24 July 10, 2015 Travel www.thearabweekly.com

Lebanon’s , Agenda

Jounieh, : a natural wonder Through July 15th Set near a panoramic bay north of , the waiting to be International Festival is head- lined by French rocker Johnny Hallyday, stand-up comedian Djemal Debbouze and ’s discovered The Voice finalists and semi- finalists.

Jerusalem, Palestinian Khaled Abdel Malek can, Reverend William Thomson, territories: who ventured some 50 metres into July 9th-19th the , stopping at the edge of the Beirut water. The 31st Film Festi- Some 40 years later, American val presents a rich programme t was like a firework of hap- W.J. Maxwell, ventured deeper into of international movie screen- piness and joy… We fell the cave, following the river stream ing features, shorts, anima- “ into each other’s arms and about 1,060 metres into the moun- tions and documentaries, in started jumping like kids.” tain. addition to conferences, work- With these words, 85-year- Many other expeditions were un- shops, symposiums, film labs, old ILebanese cave explorer Sami dertaken by Americans, British and tribute evenings and sessions Karkabi recalled the reaction of his French cavers, in addition to Leba- with filmmakers and actors team when they first saw the upper nese explorers, including Karkabi, such as Claudio Santamaria gallery of Lebanon’s in who ventured as far as 6,200 metres and Dietrich Brüggemann. the 1950s. into the lower gallery, which is com- “It is the most beautiful show monly referred to as the “water gal- cave in the world. It is a wonder,” lery”. Beirut, Lebanon: said Karkabi, a co-founder of the Karkabi recalled how he pushed July 10th-13th Spéléo Club du Liban (SCL). Estab- further the exploration of the “wa- lished in 1951, SCL is the oldest cav- ter gallery” after fellow cavers, Li- Notre Dame de , the origi- ing club in the . onel Ghorra and Albert Anavy, were nal French musical, is staged Karkabi was driven by curiosity discouraged by a cliff at 2,800 me- ( Photo: Khaled Abdel Malek) with a fresh all-star cast. when he decided to climb a 10-me- tres deep. Giant in the room of “the Dome” at 2,800 metres deep The 2015 world tour started tre-high cornice in the cave, which “In 1946 Ghorra and Anavy into the lower gallery, an area not accessible to the public. in and has a series of led to the discovery of the upper reached a spectacular room which performances in Beirut before gallery in 1958. they baptised as the ‘Dome Room’ moving to and North “We used a telescopic mast to but they hit a cliff, which they es- “It took us many days to do the though they have all the facilities America. reach that ledge and then the mar- timated to be probably 40 metres mapping of the cavern. It happened and advanced technology,” he said. vellous foundations of high and thought it was off the limit that in one instance, we had to stay Joey Abou Jawdeh, a young ar- and started of human capacities,” he said. underground for more than one chitect and member of the club, ac- , : unfolding in front of our eyes. It “Pushed by my curiosity, I im- week in a row without seeing day- knowledged SCL’s decreasing activ- July 10th- August 16th took us two days to complete the ported a special telescopic mast light,” he said, boasting that they ities, pointing out that the club has visit of the whole upper gallery,” from France and managed with “never had a single accident”. 60 members but only 20 are active. Sousse, located on Tunisia’s Karkabi said. my team to climb that obstacle, SCL was entrusted to transform Nonetheless, Abou Jawdeh said, Gulf of Hammamet, celebrates Jeita Grotto, a landmark which turned out to be only 12 me- Jeita into a . The work, the club is credited for the discovery peace through music. The in Lebanon, was a candidate in 2011 tres high,” Karkabi said. His exploit involving the construction of al- of several and 60 new sink- 57th International Festival of to become one of the seven natural opened the way for cavers to pro- leyways and bridges in the upper holes with depths of 15-60 metres Sousse, over 26 days hosts art- . From a list of gress into the grotto and reach the gallery, started in 1967 under the in the area of Jaij in . ists such as Pascale Mechaala- 440 sites in 220 countries, the Leba- “terminal ” at 6,200 metres supervision of artist and sculptor “In Lebanon, we have more than ni, Saber Rebai, Idir and Omar nese wonder reached the final stage from the entrance in 1954. architect Ghassan Klink. The grotto 700 caves and sink holes listed, Faruk to mark the diversity of with 13 other contenders but wasn’t Karkabi recalls the risks and dif- was opened to the public in 1969. many of which are unexplored,” he Tunisia’s culture and history. selected for the list. ficulties cavers faced at the time, “To protect the calcite formations said. in Lebanon has become Signs of the existence of the “Our equipment was rudimentary, from dust during the work we had a popular sport in the last decade. grotto, which has two galleries, in- as we had no wetsuits to protect to cover them with plastic sheath- Trips into caves range from simple , Tunisia: cluding a lower one that follows us from the cold and we were us- ing,” Karkabi said. “Stalactites, touristic activities to complicated August 2nd-16th the course of an underground river, ing candles for the light, instead of stalagmites and other marvellous extreme sports. were reported in 1836 by an Ameri- headlights,” he said. shapes take thousands of years to Tunisia celebrates the an- develop and grow; breaking one or Touristic caves niversary of the creation polluting it could lead to its death.” of Carthage (814 BC). The For Karkabi the showcasing of Jei- such as Jeita and programme includes plays, ta is unfinished. Visitors have access Qadisha are a walk shows, lectures about the to only 200 metres of the more than through beautiful history of Carthage. Visitors 6-kilometre-deep “water gallery”. will be allowed to experience “It’s a shame not to share more scenery some aspects of the ancient from this extraordinary artwork Carthaginian citizens daily life of nature with the public,” he said, Touristic caves such as Jeita and and taste Carthaginian wine, noting that “visitors should be able Qadisha are a walk through beauti- olive oil and bread. to reach 2,000 metres had the work ful scenery. But adventure lovers, been done by the government”. who are driven by the exhilaration Lebanon is widely known for its of facing the unknown, can venture , : richness in caves, which are usu- with SCL teams into caves that are July 27th-August 8th ally caused by the wide coverage not equipped for touristic purposes of carbonate rocks of the country’s but are sites for eco-tourism. Those The Al Balad Music Festival surface area, fracturing and fault- sites include Roueiss, Nabaa music carnival allows visitors ing due to tectonic activities and and Mgharet Nabaa el Mghara in the to immerse in Jordan’s exten- the high rate of . Rain- northern part of Mount Lebanon. sive cultural heritage. Con- water attacks carbonate rock, dis- Definitely, Lebanon has many temporary bands, soloists and solving it along fractures and faults, wonders in its belly waiting to be performers are to perform in forming caves. discovered. the ancient Roman Odeon in Karkabi says he is disappointed Amman. with the “lack of enthusiasm” of Khaled Abdel Malek is a Lebanese new SCL members in discovering explorer and mountain climber, new places. “They are not active living in , and a regular Marrakech, : enough to make things evolve even contributor for The Arab Weekly. September 11th-13th

The Oasis Music Festival, a new event, celebrates electronic music. The festival takes place in the Moroccan desert and features international elec- tronic musicians Axel Boman, Danny Daze, Martin Roth and others.

We welcome submissions of calendar items related to cultural events of interest to travellers in the Middle East and North .

Please send tips to: Rock formations and underground river of the lower cave at Jeita Visitors on a boat take a ride past huge drapery rock formation on [email protected] Grotto cave complex. the underground river at Jeita Grotto cave complex.