2022-06-04 Aammiq Marshlands And Hills Loop

This trail was planned for March but the personnel of the reserve prevented us from walking inside the reserve due to high water level in the marshes due to an exceptional heavy water fall this year.

The trail started from the Tawlet Aammiq restaurant and went up hill to reach two spring water wells then down hill passing by Sit Shaawani Shrine (a Druze religious shrine where the faithful make pilgrimage on weekends) and on to the entrance of the Aammiq reserve. We paid the entrance fee (L.L. 30,000.00 per person) and the adventure started. The trail inside the reserve is flat and easy to navigate (short of a small muddy sections; the caretakers placed pallets to walk over) among a rich variety of nature sounds and images. Many species were spotted of animals (buzzards, ducks, frogs, etc.) - It is worth noting that the marshlands are owned by the Skaf family (a political family from the town of Zahle). The reserve is about XXX km. After the reserve, the trail made its way to the decaying Skaf stables (a natural stone double-wall mega structure) walking on dirt roads until we made it to the highway right at the entrance of Aammiq town where we walked around 2 km on pavement to reach the end of the trail.
A trail rich of scenery and a variety of fauna and plains planted with summer veggie crops (potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, etc.). This is a trail (at least the reserve part) is easy and doable by small and big; I recommend it for everyone. The only thing I would caution about is the heat; bring lots of water and a hat.