An adventurous hike for nature lovers starts from the Wadi Qelt riverbed at Ain Fawwar, the Fawwar Springs to Ain Al Qelt, the Qelt Springs.
Walking through Wadi Qelt, you will enjoy the silence of nature, the beauty of its flora and fauna. The hike will take you through the valley, which will require climbing and scrambling in order to reach the springs. During the rainy season, rain water is collected from the Jerusalem hills thus filling the springs. Their water flows down to Jericho. A unique element of the Ain Fawwar spring is that during the day, its water empties naturally, and then refills again in the same day. In Arabic, fawwar means “coming out of the ground”. The rain water slowly seeps through the limestone in the ground, saturating and filling a karstic cave below. When the cave reaches its maximum capacity, the water flows into the pool. The pool slowly empties out, and the refilling process slowly begins again.
Walkers will be impressed not only by the natural springs, but by the aqueduct ruins, which have been dated back to the Hasmonean period. The aqueducts were used in later times during the Herodian, Roman, Omayyad and Ottoman periods.
After a refreshing time at Ain Fawwar, you once again descend back into the gorge of Wadi Qelt, arriving at the pools and waterfalls of Ain Qelt where you can enjoy a swim.
To experience this unique hike which includes natural phenomenon and history combined, register for the Siraj Center and Masar Ibrahim al Khalil hike from Ain Fawwar to Ain Qelt, on Saturday, May 7th, 2016.
