Saturday, November 3, 2007

Day one:The Valley of Caves

I started my trip early Monday's morning,I reached the VAlley of Caves(Wadi Elkouf) after 3 hours of slow driving.I met this small fellow apparently in a suicidal mood.It was cruising across the road and almost got ran over by at least 2 speeding cars before I took it away with a little advice:Roads are dangerous,little one..Besides,you are an endangered species...I reached the valley and i saw this nice,apparently very old tree with a hole across its trunk....I liked it.....

Next thing ,i decided to walk through some passages in the bottom of the valley.My goal was to reached the area b eneath Elkouf's Bridge..It was more difficult than i thought..and you will know why.. I walked through these trees,the deeper i went,the denser the bushes became..In a stage it felt like a jungle down there..This huge rock is more than 2.5 meters in height...It laid on the bottom of the valley with others which are even bigger..

Ok,after a 45 minutes walk,i reached this...SWAMP!!!!!! I couldn't find a way around it,the trees were very close together and the rocks on the either sides made it even worse...

I tried to go around,to climb up some smooth rocks ,or even to go under some thick branches,,but useless


I kept expecting a crocodile eyes to appear on the surface of the water,,the picture would be complete with a crocodile in it,don't you think?(Any way,in case you wandered,,these reptiles are not a habitant of Libyan wildness)

The ugly part started when -unaware of it-I got really close to the banks of the swamp..It was nasty,i slipped three times trying to get my self out..I fell on my back and face..I was quite helpless and I used the tree branches to get me out(Reminded me of some thing i reade about dinasaurs and how are the best reserved remnants were found near some tar swamp banks,,well,,i really wasn't interested in the idea of digging my skeleton out thousands of years later,so i got my self out)....The picture tells how did i look after getting out,But believe me,,it was worse than the picture,,my whole back and both of my hands were covered in MUD...

So I looked up with sorrow,this was the nearest i could get to the bridge from below....I climbed my way back,,thanking God that I didn't turn to a museum material for the future..

That was Day One of my trip to the east.....Hoping you like the simple pictures,which unfortunately don't reflect the real beuty of the area....

See you next time ,with more to come..

Regards

Benghazi Citizen

7 comments:

ibeebarbie said...

Salam Benghazi Citizen,
Whew! You survived the first day, slimmy mud and all---yippie! Well, I for one am glad you didn't become a museum display. Besides if it took 1,000 years to unearth you I would be around to see your display. :-)

Looking forward to more adventure photos and story.

Benghazi Citizen said...

believe me,i'm glad too....The idea of turning into a museum display is terrifying...brrrrrr....
lol....Thank u...
Regards

Anonymous said...

Hey our museum display
welcome back
MashaAllah you reminded me with my days there mom was afraid because it was empty place and she didn't leave us toget inside but I had fun and thats all what I wont

I think Its not a good idea to be alone Right ? I mean its so bored and risky .
I doesn't matter now
aha did you face the cannibalist tribes ? or the psychoserial killer ? Looks that you didn't
fe aman Allah

Anonymous said...

how did you find the fakrona ?
you know something I didn't find any fakrona ..did you take it ?
fe aman Allah

3abtash said...

mashallah nice pix. wat i would give to see em again. hope u had a good time. oh and the mud...libya is famous for it....good shoes go bad cause of it. heheh..
peace

dusk till dawn said...

salam
its realy nice to see ur having fun and doing the things u love,so amazing pics i do admire ur challenge, its beautiful place to be in.hope u did find ur destiny and to be adventurous , should i call u rambo in the jungle ,last summer we walked nearly 3okm none stop around yorkshire valleys ,it does makes the heart lose a beat,
so go on rocky up date more .gd luck

Benghazi Citizen said...

Maya:it can be done in 3 ways-->to go with a good friend and enjoy the natre(most of them are very busy or far far away),or to go in a big group as usual and lose the privacy and quitness u need,or to go by ur self,..As u see,the last option is the best for me,,and being in nature can never be boring for me...be sides,risks are part of the beuty...
I ofund the Fakrona crossing the street,so it was a lucky catch..and of course i didnt take it,,i left it where it belongs:the nature..Thank u very much Maya
3abtash:yes,pix are good,but the real thing was even much better..i did enjoy the beuty and the peace...about the mud,,i spent a good deal of time washing my sneakers,,that was really messy...Hope u will get the chance soon to make another visit..Thank u
dusk till dawn:Well,,,i wouldn't exactly felt like rambo,other wise u would hear of the psycho who kept shooting the locals with his machine gun,,right?ha ha..But seriously,it is beutiful,,and i do love doing it..i think hiking is my thing since i was a little boy,,i always enjoyed the walks and all that...Great u loved the pix,and great to know u enjoy the nature ur self....Be safe..Thabnk u