Your head is like Carmel

The Song of Songs, chapter 7, verse 6, crowns Carmel as the head of the mountains, the highest and the most beautiful of all. The year-round green mountain is the closest national park to us and a fascinating natural space for annual school trips, youth movements, preparatory schools and environmental programs for children.

The Nachshon Preparatory is rising to the north

It seems that the protracted war in the north of the country kept many travelers away from the Golan and Galilee region and in their place the Carmel Park became a tourist destination especially this year. For example, this week the trainees of the Nachshon Pre-Military Preparatory School went on a four-day 'Embracing Israel' journey during which they walked the paths of Carmel and we stayed in the regulated overnight parking lots on its territory.

The journey that started at the Oren HaSela parking lot, the southernmost parking lot of the park, passed through many points of interest such as the Muharka, Mezpoor Bar Yehuda, Mezpoor Tessa Ha'emek, Horvat Rakit and the burial caves, Yeshach Caves, Ein Alon and overnight at Beit HaShomer, Shivil Israel and Rakit parking lots.

Hadar Bargav, instructor in the preparatory school 'Nachshon' and Haifa:

As a graduate of the scout movement in the city, we walked a lot in the paths of the Carmel Park over the years, but to return to the trips of a childhood landscape with the high school students is especially exciting. I rediscovered how big Carmel is, and what a variety of landscapes it has to offer - exciting and challenging routes, water sources, walking among diverse vegetation and flowers and staying in beautiful parking lots. I recommend to every Haifai who is looking for a little ventilation to go look for his personal corner in the Carmel Park next to the house and maybe you will discover, like me, new places. I know that my corner is at every point where you see the mountain spurs intertwining, and a small opening of blue sea between them.

Maya Levit, an apprentice in the preparatory school and a resident of Bat Hefer:

During the last few days we did different routes in the Carmel mountains and walking the routes was amazing, the routes were challenging but every mountain we climbed was worth the spectacular view that unfolded before our eyes from the top and there is no doubt that at the end of the route there is always a feeling of satisfaction and success. Walking the tracks was shady and fun and walking them together with the preparatory group was a really formative and meaningful experience. We mostly enjoyed learning about the place and the animals that are there, and traveling together as a group.

I'm Carmeli

This week ended the eighth year of the 'I am Carmeli' program, an environmental leadership program of the Nature and Parks Authority. One hundred children, students of the 5th sects from elementary schools from four regional councils that surround Mount Carmel participated in the program - Carmel Castle, Carmel Beach, Dalit El Carmel and Usafia.

During ten meetings, the participants went on trips and engaged in activities aimed at strengthening their familiarity with Mount Carmel and turning them into ambassadors for nature conservation. The trips in the areas of the Carmel Park included Nahal Merat, Mishmar HaCarmel Farm, Ein Alon, Kherbat Karach and the Muharka and during them environmental skills such as building stone terraces, gathering medicinal plants, identifying animal tracks and getting to know the rich ecological space of the area were learned. The uniqueness of the program is the combination of the Jewish and Druze population and it is accompanied by Hebrew and Arabic speaking guides.

Maya Kadosh, responsible for content, education and training at the Nature and Parks Authority:

Many groups are traveling now because they didn't have enough of an annual trip due to the situation. The country has shrunk a bit and Carmel provides a good solution for travelers who cannot handle the north. We also travel in Carmel with youth evacuees from Kibbutz Dan and we went with them in the Pitholim parking lot near Beit Oren and this is in addition to the trips with veteran evacuees that we have been holding since the beginning of the war