Hula Valley wetlands

In the heart of the Golan heights, cradled between hills on 3 sides, is the beautiful Hula Valley.

Once an important stopping-off place for migrating birds on their annual trip from Europe to Africa and back again, the swamps were home to tens of thousands of aquatic birds, along with many species of rare plants and fish, creating a wondrous world of flora and fauna.

After the establishment of the state of Israel, most of the Hula swamp was drained to create farming land, but this was not successful. Scientists and nature-lovers worked hard to preserve at least part of the Hula wetlands and succeeded in creating Israel’s first nature reserve in 1964.

We started our outing early in the day as it was hot, but not early enough for sighting the birds, because although the time was peak season for bird migration, you really have to be there at dawn to see the masses of birds take off. Friends joining us included James and Annette, Caroline, Parvin, Mark and Carolina. The now famous obligatory Aussie morning tea of fresh Anzac biscuits with an Arabic coffee twist started the morning's expedition.
A group photo before we started our trek through the wetlands. The visitor centre is truly amazing, with films in both English and Hebrew. There are plenty of multimedia effects. You literally fly with the birds, which is visually stunning, and with moving seats and water spraying on top of you from above (simulating the spray as the birds take off) you get a glimpse of the life of some of these migrating birds.
Tens of thousands of birds of over 200 species, including cranes, storks, pelicans, cormorants and egrets, stop over in the reserve, knowing they can find an abundance of food here and in the Hula Valley in general. A tributary of the water that flows from the Banias springs combined with the melting snow off Mt. Hermon (well it is snow-covered for a few weeks in the year) continues to flow through this valley.
Cat fish and turtles are abundant.


Lillie pads host a lot of animal life
and the swamps provide some glorious colours.
water buffalo have been reintroduced and love the lush environment
and several beavers also call the Hula wetlands their home.
Great shot Mark!
The re-flooding of the still expanding reserve also improves the quality of water in the Sea of Galilee by allowing time for the organic materials to sink, otherwise it would flow straightaway southward and pollute the Sea of Galilee.
Two "blinds" (lookouts) enable you to watch the birds and other animal life.

even if some of them are not so exotic!
The reserve has several paths, and a ‘floating bridge’ over the swampy areas which allows you to see so much and really feel a part of the wetlands.

Smile everyone.

All too soon we had to leave and find a place to eat lunch. General Muna found the spot and in no uncertain terms ordered us there!
And it turned out to be a lovely place on the side of the mountain with picnic tables and chairs.
Fresh home-made bread and a hearty meal was enjoyed by all - this table cloth has been in so many photos!
There is always some wild flowers in rural Israel,
even if they are only thistles.
After lunch we visited the Naot Shoe Factory - famous for their super comfy shoes, and for supplying the Israeli defense forces. James and Annette thought hard about the colour shoes they wanted (or were they contemplating their return to the USA after serving 3 years in the Holy Land?).
Carolina seems happy with her purchase, or is it that she is just always happy?
A costly but worthwhile factory visit as we all ended up with comfortable shoes, though soe where too bashful to show their purchaces.
Ahhhhh..... another great outing in this amazing countryside we love so much.

A time to catch up on people and places around Haifa

We start this post with something that is not seen often on Mt. Carmel in the middle of Haifa - a small tortoise; but they are far from rare, just shy. This little guy was captured with my cell phone camera while walking from the top of the Baha'i gardens on the way to work on a Friday morning. The Friday walk is nice once a month - up to a bakery in Markaz by bus to get some lovely grain bread (which we have for lunch) then walking down the terraced Baha'i gardens to work. Most of the bread in Israel is white, or rye with lots of pitta-style (Arabic) bread.

Back to my friend, the tortoise, the weed it was eating did not look too inviting to me and he scurried off at the sound of the camera --- but he made my day!
There are 19 terraced gardens cascading down the slope of Mount Carmel, with the Shrine of the Bab on the middle tenth terrace. Each terrace has its own beautiful garden radiating out from the centre and they are all connected through stairways and paths --- one of Haifa's most breath-taking sights.




Muna and I facilitate regular classes on various aspects of the Baha'i Faith - there is a wonderful culture of learning at the Baha'i World Centre, and whether young or older, every one participates and contributes.

Mike and Barbie Mundt organised a class in their flat which is right above ours - a real neighbourhood class!
Linda's class was another special one with wonderful participants
This shows a class with young people from many different countries, actually every class has many nations present.
Classes are generally held in flats or in conference rooms in the buildings on the Arc.
This photo shows some friends who serve in Akka. Munib was visiting at the time and joined us.
Sometimes the person organising the class does something special - apart from lovely food and a nice environment, like this class --- the organiser of this class invited only married couples!

This photo is taken in the Carribbean
and shows some of our former colleagues in Haifa who are now serving there. We miss them!

Other friends closer to home:
- Muna with Anne George and Ann Melville --- all looking gorgeous at Bahji during a Holy Day celebration. Also Carrie Allen and Badi Sudhakaran at the same event.
Harrison Foli from Ghana came to the Baha'i World Centre at the same time we did.
One dear friend from Alaska, Donna Detweiler (seen here with her fiance) has recently returned there.
Sally Weekes also left for the United States.
This quilt was made by the gifted Barbie Mundt and so generously given to us. It has lots of kangaroos on the back!
James and Annette True return to the United States in July, so we had a lovely dinner fare-well dinner for them with Carolina and Mark Baker, as well as Barbie and Mike Mundt.

Also visitng on pilgrimage were Mehrdad and Nahid Meshgin from Perth. We enjoyed a nice dinner with them at Maryam van den Bos's flat, along with some other staff members.
Sasha Stephens (former staff member) was also on pilgrimage recently - she used to help with gardening at the Ridvan Garden on Saturday mornings,
.....and the Higgins family from Japan - Shannon, Kayo and Emma.
Finally, this is a classic Israeli photo - the joke in Israel is that a Jewish family consists of mum, dad, two children and a dog. Even though everyone lives in flats - they all have dogs --- dogs as big as ponies, as well as smaller dogs of every sort. They travel (safely) on planes and on buses too.