As the winter arrives, over 40,000 cranes pass through the Hula valley each month, it is an opportunity to watch them and the wildlife by visiting the Hula Park. Here’s a day plan that starts with a sunrise wagon tour and ends with a steak and beer.
One of the unique experiences in the Galilee Finger
area during the winter is the Hula lake safari wagon tour. The wagon has
exclusive access to the birds’ sanctuary. It gets really close to the cranes as this
wagon is used to give them food to keep them away from the fields during
seeding. This allows the occupants of the cart an unobstructed view especially
close to the cranes and other wildlife.
The most spectacular and interesting tours are the sunset and sunrise tours. We joined the sunrise tour which is a particularly exciting experience. We got up before daylight and arrived at the Visitor Center in the darkness. We settled on the wagon and got binoculars. We entered the cranes' bedroom – in the shallow ponds before sunrise. Thousands of cranes and birds woke up at first light and croaked loudly. The particularly beautiful sunrise in red colors breaking on light clouds was a perfect view for observing the appearance of the birds above our heads. As the lake slowly emptied from the flocks of birds we moved on to watch them in the field along with the animals that awoke at sunrise.
The tour ends at the visitor center with tea and
cookies. Later in the day you can enjoy the exhibits of the visitor center and
the observation deck on the second floor of the ecological building. It has
developed greatly and is packed with multimedia exhibits. The sunrise wagon
tour is a unique experience that is worth the effort of waking up early. Don’t
forget to bring warm clothes. For those interested in an independent tour –
there are bikes and electric carts available for rent.
Hula lake, http://agamon-hula.co.il/, 04-6817137
Brewhouse Agamon
Agmon Market near the park is a good place to refresh after a trip. It has a variety of restaurants and cafes. We stopped here for a meal at Brewhouse, a particularly fine meat and beer restaurant that specializes in meats but has fish, vegetables and even a vegan burger. The spacious restaurant also features evening performances and entertainment.
We started the meal with a beer tasting tray, the beer of the brewery located in the Golan Heights – this allows you to taste the types of their Bazelet beer to know what to choose for the meal.
Among the dishes we tasted were bread with dips, truffle-scented mushroom polenta, roasted eggplant on tahini, and fish ceviche. We highly recommend the fine entrees including entrecote steak, fillet steak, beef burger, and fish fillet. All the dishes we ordered without exception were excellent, especially the mains where the meat is made precisely and perfectly with every bite. We finished with a chocolaty dessert. The prices are reasonable but note that it is not kosher.
Disclosure: the writer
was a guest of the local businesses mentioned in the article.
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