40,000 visit country’s parks after stormy weather
01/13/2013 01:15
About 40,000 people visited Israel's nature reserves and parks on Shabbat; Golan slopes deluged with first visitors of year.
Tapline reservoir at Snir Nature Park Photo: Doron Nissim/INPA
After a week of stormy weather hammered Israel’s homes, roads and recreation
sites, about 40,000 people visited the country’s nature reserves and national
parks on Shabbat, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said.
About half
of these travelers frequented national parks requiring payment, and about half
arrived at open nature reserves.
Most popular were the rivers of the
Golan Heights and other northern areas, with about 3,000 people at the Banias,
about 1,000 visiting Gamla Nature Reserve, and hundreds going to the Nahal Snir
and Nahal Amud.
In the South, some favorites included Masada, Beit Guvrin
and Ashkelon national parks. Park rangers assisted the tourists throughout their
visits and made sure they made their way through the parks safely following the
week’s storm, the INPA added.
The Hermon ski site opened up on Saturday
and the Golan was deluged with visitors heading to the ski slopes for the first
time this year.