Israel for the adventurous: great outdoors a treat for nature enthusiasts
More commonly associated with violent division, the Middle Eastern country nevertheless has plenty to offer the nature-loving visitor
A gazelle gazes at us across a patch of thistles. It’s a slightly built member of the antelope family, with a slender face and upright ears flanking two short horns. Nearby is another, with slightly longer horns; a male. The pair stroll from behind the thistles to graze on grass and white flowers, affording fine views of their mostly brown fur, slender legs and the white rumps that help signal danger as they bound away from predators.
It may seem unsurprising to come across these animals in a place called Gazelle Valley, but this reserve is in the Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem, surrounded by new residential blocks.
Mountain gazelles once ranged widely across northern Israel, but hunting and habitat destruction have led to them becoming globally endangered. The Pri Har Valley, to give it its official name, is their last habitat in Jerusalem, and in 2015 was opened as the country’s first urban nature reserve.
The valley provides a pleasant contrast to the crowded, narrow streets of old Jerusalem and the sometimes fatal tensions of a city claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
About 2km to the north is tranquil Sacher Park. From a small observatory on its fringes, we watch warblers, finches and other songbirds arrive to drink and bathe. A kingfisher with a white breast and turquoise wings perches on the branch of a small tree just metres away.