Tag Archives | cedars

Lebanon Nature Reserves Are Open For Free This Sunday

Minister of Environment Fadi Jreissati announced earlier this week that Lebanon’s nature reserves will be open for free to the public on Sunday March 10th for the occation of the National Day for Nature reserves.

Access to the nature reserves isn’t much anyway, as I recall paying around 5,000L.L when I went to Arz El Shouf few years ago, but the announcement comes as a reminder for us all to actually go and learn about the value of these reserve with all the biological diversity they encompass.

Here’s a list of the available nature reserves in Lebanon from Wikipedia and new other sources:

  • Ehden Forest
  • Nakheel Islands
  • Cedars of Tannourine Forest
  • Chnaneer
  • Arz Jaj
  • Bentael natural reserve.
  • Al Yammouna
  • Arz El Chouf
  • Tyre coast
  • Houjeir Valley
  • Karm Shobat
  • Nature reserves of Ramiyah, Kafra, Beit Leef and Dibil.

Photos via lebanontraveler.com

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2019 AFC Asian Cup Starts Today – Good Luck to Lebanon!

The AFC Asian Cup starts today in the United Arab Emirates, and football fans throughout Lebanon will be rooting for the national team to hopefully advance to the knockout stage!

Our first and only participation in the tournament dates back to the year 2000. Back then, we were automatically qualified since we were hosting the event, so this this counts as the first time we make it to the tournament with our own effort (bear in mind that the 2019 tournament was be expanded from 16 teams to 24 teams).

In Group E, Lebanon will be facing Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and North Korea, and our matches schedule will be as follows (all in our local time):

  • Lebanon Vs. Qatar – Wednesday January 9th at 6:00PM
  • Lebanon Vs. Saudi Arabia – Saturday January 12th at 6:00PM
  • Lebanon Vs. North Korea – Thursday January 17th at 6:00PM

You can of course watch the games on biIN Sports channels, and Télé Liban seems to have bought broadcasting rights but I have no idea for how many matches.

So until our first game against Qatar, here’s to Lebanon making good results and hopefully advancing to the next stages. Good luck to the Cedars!

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The Ultimate Guide to 2015 Summer Festivals in Lebanon

Snow-Patrol-at-Byblos-Festival-05

The good people at Lebtivity have the full program for nearly each and every festival going around the country this summer. So I thought it would be nice to compile them all in one post to help both tourists and locals better know about them and pick the concerts and events they would like to attend. Clicking on each event will lead you to its respective program on Lebtivity.com.

Byblos Festival

The International Festival has been held annually since 2003, in July. It takes place by the seaside in the historic quarter, in front of the castle built by Crusaders in the 12th century.

Baalbeck International Festival

The festivals date back to the mid 20th century with the first organizing activities being held in 1955. After one year, presiden Chamoun named it the Baalbeck International Festival, which became a governmental institution whose goal was to promote tourism and Lebanese culture.

Beiteddine Art Festival

The Beiteddine Festival was launched amidst war and destruction in the middle of the 80’s. It came as an act of faith in Lebanon’s cultural specificity and its power of creativity and artistic freedom. It was a call for normality in the middle of the chaos and madness of the civil war. The festival takes place in the large 200-year old Beiteddine Palace.

Jounieh International Festival

Jounieh International Festival was launched in 2011 is now famous for the opening ceremony marked by the synchronized fireworks show along the bay of Jounieh. The festival takes place at Fouad Chehab stadium.

Zouk International Festival

Zouk International Festival was launched in 2010 and attracts guests from all over the country and abroad. Zouk Mikael is 10 minutes away from Beirut, perched on a hill of Kesrouwan overlooking the Mediterranean. Its roman styled amphitheatre with a capacity of 2500, built for major events, hosts the festival.

Batroun International Festival

The festival had a shy and amateur debut in the early 90’s until it acquired international standards and earned its place among international cultural festivals. In 2009, the Batroun International Festival was born and started hosting leading local and international artist from all over the world.

Ehdeniyat – Ehden International Festival

Ehdeniyat, which started in 2004, flourished from a local and national event to an International festival of Music and Art. But above all this, Ehdeniyat became an experience of glamour, culture and tradition; “An Experience that Never Ends”.

Beirut Holidays

Beirut Holidays is a series of concerts and shows in the heart of Beirut Souks. Launched in 2012, the festival brings together diverse musical performances and talents, local artists and international performers, from East and West mixing varying genres and tastes.

Cedars International Festival

After almost half a century, the Cedars International Festival will return this summer to Bsharri. The northern town will host several of Lebanon’s top artists as part of an effort to revive tourism in the district. The four-night festival will feature a wide range of musical and artistic performances.

Dbayeh Festival

An enchanting event taking place in Dbayeh this summer. An initiative by Tajammo Ahel Al Mahabba for the fifth consecutive year to raise the voice of hope and peace in Lebanon.

Moreover, the below smaller festivals will also be happening.

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Lebanon snow scenes

The Daily Star posted some very nice photos showing the aftermath of the recent snowstorm across many villages in Lebanon. Make sure you check them out here and here.


Baalbeck


Sawfar


Jabal El-Sheikh

All these white scenes make you crave lunch by the chimney at one of the restaurants in the mountains. Montagnou? Erzel? Any recommendations?

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Get ready Lebanese skiers

Below is a comparison of how the Jonction domain at Faraya looked like on the same day (January 13th) over three years. With the current storm we’re witnessing, and another one coming on Sunday, this season seems quite promising for both skiers and ski resorts! If only the price of lift passes can be decreased though…

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Shouf Cedar Reserve

I’ve always heard people talking about the Shouf cedar reserve, but I never knew it was really that nice until I visited it last weekend thanks to a couple of friends.

We were originally planning a visit to Maaser El-Shouf village but then got tempted to continue further to the cedar reserve, the largest nature reserve in Lebanon containing 25% of the country’s cedars, and to our luck there was some festival ongoing in Maaser and shuttle service to and from the reserve was offered for free.

Entrance tickets are at 5,000L.L, and once you’re inside you’ll get to choose among 3 hiking paths with different lengths and each showing you different parts of the reserve. We chose the shortest one, a 1.2Km walk that took around 25-30 minutes to complete with awesome views and feel. Definitely worth a visit especially if you’re showing some tourists around the country.

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