The White Canyon in Nahal Sagi
Ten days (April 2023) after extremely strong and fatal flashfloods in southern Negev we decided to go to see the White Canyon that had filled up with water. This destination needs a 4X4 drive through the Nature Reserve of The Big Nahalim (Nehalim Gdolim Nature Reserve). From road 40 to the White Canyon is probably the longest off- road drive in Israel about 45 km in each direction.
But first we have to get to Shitim, so we started early in the morning driving south, there was still water in low places as well as cars destroyed by flashflood still visible along the road.
Driving south the lonely tree of road 40 at Nahal Zihor
Along road 40 there is still water in low places
Devastated car on the side of the road 40 after the flashflood ten days ago
A few years back we drove to the White Canyon through Nahal Zihor so this time we took a different way, Nahal Zenifim and Zenifim Ascent.
The path in Nahal Zenifim is in the riverbed which is wide and not very difficult, the road signs were not always easy to find as they had been swept away by the flash flooding; we do stay on the trail to prevent damaging nature outside of the designated paths. The wadi had a surprising number of acacia trees, many living but also quite many dead standing as a skeleton.
Researching the internet on acacia trees or in Hebrew shitot, I found several interesting things. The acacia has their name from Greek and means thorn because the acacia trees have thorns to prevent animals and birds from eating the leaves. In a survey from southern Israel, the Arava in 2011-12 they estimated there were more than 65,000 trees. The Negev is the most northern site for this tree to occur naturally. It is an iconic tree of the Negev Desert often it stands alone inside the wadi, never too close together because then they have to fight for the scarce water to survive.
Having picnic lunch under a nice shita is a must on all tours in the desert
The sand under the shita is still wet, ten days after the flooding
The Acacia trees have very deep roots even up to 35 meter deep and also roots that grow laterally. One estimated is that in Israel the biggest acacia trees in the Negev are up to 200 years old. But the Negev is a harsh place to grow, so when rains fail to come, many trees die. A dead tree may stand as a skeleton for 10-15 years before it will collapse in a storm or a strong flashflood. They are considered slow-growing and long-living trees.
The acacia tree has a key place in the desert ecology, and crucial in maintaining the desert an environment for animals, birds and insects, each tree is like an oasis or a universe of its own. In the shade it is cooler therefore water and dew evaporate slower than in the hot sun, animals and birds eat the seeds; the birds get a place to nest.
The small leaves prevent too much loss of water but still able to perform photosynthesis which interestingly occurs on the side away from the sun. The acacia tree may grow when temperatures are above 40’C in contrast to other vegetation and trees. It was discovered that in the Arava a very high percentage of the shitot have seed infestation by a beetle that destroy the seeds.
The name acacia was given to these trees already in 1754 by Philip Miller, but in the last century or so this very big group of plants was felt to be too ‘ill defined and an unnatural assemblage of plants”. Since the beginning of this century academics and specialists in fauna sat down and it was decided and ratified in the Melbourne Botanical Congress in 2011 to divide the group differently, so our Negev acacia trees are not acacias anymore but VACHELLIA, well in Hebrew it is still SHITOT, which is easier to pronounce than the name experts have approved; the basis for this change is based on the morphological characteristics, some of which include pollen, leaf structure, color of the flower and other things I have no idea what is, as a lay-woman who never studied this. I found it interesting however looking at recent scientific studies from the last five years the Israeli scientists studying shitot, disregard the new name and still call them acacia trees rather than Vachellia. Maybe I will just call them shitot.
There is not a lot of information about Nehalim Gdolim Nature Reserve except an article from 1982 by Tomer Cahana in Teva & Erez. The nature reserve was established in 1986 much smaller than the Natural Parks and Nature Reserve Authority wanted due to the needs of IDF, meaning that during the week there is no entrance for tourists due to army training, and as is evident from the ruins of various objects on the ground. Travelers and tourists are allowed in only during weekends and holidays; we were there on Shabat :
The Zenifim Ascent was quite challenging, but we made it on the third attempt; reaching the top the clutch was warm and smelly and needed a break.
While our jeep cooled down, we enjoyed the view from mountain Zenifim and the Nahal we had just crossed:
We considered ourselves very lucky seeing more than 30 jeeps driving away from the area around the White Canyon leaving us more place there:
Arriving at the White Canyon there were still quite many people considering how far away it is. It looked the Riviera in the middle of the desert, everybody enjoyed swimming, paddling, having a good time in the water. It is a very beautiful site. In spite of a lot of people it was very clean, no garbage or left overs, good people were there.
The white Canyon is so white in the sun it almost makes you blind. I have not been able to find anything about the geology of the area, it is white as chalk but hard as limestone.
To me it is seems obvious that water, wind and a lot of time have eroded the canyon which is about 150 meter long and 5 - 6 meters deep; with water colored green.
It is truly a magical place and very surprising.
As always when we tour the Negev the Lighthouse is visible and an eyesore; the whole trip out and back home took us 12 hours.
How ugly is that? it can be seen from far away every where in the Negev.
Commentaires