Can ha’Em (Mother’s Park) has a delightful municipal zoo (tel. 37 70 19 or 37 28 ag) It’s not exactly an African game reserve, but even a work-wearied zoologist may he surprised at some of the beasts indigenous to this small country. (Open Sun.-Thiirs- 8am-6pm, Fri. 8am-lpm, Sat. 9am-6pm; Sept.-June Sun.-Thurs. 8am-4pm, Fri. gam-lpm, Sat. 9am-4pm;. Admission NIS17, students NIS 13.) Within the zoo are also three museums that provide another perspective on the flora and fauna of northern Israel: the Natural History Museum, the Biological Museum, and the M. Stekelis Museum of Prehistory, which houses archeological finds and dioramas of the prehistoric life of the area, tracing remains found in caves on the western slopes of Mt. Carmel. (All open Sun.-Thurs. 8am-3pm, Fri. 8am-lpm, Sat. 10am-2pm. Admission to zOo includes museums.)

For a brush with nature in the middle of the city, take the SPNI nature trail that begins in Gan ha’Em to the right of the shell-shaped stage. Follow the blue signs into the brush; the path will lead you around the zoo and through tangled greenery into a wadi. The trail is 2km long (about lhr. walking) and ends in the lower Carmel. (Take bus #3 or 5 to get back uptown). Walk down the beautiful, pine-sliaded, quiet side streets off the Carmel Center (try HaYam Rd. and the area just south of it, behind the Haifa Auditorium) for a glimpse at Haifa’s appeal as a residential town.