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One of the many coves in the Dor-Habonim Nature Reserve. (Efrat Nakash)
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Fishing boats in the village of Jisr a-Zarka. (Efrat Nakash)
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| By Yaacov Shkolnik November 26, 2002 |
| Abridged version reprinted with permission from Eretz Magazine. |
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A hike along the seashore from Dor-Habonim Beach to Caesarea.
The drive seemed to take an eternity. We had parked one car at the end point of our hike in Caesarea and were returning to the starting point at Dor-Habonim Beach. The qualms that had begun to gnaw at me beside Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael turned into complete disbelief by the time we reached Fureidis: "We have to walk back this whole way?" Israel Trails Committee coordinator Dany Gaspar took his eyes off the road for a second just to show me the scorn on his face: "You're going to do it like a big boy."
We turned off on the access road to Moshav Habonim, took the bridge over the Haifa-Tel Aviv highway, drove a few meters left, and turned right on the dirt road to the beach. We silently passed the memorial to the Petah Tikva high school pupils whose bus was hit by a train. At a makeshift gate, we were asked to pay a parking fee of NIS 20. After getting past this obstacle, we pulled into the large parking lot, beside a long concrete wall.
Beside the wall is a box containing free leaflets from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) introducing visitors to the reserve. This service is commendable, but we could not say the same for the half-meter-high wall, which clashes with the landscape.
INPA biologists have proven that the vegetation cover is recovering well and the tracks are vanishing. But in general, our beaches are in terrible condition. It's gotten to the point where people are ready to pay money just so they can spend a little time on the beach without being disturbed every minute by a jeep.
A trail marked in red leads up from the parking lot to the top of the ridge. North of us stretched the reserve's northern cove. "Hikers can camp out in that cove," Eldad Peled, INPA ranger for the Carmel coast told us. "but only if it conforms to the spirit of the reserve. If you make a campfire and sing quietly to the sound of a guitar, I have no problem with that. If you plan a trance party, with all due respect, you should find somewhere else to go."
Dor-Habonim Beach is, in fact, perhaps the most beautiful beach in Israel. In summer, Peled has to deal with people who insist on camping out in these coves, even though it is prohibited. "It's no picnic trying to evict someone who has already settled in with his camping gear," he says. "Sometimes people get violent."
And then there are the people who fish from the marine platforms, sections of the sandstone ridge that have been flattened by the constant beating of the waves. These platforms sustain a unique natural world. The bread and other bait used by the fishermen ends up in the cavities of the rock, upsetting the fragile habitat. "We don't want to ban fishing altogether," says Peled, "but we are studying the matter. We won't permit fishing from the sensitive marine platforms."
It was May, and the scallop-leaved sea lavender was in bloom. The headed thyme would bloom in summer. In the southern part of the reserve, where the red trail leads away from the shore and a green trail branches off from it, we found 'The Hill of Blossoms', named for the many tulips that bloom there in March.
The green trail returns to the parking lot, the end of the short route. We stayed on the red trail, and came to Love Bay, a 'no-man's-land' between the nature reserve and Tel Dor National Park. The Children of Israel can pitch their tents here to their hearts' content and they do so all summer. The powers that be should wake up and link the reserve with the tell.
Tel Dor
Tel Dor, we regret to report, is not developed for tourism. One of the most important cities in the ancient Land of Israel, situated in a lovely part of the coast, rates better treatment.
The town apparently dates back to the Middle Canaanite period (eighteenth century BCE). Excavations were first conducted there in 1923-24, by a British expedition led by Prof. John Garstang (founding director of the Department of Antiquities in British Mandate Palestine). In 1950, parts of a Roman theater were exposed, and since the 1980s, an expedition from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, led by Prof. Ephraim Stern, has been working there.
In Hellenistic and Roman sources, Dor is said to be located between the tip of the Carmel and Caesarea; Roman geographer Eusebius places it 9 miles north of Caesarea. To make matters even more certain, excavators at the site have uncovered a lead weight from the Hellenistic period inscribed with the name Dor.
North of the tell, south of Love Bay, are the ruins of a seaside Roman theater. On the edge of the bay are walls that are the remains of warehouses and a dock.
On the southwestern side of the tell is its main cove, which was used as an anchorage. South of the cove are the remains of a temple from the Hellenistic period. apparently the famous temple of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Dor's streets were built in this period; only a few have been excavated.
South of the temple rises the acropolis, containing remains of a Crusader citadel; it affords a clear view of Dor's southern cove, which features remains of a port from the Late Canaanite period. Parts of Dor's massive fortifications have been uncovered, and the remains of a Byzantine church have been found east of the town.
"There is no place in the world like Dor," says Kurt Raveh, director of the Aqua Dora Diving Club. "At a depth of 3 meters, you can find a fleet of ships from every period. In Dor Bay and its surrounding area, seventeen boats have been discovered so far, from periods ranging from the Canaanite era to the twentieth century. In ancient times, boats entered Dor's harbor from the south, via an opening in the marine platform. They attempted to move northward, the water in the port flowed southward, and the boats crashed into the shoals and sank."
A ton and a half of old coins have been found on Tantura Beach, as well as many pottery vessels. Cannons and other weapons have also turned up here, some of the gear of 12,000 French soldiers who lightened their load during Napoleon's retreat from Acre. "The ancient cargoes were well preserved, since they lay buried in the sand with no oxygen," explains Raveh. "We found shells from Napoleon's time containing gunpowder that was still volatile."
On the Way to Caesarea
South of Dor, the ridge and deep coves are gone. There are no trail markings, but you can't get lost. Simply walk southward along the beach, between the sea and the fishponds.
Nahal Taninim's outlet into the sea seemed romantic in the sunset. We waded across the riverbed, whose water was knee-deep. (Don't cross the riverbed before the month of May. The current can be lethal.) The Ottoman Turks built an arched bridge here for German emperor Wilhelm II, who passed through in 1898 on his way from Haifa to Jerusalem. Its remains are clearly visible.
South of the riverbed, on Tel Taninim, we came upon the Israel Trail, which leads down to that point from the Carmel Range and continues southward to Caesarea. This is the only place in the country where the Israel Trail runs near the seacoast. Tel Taninim contains the remains of Krokodeilon Polis (City of Crocodiles), which flourished in Roman and Byzantine times. In the Crusader period, the town was known as Turris Salinarum (Saltworks Tower), perhaps because salt was produced in the area. We ended our hike with a stroll along the 3 remaining kilometers. The trail continues parallel to the Roman aqueducts along the beach. The sea was already swallowing up the sun, and shrubs of evening primrose were lighting their large yellow flowers. A pleasant summer evening was descending on the Caesarea beach.
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