The Mountains

One of the mountain villages that we used to visit was called Murdash. It was situated on the eastern slope of the An-Nusayriyah mountains. Fawaz's friend Chehardy lived there with his very attractive wife and three beautiful daughters in a modest two roomed cement home. He was a teacher of economics at Skelbieh high school and had been Fawaz's friend for many years. Fawaz used to boast that his friend always ate a knob of garlic every day with his main meal and had never had a sick day in his life.
His home was the last building on the dirt road and across the steep rocky outcrops that bordered his property lived wild boars, mountain goats and hidden deep into the mountains away from the hunters were the elusive hyenas.
One day when Azzam was about eight years old he came running home all excited because he had seen a hyena in a cage at the bus depot and the men who had caught the frightened animal were displaying it to all who were interested. I don't know the authenticity of the following story but it made me aware of the dangers of walking alone in the mountains in Syria.
Apparently a doctor and his wife and children were driving across the An-Nusayriyah mountains to the seaside city of Lattakia and it was getting on dusk when he pulled over to the side of the road and ventured into the forest to find a hidden section to relieve himself of his bodily wastes when a hyena attacked and killed him. Maybe that story was an urban myth but I wasn't going to take any chances.
Hyenas were rare but could still be found in the mountains and there were reports that they had even been seen in the Gharb. I heard a story from a relative who lived in the village of Sloanfee which was located on one of the highest peaks of the mountain range, that a tiger had been spotted there on more than one occassion.
Fawaz's family did not eat pork but a few of the Christian Skelbieh folk enjoyed hunting in the mountain for wild boar during the spring and summer months.
There were dangerous and venomous snakes in Syria which included the Egyptian cobra which was yellowish, dark brown, or black with brown crossbands. There was also the Levant viper which was
grey to pale brown with large dark brown spots on the top of the back and the Palestinian viper that was olive to rusty brown with a dark V-shaped mark on the head and a brown, zigzag band along the back.

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