Modiin at 8:30. After all are on board, the bus will head towards the Beit Guvrin area for the days first activity “Treasure hunt in the
Luzit
Caves ” The buss from
Jerusalem will pick up the campers at 7:00am and continue to Beit Shemesh at 7:45am. From there the Jerusalem bus will meet up with the Ra’anana bus at the
Luzit
Caves
Registration
As the camp is based on buses, the registration is based on the number of campers we can have on each bus.
Each bus has room for a maximum of 55 people. The maximum numbers of campers on each bus will not exceed 50, as the remaining space will be reserved for the counselors and the staff.
As such, registration is conducted in a similar fashion. Once 50 campers are registered, the registration for that bus is closed, and registration begins for the next bus.
There is a minimum requirement of 40 campers to open the next bus.
Age groups
Each bus is divided into three age groups. 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15. Each group will have approximately 15 campers. Although traveling Eating and Davening are conducted together by all, most of the activities are divided by age group. So for instance if we have an activity at the Zavitan, the younger group would go slower with their own guide and counselors and the older group would go faster ahead with their guide and counselors.
Counselors
In addition to the travel guides provided by Biranit Pisga Etgarim Ltd.Each of the three groups will have an individual counselor designated specifically for the group. The younger group ages (10-11) will have two counselors. All of the counselors speak English and Hebrew, and have previous experience as counselors.
Prerequisite
There are many different activities which the campers will engage during the two week session, many of which involve water and swimming. All campers must know how to swim. There will be a test conducted during the first week, to evaluate the swimming skills of each camper. Campers who are determined to be week swimmers will be required to wear a life vest in order to participate in the water activites.
Co –Ed arrangement
Certain activities will be together such as meals, Davening, some activities and the night activities. Sleeping arrangements are separate. When mixed swimming is part of the scheduled activity, alternate programs will be offered to those who do not wish to go mixed swimming.
Safety& Insurance coverage
Machane Mitgalgel's infrastructure and framework are provided by Biranit-Pisga Etgarim Ltd, who are certified travel guides as well as certified action activity guides/instructors, and have all the necessary qualifications and certifications along with the insurance coverage to conduct such a trip and provide the action activities. An armed guard will accompany the trip at all times. All the camp sites and logding arrangements are gated and guarded as well.
Medical attention
Along each bus three will be at least one member of the staff who has first aid medical training, and able to provide immediate assistance if necessary we require that each camper has his/her Kupat Holim card with them at all times, in the unlikely event that a visit to a Kupat Holim is necessary. Kids coming from abroad, must have travel insurance or they can contact us and we will arrange for it.
