Abuk-ammash: from here one takes the boat to Farwa, visible along
the horizon.
The name Farwa is often written in various forms, including Farwah,
Ferwa, Ferwah and Ferwet. Farwah is uninhabited, small peninsula,
situated about two miles off the coast of Abu-kemmash, and about
40 km to the west of
Zwara
The 470-hectare Farwah is a
long and narrow
stretch of sand hills and dunes, covered with about 4000 palm trees,
overlooking the sea on both sides.
At its widest point, Farwah is only 1.1 km wide, and in some places is
only a few hundred yards wide.
The peninsula can be accessed on foot from the mainland during the summer
(see next photo); but in the winter water floods the land bridge and
the peninsula become an island, completely surrounded by water.
Farwah.
This photo shows the closest point of the island of Farwah to the coast
of Libya. The sand in the front is Libya, and the one across the water
is Farwah. This point is called in Berber "imi n elwad", meaning
the 'mouth of the valley' or 'the gate of the valley', from the water
currents running across this point. During the summer, the water is
about 2 foot deep in the morning, but in the evening the tides bring
in more water to cover all the sand in the front of the photo, where
the water level can reach up to
one meter high.
Turning left at this point, before crossing over to the island, and following
the bend, one can find shallower points to cross over. During the winter the level of the water becomes much higher and one needs to
swim over against the side currents. There was an attempt in the past
to fill this point with sand and rubble, but then fish and wildlife
in the lagoon between the island and the coast began to die and fishing
in the area suffered as a result. Of course, things were quickly put
back as they were and nature continued its course of circulating water
around the island. You would think that a small natural bridge made
of palm trunks would blend perfectly with the surroundings and also would
do the job without stopping the water flow!
A view of the beach.
Farwah is the only peninsula in
Libya and one of the must-see sites in the Jamahiriya. If you value
your privacy and love fresh air, then Farwah could be a life-time
opportunity to enjoy the exotic atmosphere of the unspoiled
Mediterranean paradise, before
the planned building of a tourist resort change the
island for ever.
Farwah looking west: as you go farther west the island gets slightly
wider.
Farwah.
Farwah looking east: the island gets narrower as you go east, towards
the point where it meets the mainland near the factory
of Abu-kammash.
The big building is an old Italian building, dating back to the
second war. This building together with the nearby huts and
a new lighthouse building of the Department of Marine Aviation & Ports
(the roof from which this photo was taken: see next photo) are
the only buildings in the whole island.
Kazirmet
The new lighthouse building of the department of marine aviation
and ports.
Farwah Tourist Resort
However, according to the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation
(www.ljbc.net), a tourist resort will be built on the island. The
Farwa resort will be built with a partnership between al-Niqat al
Khams municipality (An Nuqat Al Khams), Farwa for Tourism, and the
Italian Norman investment group. The 44-month project, costing about
$268 million, will be implemented on an area of 470 hectares, and
in order to keep the island as a natural reserve, part of the resort
will be built on the island and the other part on the Libyan coast.
The resort will include six big hotels (two 5-star and four 4-star),
in addition to an oasis of 70 tents equipped with modern services,
floating tents, golf course, two Yacht platforms, and other essential
services.
Farwah Sand Beach.
Ferwa in danger of disappearance
جزيرة فروة .. معلم طبيعي يواجه خطر الاختفاء
