fish travel up waterfall

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What happens to fish when they go over waterfalls?

Freefall into water is generally not a problem for a light, streamlined fish, but it all depends on the type and scale of the waterfall.

Vandana Gupta

Asked by: Toby Ellis, by email

It depends on the waterfall. Fish bodies are streamlined and relatively light so a long fall into water isn’t usually a problem. Niagara River expert, Wes Hill, estimates that 90 per cent of fish survive the drop over Niagara Falls. But a waterfall that cascades over rocks, such as Yosemite Falls, will be fatal to all but the smallest fish.

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Clemson News

What waterfall climbing fish tell us about adaptation, survival and suction cups

Nature is a demanding place to live.

For species to survive, animals must secure food, avoid being eaten themselves and withstand physical and physiological pressures from their environment to live long enough to reproduce.

A group of Clemson University biologists has been studying the biomechanics of waterfall-climbing goby fishes inhabiting oceanic islands as part of an effort to understand how organisms evolve and adapt to survive.

Their research could help humans develop better suction cups.

Learning from nature

“It really comes full circle,” said Rick Blob, alumni professor in the Clemson Department of Biological Sciences, whose lab has been studying the waterfall climbing fish for more than 20 years. “We’re learning from nature and gaining insights about how nature works and how we can help nature persist. But, at the same time, nature is teaching us things we might want to do to help ourselves.”

There are more than 1,000 species of goby fishes. Most live their lives in the ocean, but some are amphidromous and live part of their lives in the freshwater streams of circumtropical oceanic islands.

Those adults live and spawn in freshwater. Upon hatching, larvae are swept downstream to nearshore or ocean habitats. The juveniles live and grow there for up to 10 months before returning to freshwater and breeding habitats further upstream, where they can live and breed for several years.

The journey exposes the gobies, which are usually less than four inches long when fully grown, to various challenges, from evading predators to climbing large waterfalls that are hundreds of meters tall.

“A rough comparison would be a human running a marathon uphill with someone blasting a fire hose at them,” Blob said.

Biomechanics

The researchers use biomechanics to understand how animals perform tasks that are important for their survival. Those tasks are often at odds with each other. In amphidromous gobies, the functions of predator escape and climbing can impose conflicting demands. 

“Being really good at one of those jobs might make you bad at the other one, and that might ultimately lead to failure or extinction if you’re too overly specialized,” Blob said. “One theme of our work is what can we observe in these species that lets us understand how they’ve managed to deal with both of these important jobs.”

Another theme of the lab’s research is how a novel ability emerges in a group of organisms.

Climbing waterfalls is a relatively new skill. Amphidromous gobies have two styles of climbing. 

Power burst climbers use a suction cup on their bellies to wildly move up the rock quickly and then rest. Inching climbers have the belly suction cup, too, but they also use their mouth to form another suction cup to move slowly and steadily up the rock, said Amanda Palecek, a Ph.D. student in Blob’s lab and a co-author of a paper in a recent special issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology that reviewed and synthesized the Blob lab’s two decades of waterfall-climbing goby fish research.

More than one way

“One of the things our research has shown is that there’s actually more than one way to solve a problem. The formal name for this is ‘many-to-one mapping,’ where you have many possible arrangements of the anatomy of the animal — which parts of the body do particular functions — and when you put all those different puzzle pieces together, you still end up with success at the end,” Blob said. “The different styles of climbing are a great example.”

Palecek said the goby’s climbing behavior could have originated from the fish scraping food off rocks. If the rock was vertical instead of horizontal, the fish would have to move vertically to reach it, thus “climbing” the rock.

“Some of these things that seem new and really radical in many cases are something they were already doing. They’re just making it work for a different purpose,” Blob said.

Palecek said she would love to apply what she’s learned about gobies to improve manmade adhesives.

“I’m a big fan of biomimicry — which is taking a trait in nature and applying it to human technology and design. I think everybody has had experience with a really bad suction cup that won’t stick to things after a while,” she said. “Gobies aren’t sticking to really clean, indoor surfaces. They are sticking to dirty, wet and algae-covered surfaces. And they’re able to stick and re-stick. I think the field of adhesives would really benefit from learning more about these fishes and some other species that use similar adhesive structures, such as octopuses.”

Better adhesives

Palecek said if we’re able to make adhesives that work on really challenging surfaces such as human skin or the underside of a boat, or on rough surfaces like brick, society would benefit.

“The problems that these fish have evolved to solve are things that we still struggle with as engineers. It’s a great opportunity to learn from them to figure out better solutions,” Blob said.

Detailed findings from the lab’s research can be found in the paper titled  “Integrating biomechanics in evolutionary studies, with examples from the amphidromous goby model system”   that appeared in the journal’s  “A Century of Comparative Biomechanics: Emerging and Historical Perspectives on an Interdisciplinary Field” issue.

In addition to Blob and Palecek, the paper’s co-authors include three Clemson Ph.D. graduates: Kelly Diamond, Takashi Maie and Kristine Moody. Diamond is now an assistant professor of biology at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. Maie is an assistant professor of biology at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Moody is a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

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The Fish That Climbs Waterfalls With Its Mouth

Hawaii's environmental extremes (read: a series of active volcanic islands isolated in the middle of the ocean) make it a hotbed of novel evolutionary adaptations. Take goby fish in the genus Sicyopterus , for example. These lowly little bottom-feeders spend their days sucking algae off the rocks of stream beds. But that same sucking mechanism also allows the fish to climb up waterfalls over 300 feet tall.

The question is how these two activities are related. The researchers say it may be an example of exaptation , which describes the situation when a trait evolves for one reason, but eventually serves another purpose. Feathers, for example, are thought to have originally evolved to keep birds warm, but then later became a means for these creatures to fly.

In the case of the goby fish, its sucker mouth may have originated as a feeding mechanism, but later became a mode of locomotion as well. Or perhaps the other way around.

Researchers can't pin down the evolutionary precursor from their study , which was published in PLOS One last week. Goby fish lay their eggs in freshwater streams, and once they hatch, the tiny gobies are swept out to sea. Here the fish mature without threats of lava flows, hurricanes or flash floods. Gobies spend their lives climbing back up streams and over waterfalls to start the process over again.

Most goby species accomplish this feat with a sucker on their stomachs, but those in the Sicyopterus genus inch their way up the vertical rocks by alternating between their stomach sucker and their mouth. Researchers studied the specific movements of the mouth involved in eating and waterfall-climbing and found that the two behaviors were closely related. Even if scientists can't pin down which came first, the fact that this fish can suck its way up a waterfall is still pretty fun to watch.

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Scientists learn secret to fish's ability to climb up waterfalls

By Charles Choi

LiveScience

A waterfall-climbing fish in Hawaii uses the same muscles to both rise and feed, researchers have discovered.

Scientists looked at the Nopoli rock-climbing goby (Sicyopterus stimpsoni), also known in Hawaiian as o'opu nopili. This plant-eating fish is found throughout Hawaii, and was once greatly relished as food, apparently being a favorite snack among priests.

Many gobies can inch their way up waterfalls with the aid of a sucker on their bellies formed from fused pelvic fins. The Nopoli rock-climbing goby, on the other hand, can climb waterfalls as tall as 330 feet (100 meters) with the aid of a second mouth sucker, which develops after their mouthparts move from a forward-facing position to under the body during a two-day-long metamorphosis into adulthood .

The goby, which can grow up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) long as an adult, feeds by cyclically sticking the tip of its upper jaw against rock to scrape food off surfaces. This behavior is quite distinct from other Hawaiian gobies, which feed by sucking in food from the water. Given the apparent similarity of the climbing and feeding behaviors of the S. stimpsoni species, researchers thought one might have developed from the other. [ See Video of Waterfall-Climbing Fish ]

"The fish gave us an opportunity to see how unusual behaviors evolved," Blob said.

To see if these behaviors really were as similar as they looked, the scientists captured Nopoli rock-climbing gobies from a stream on the island of Hawaii by net while snorkeling and kept them in aquaria.

They next filmed the gobies' jaw-muscle movements as the fish climbed and ate, either scraping food off glass microscope slides or climbing up angled plastic boards. They found that overall movements were indeed similar during both activities.

It remains uncertain whether feeding movements were adapted for climbing, or vice versa.

"To understand the sequence of steps in the evolution of this extreme behavior, we want to look at closely related species that do one of the behaviors, but not the other," Blob said. "This fish has relatives in many oceanic islands, such as the Caribbean."

The scientists detailed their findings online Friday in the journal PLOS ONE.

They will also present their findings Sunday at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting in San Francisco.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience . We're also on Facebook   and Google+ .

• The 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries of 2012
• Image Gallery: Stunning Waterfalls Around the World
• Image Gallery: Freaky Fish

The Unexpected Way Some Fish Climb Up Waterfalls

The wide and varied creatures of the animal kingdom all have different habitats, behaviors and roles to play. Their biology, then, is adapted to enable them to thrive in whatever their unique area happens to be. For numerous different bird species, for instance, the skies and high nesting locations are their domain, hence their majestic wings.

Needless to say, not all birds have these. Per World Atlas , there are around 57 species of flightless birds, including some penguins. Many of these particular species are famed for their ungainly waddle on land and deft, agile swimming, another example of their adaptation to their specific habitat.

Fish, too, are aquatic animals and generally fantastic swimmers. They can usually breathe just fine underwater using their gills, but their drippy domain can pose unique problems. How do fish traverse the rushing waters of a waterfall ? Going down is one thing, but some species have developed a surprising way of climbing them.

The incredible Nopili rock-climbing goby

Fish, of course, don't really have bodies that are naturally adapted to climbing of any sort. Even so, some unique species battle on and achieve remarkable things despite that limitation. The mudskipper is one such example. The documentary "Wild Africa" stated in 2009 (per the BBC ) that a mudskipper is "not so much a fish, but half a fish," capable of evading the many threats in the water by climbing trees and finding high ground. Breathing on land is a very unique trait for a fish, but the multitalented mudskipper makes its own rules.

Without opposable thumbs, claws, or any conventional grasping tools, fish have to find ways to ascend using the familiar body parts they tend to have in common: their fins and powerful mouths. The latter, in particular, is crucial for some fish's efforts to climb waterfalls.

According to National Geographic , the Nopili rock-climbing goby, as its name suggests, has no problem climbing this tricky terrain. The outlet reports that this small yet formidable fish "uses suckers in its mouth and belly to move up steep cliffs in its rugged Hawaiian habitat." This goby is only about an inch in length, but it seems to be quite the powerhouse.

Gobies are some nature's most impressive climbers

In the 2013 paper "Evolutionary Novelty versus Exaptation: Oral Kinematics in Feeding versus Climbing in the Waterfall-Climbing Hawaiian Goby Sicyopterus stimpsoni" (via PLOS One ), Joshua A. Cullen, Richard W. Blob et al dive into this curious little fish and its incredible talent. According to the researchers, "these fish use an 'inching' behavior to climb waterfalls, in which an oral sucker is cyclically protruded and attached to the climbing surface."

The study went on to explain that the same species exhibits a similar and unusual way of eating, suggesting that it may have developed such behaviors in order to adapt to the unique challenges of its environment. Blob went on to explain to Live Science just how much the Nopili rock-climbing goby goes through in its attempts, which can result in scale waterfalls around 100 meters (330 feet) tall. According to Blob, such a journey would be the equivalent of a human "doing a marathon, some 26 miles (42 kilometers) long, except climbing up a vertical cliff-face against rushing water."

Every goby species, Smithsonian Magazine reports, has an attachment in the stomach region that enables them to climb like this. This is how these great survivors make new homes for themselves when their often-volatile environments are threatened and a waterfall would prevent them from reaching safer waters. The Nopili rock-climbing goby is simply the best at doing so.

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Video: This Fish Climbs Up Waterfalls By Gripping With Its Mouth

By Emily Elert

Posted on Jan 8, 2013 2:00 AM EST

One genus of goby fish has developed a radical adaptation to life in Hawaii’s rough-and-tumble streams: it uses its mouth to climb waterfalls.

Waterfall climbing is a critical skill for Hawaiian gobioids–the fish hatch in freshwater streams, but are quickly swept to sea in the fast-flowing currents, and spend most of their adult lives working their way back upstream. Most goby species accomplish this climbing by using a suction-cup-like sucker on their bellies to attach to the waterfall’s rock substrate, then rapidly undulating their bodies to propel themselves upward before quickly reattaching again.

But goby fish belonging to the Sicyopterus genus have a more economical method of vertical movement–their mouths act as a secondary suction cup, allowing the fish to inch upward without detaching completely from the slippery, steep rock wall:

The energy-efficient technique allows the fish to scale waterfalls up to 300 feet tall.

To find out how this extraordinary adaptation might have developed, researchers from South Carolina and Minnesota compared the suction-climbing mechanics of one Sicyopterus species with the suction-eating mechanics of other goby fish. Though the two activities–eating vs. rock climbing–are quite different, the researchers found that the fish employed similar techniques for both.

That finding , says Richard Blob, one of the study’s authors, suggests the evolution of a suction-like mouth for eating algae may have paved the way for the waterfall-scaling adaptation. “They basically just took their feeding behavior and turned it on vertical,” Blob says. Of course, it could have happened the other way, too–suction-climbing could have come before suction-eating, but common sense suggests that the eating behavior came first. After all, says Blob, “Most fish need to eat, but not all fish need to climb.”

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Can Hawaii's waterfall-climbing fish survive when mountain rains change?

O'opu make extreme treks to breed that depend on stable climate conditions

Alison Nugent

Atmospheric Science

University of Hawaii

Here in Hawaii, not only are there rainbow sightings daily and dramatic mountain vistas obscured by clouds: we even have fish that can climb waterfalls. All these natural wonders are related to the way mountains influence rain patterns, and they could all be at risk thanks to human-induced climate changes.

The waterfall-climbing fish in Hawaii are called Oʻopu. Five species of Oʻopu live in Hawaii, but one, Oʻopu alamoʻo, are the best climbers. They're just a few inches long, hatch in high-altitude freshwater streams, and are washed downstream to the ocean. After three to six months, they swim back to the streams to breed, much like salmon. While both Oʻopu and salmon trek upstream, Oʻopu have a bigger challenge: the streams in Hawaii often have vertical rock faces. Luckily Oʻopu have grown pelvic fins that suction onto wet rock faces behind waterfalls, and they climb vertically upward, inch by inch. Oʻopu alamoʻo have been found as much as 422 feet up waterfalls.

Oʻopu are important to Hawaiian history and culture. The species has been both a source of food for and part of religious ceremonies by the native Hawaiians. Four of the five species of Oʻopu are found nowhere else in the world. They are also the only species of freshwater fish native to Hawaii.

Chasing waterfalls

But increasing human populations in Hawaii are threatening the Oʻopu stream habitat – and they need to be managed and studied to protect their livelihood.

Streams are sometimes rerouted or channeled to protect human property against flooding or for crop irrigation, both of which reduce streamflow.

Furthermore, Hawaii has seen an overall decline in rainfall over the last 30 years, and future projections show a continued decrease . The rock face needs to be wet for Oʻopu to climb, so the characteristics of the stream are important. The ideal stream conditions include steady flowing water over long time scales. Previous observation has suggested that the flash floods induced by heavy precipitation in Hawaiian streams could serve as a vital signal for larvae and juvenile Oʻopu in the coastal ocean to migrate back upstream. Flash floods may be OK for Oʻopu, but as you can imagine, droughts and dry rocks are not.

The fact that Oʻopu evolved to climb waterfalls tells us that the Hawaiian islands must have had steady precipitation patterns for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years. That type of skill doesn't appear overnight.

Most of the rain on the Hawaiian islands comes from a process called orographic precipitation. Orographic means "relating to mountains," so orographic precipitation is rain that is induced, or modified in some way, by the presence of a mountain. In the case of Hawaii, most of the orographic precipitation on the island comes from the incoming wind being lifted by the mountainous islands. This makes the mountains extremely important to the water cycle. To put this into context, the ocean area around the islands get an average of 25 inches of rain per year , while the mountains on the islands get up to 16 times that amount.

Of course, none of this would happen without clouds. They're composed of an uncountable number of tiny water droplets – so tiny that it takes about a million cloud droplets to make up a single raindrop.

Sticking to falls

Flickr/ Austin McGee

Clouds form when air becomes saturated and can't hold any more water vapor. Reaching saturation usually involves a two-step process: first, air is lifted to a higher elevation where the air pressure is lower. Then, as the air pressure decreases, volume increases, so the air temperature drops. Just as dew forms on the outside of your cold lemonade on a hot summer day, cloud water condenses in the atmosphere as the air cools.

The mountainous terrain of the Hawaiian islands lifts air to saturation and forms clouds. The cloud droplets then collide together and collect each other to form rain drops, which fall onto the mountain tops, providing the water for the streams and waterfalls that Oʻopu climb. The process of orographic precipitation on the islands is reliable and continuous, day and night, summer and winter, and year after year.

Giambelluca, T.W., Q. Chen, A.G. Frazier, J.P. Price, Y.-L. Chen, P.-S. Chu, J.K. Eischeid, and D.M. Delparte

Still, orographic precipitation cannot be taken for granted. My research has shown that the complex cloud processes responsible for orographic precipitation over islands in the tropics are sensitive to the wind speed . This is important for Hawaiian rainfall, because the decrease in precipitation over the last 30 years has been tied to a decrease in the trade-wind strength. Furthermore, tiny particulates in the atmosphere called aerosols can also affect orographic precipitation . Aerosols are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, from both natural and human sources, and the impact of aerosols on clouds in the atmosphere is the cause of one of the largest uncertainties in future climate projections.

All of Earth's processes are related. Changes to Earth's climate affect the atmosphere, including processes which drive rainfall, which affect streamflow, which affects stream species and their habitats. All of these shifts demand our attention in order to ensure that O'opu will continue to thrive far into the future.

Comment Peer Commentary

We ask other scientists from our Consortium to respond to articles with commentary from their expert perspective.

Jenny Howard

Wake Forest University

I lived in Hawaii a couple of years ago but had NO IDEA these fish existed – so cool! Is each endemic species native to a different island or do all five species inhabit all the islands? I am really curious as to whether or not O'opu can breathe out of water as some fish, like the mangrove rivulus, can. If rain hasn't fallen in a while, but as long as the rock face is wet enough to climb, the O'opu will do OK? Would a conservation management strategy ever be to have volunteers artificially soaking rock cliff faces?

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Secret to Fish's Waterfall-Climbing Ability Found

A waterfall-climbing fish in Hawaii uses the same muscles to both rise and feed, researchers have discovered.

Scientists looked at the Nopoli rock-climbing goby ( Sicyopterus stimpsoni ), also known in Hawaiian as o'opu nopili . This plant-eating fish is found throughout Hawaii, and was once greatly relished as food, apparently being a favorite snack among priests.

Many gobies can inch their way up waterfalls with the aid of a sucker on their bellies formed from fused pelvic fins. The Nopoli rock-climbing goby, on the other hand, can climb waterfalls as tall as 330 feet (100 meters) with the aid of a second mouth sucker, which develops after their mouthparts move from a forward-facing position to under the body during a two-day-long metamorphosis into adulthood .

"For a human to go the equivalent distance based on body size, it'd be like doing a marathon, some 26 miles (42 kilometers) long, except climbing up a vertical cliff-face against rushing water," researcher Richard Blob, an evolutionary biomechanist at Clemson University in South Carolina, told LiveScience. Indeed, an old Hawaiian saying is that as the Nopili clings, so will luck.

The goby, which can grow up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) long as an adult, feeds by cyclically sticking the tip of its upper jaw against rock to scrape food off surfaces. This behavior is quite distinct from other Hawaiian gobies, which feed by sucking in food from the water. Given the apparent similarity of the climbing and feeding behaviors of the S. stimpsoni species, researchers thought one might have developed from the other. [ See Video of Waterfall-Climbing Fish ]

To see if these behaviors really were as similar as they looked, the scientists captured Nopoli rock-climbing gobies from a stream on the island of Hawaii by net while snorkeling and kept them in aquaria. They next filmed the gobies' jaw-muscle movements as the fish climbed and ate, either scraping food off glass microscope slides or climbing up angled plastic boards. They found that overall movements were indeed similar during both activities.

It remains uncertain whether feeding movements were adapted for climbing, or vice versa.

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"To understand the sequence of steps in the evolution of this extreme behavior, we want to look at closely related species that do one of the behaviors, but not the other," Blob said. "This fish has relatives in many oceanic islands, such as the Caribbean."

The scientists detailed their findings online Jan. 4 in the journal PLOS ONE . They will also present their findings Jan. 6 at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting in San Francisco.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience . We're also on Facebook  & Google+ .

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Weird Animals

“Missing Link” Cave Fish Walks Like a Salamander

A fish that wiggles up waterfalls may help researchers understand how life shifted from water to land

Jason Daley

Correspondent

The earliest vertebrate animals to walk on land were ancient four-limbed tetrapods that waggled their way across the ground like salamanders. Yet researchers still haven’t found many intermediate species showing just how swimming fish evolved to walk on land. Now, an endangered species only found in a handful of caverns in Thailand might finally help straighten things out.

The species in question is a type of blind cave fish called Cryptotora thamicola, or the waterfall-climbing cave fish. Documented in a study recently published in the journal  Scientific Reports , the creature uses its four fins to crawl over rocks and up slick walls. The fish even has a full pelvis fused to its spine—a skeletal feature absent from any of the other 30,000 fish species in the world. This particular feature, however, is found in terrestrial vertebrates and fossils of the earliest tetrapods, making the waterfall cave fish a unique window into evolution .

“It’s really weird,” John R. Hutchinson, a biologist at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London tells Carl Zimmer at The New York Times . “It’s a good example of how much fish diversity there’s left to be discovered.”

The species was first found in Northern Thailand in 1985 in eight caves near the Myanmar border. The Thai government is now extremely protective of those caves, allowing only a handful of researchers to examine them and their strange fish.

Last year, Apinun Suvarnaraksha, an ichthyologist from Maejo University in Thailand and Daphne Soares, a biologist at the New Jersey Institute of Technology observed the fish on an expedition to those caves and took a video . When Soares shared the images with her NJIT colleague Brooke Flammang, a biomechanics researcher, she was stunned. “I was like, ‘Fish can’t do that,’” Flammang tells Diane Kelly at Wired . “That’s ridiculous.”

Flammang hoped to get specimens of the rare fish to study, but that was not possible. So she began working with Suvarnaraksha, who returned to the caves and began briefly capturing the fish and putting them in an aquarium for filming before releasing them. He was also able to perform a CT scan of a preserved museum specimen of  Cryptotora thamicola  at a local dental school.

Armed with that data, Flammang began to unravel the secrets of the cave fish. It didn’t take long. “When they sent me the files, I thought someone was playing a trick on me,” she tells Kelly. “There was this gigantic pelvis [on the CT scan] that looks nothing like any fish pelvis.”

While it’s highly unlikely that the waterfall cave fish is an ancestor of ancient tetrapods, its evolution sheds some light on how other fish could have evolved to move on land. It also calls into question some of the  400-million-year-old tetrapod “footprints ” scientists have found  in recent years.

Researchers may now need to evaluate those prints—the next likely candidate is the giant waddling fish. “The physics are the same,” Flammang tells Zimmer. 

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Jason Daley | | READ MORE

Jason Daley is a Madison, Wisconsin-based writer specializing in natural history, science, travel, and the environment. His work has appeared in Discover , Popular Science , Outside , Men’s Journal , and other magazines.

Pursuit home

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Meet the fish that hop, skip and jump

Six compelling reasons why fish perfect their acrobatic skills to leave the water

By Dr Andi Horvath

From the incredible flying fish whose modified pectoral fins allow it to glide up to 70km/h to a wriggling salmon jumping upstream – why do fish choose to leave water?

University of Melbourne fish ecologist Associate Professor Stephen Swearer gives us six reasons.

1. To avoid being lunch

It’s simple – so they won’t be eaten.

“I’ve been on marine research vessels and seen flying fish leap out of the water thinking we might be a big fish predator. They will often glide off at right angles to the boat with incredible speed and manoeuvrability,” says Associate Professor Swearer.

“They do this to get some distance on the predators but also so the predators can’t work out where they will land back in the water. In just a few seconds they can travel up to 50 metres.”

2. To eat lunch

“Another reason fish leap out of water is to capture prey. People may be familiar with trout leaping out of the water to feed on mayflies,” says Associate Professor Swearer.

“While it’s usually birds that dive into water to eat fish, there are some fish, like the arowana which live in the Amazon, that will dive into the air to eat birds.”

Arowana have been found with the remains of birds, bats and snakes as well as crustaceans and insects in their stomachs. They look a bit like Grumpy Cat with their downturned drawbridge mouth that would have no problems grabbing an unsuspecting bird.

3. To reinflate their internal buoyancy vests

“Most bony fish have swim bladders, which are these gas-filled sacs that help the fish control buoyancy in the water,” says Associate Professor Swearer. “It means they can stay at their current depth without having to waste energy swimming.

“The swim bladder progressively loses a little gas so to replenish their bladders, some species will periodically go up to the surface to gulp some air but others will leap to avoid being eaten by birds.”

4. To slap loose a pesky parasite

“There is also some evidence that fish may leap out of the water so they can slap down on the surface of the water to dislodge parasites,” says Associate Professor Swearer. “But more commonly they will take advantage of the services provided by cleaner fish or shrimp.”

5. It’s the only way to go up a waterfall

Fish may be trying to get around obstacles. You may have seen spectacular footage of salmon leaping up over small waterfalls. The easiest way to move past the pounding pressure of the waterfall is to go via the path of least resistance with minimal energy and effort – the air.

6. Some spaces just cramp their style

If you’ve ever kept fish in a tank you’ll know that the odd fish will make a leap for freedom. What motivates this behaviour? Was the tank décor not right? Was it the neighbours? Was it the fish or the owner?

“I spent a summer in high school as an intern at the Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii,” says Associate Professor Swearer. “All of the tanks needed to be covered to prevent fish from trying to jump out and escape. Clearly being in a confined environment is not a natural situation for a fish. It does, however, make you realize just how aware fish are of their surroundings when in captivity and what risks they are willing to take.”

Associate Professor Swearer is working on several research projects, ranging from rare freshwater species in the Kimberley to salmon aquaculture in Norway.

Adventures with Holly & Bryan

Your travel guide to the best of the Pacific Northwest

Salmon Cascades: How to See Salmon Jumping in Olympic National Park

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“Have you seen any salmon jumping yet?” I asked eagerly, turning to the woman crouched next to us on the rocky overhang.

She grinned and pointed at the churning river below. “They’re gathering in that pool below the Salmon Cascades. Every now and then, one of them will try to make the leap up the first waterfall.”

Bryan and I settled in on the rocks next to her, joining the small line of observers staring at the river. The water frothed through a narrow channel here, forming a deep green pool at the base of a jumble of rapids. Where the sunlight hit the pool, I could see the dark silhouettes of the salmon circling.

“Oh!” the group suddenly exclaimed as one. I gasped, too. A fish had leapt out of the green pool, but it hit the small waterfall too low and fell back to the lower level.

I had never seen salmon jumping before. Now I felt a strange shiver of excitement. To me, watching salmon jumping up a waterfall was one of the special wonders of nature, akin to watching the Aurora Borealis or seeing a shooting star.

Back in elementary school, we had raised salmon from eggs in a tank in our classroom. I remember peering at the orange eggs, our faces pressed against the glass. A metal bar covered in ice crystals extended into the tank to keep it cold. We avoided that metal bar as if it were a hot fire poker. The teacher had told us we’d get stuck to the salmon tank if we touched it, and we were sure she was right.

When the eggs had hatched, we set the tiny salmon free in a neighborhood stream, singing the Salmon Cycle song as we solemnly watched them retreat into the water.

Now, nearly 25 years later, I was astounded to see a grown salmon jump up a waterfall. It hadn’t even cleared the leap. But I was sure the next one might. I tried not to blink as I waited for the next fish to make the jump.

These Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park are one of the best places in the Pacific Northwest to watch the salmon run. In today’s post, I’ll share the highlights of the Salmon Cascades and everything you need to know to watch the salmon jumping yourself.

Overview of the Salmon Cascades

When I first saw the marker labeled “Salmon Cascades” on a map of Olympic National Park, I was instantly intrigued. The Salmon Cascades are a set of small waterfalls on the Sol Duc River in Washington state. They’re about 3 1/2 hours by car from Seattle, or 5 hours from Portland. You can find them by navigating to “Salmon Cascades” on Google Maps.

A week after spotting that intriguing map marker, Bryan and I were driving along Sol Duc Hot Springs Road, looking out for the Salmon Cascades sign.

There’s a turnout near the cascades, with a parking lot and a restroom. A very short trail leads through a mossy forest to the viewing area. A sign at the trailhead reminds visitors that fishing is not allowed at the Salmon Cascades—please only view the salmon!

The overlook at the end of the trail has a wooden viewing platform and a variety of side trails that lead to closer vantage points on the rocks above the river. Take care on the rocks if you follow any of these routes, as the river bank is steep and can be slippery.

From the viewing areas along the river, you can see the series of small waterfalls that make up the Salmon Cascades. Depending on the time of year, salmon or steelhead swim upriver to spawn, and you can watch them jump up the small waterfalls. Below the cascades, you can see them gathering in the pool to prepare for the leap.

It’s amazing to see their strength and persistence. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to make it up the waterfall. We saw several fish make the leap, only to fall back down into the pool below. Definitely something to think about when we run into challenges of our own!

When to Visit the Salmon Cascades

Per the National Park Service , the best time of year to see salmon jumping at the Salmon Cascades is September and October (to see Coho salmon jumping). If you visit in the spring (the end of March through May), you can see steelhead. We visited on September 7th, and the photos included in this post are from that day.

Not planning to go? Check out our video below to see the salmon-jumping in action!

Our video of salmon jumping up the Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc River

We first arrived at the Salmon Cascades in the early afternoon. After watching the salmon jumping for a while, we continued down the road and took a beautiful hike to Sol Duc Falls. We stopped again at the Salmon Cascades in the evening on the way back, and it seemed their jumping frequency had increased. If you likewise have flexibility in your trip, I’d recommend checking out the Salmon Cascades in the evening or at a couple of different times of day.

Why Do Salmon Jump Up Waterfalls?

Salmon have a fascinating life cycle that leads to the phenomenon at the Salmon Cascades. The National Park Service has a great overview of the whole salmon cycle here , but here is a quick overview:

Salmon hatch from eggs in small freshwater streams. Coho salmon (the kind most often seen at the Salmon Cascades) stay in freshwater for a year or more after hatching. The length of time in freshwater varies a lot depending on the salmon species, with some salmon species migrating to the oceans much sooner.

After their time in freshwater, young salmon swim downstream into progressively larger tributaries until they reach rivers that feed into the ocean. They spend up to several years in the ocean, again depending on the type of salmon. Coho salmon spend only around 18 months in the ocean.

After their time at sea, they reverse the process and return to the small stream where they hatched. This journey requires swimming upriver against the current and navigating a plethora of river obstacles. Once back in their original stream, they spawn (laying and fertilizing eggs), and then die.

View of the Salmon Cascades

Waterfalls like the Salmon Cascades are just one of the many challenges the salmon encounter as they swim upstream on their journey to spawn.

Other Adventures in the Pacific Northwest

Thanks for joining us at the Salmon Cascades! For more travel ideas in the Pacific Northwest, check out our PNW Trip Planner . You can find adventures near you and filter by season and difficulty level. There are weird and wonderful things to explore any time of year. The trip planner links to blog posts to help you plan your next adventure.

Happy exploring!

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Reno & Lake Tahoe Hikes With Waterfalls & Wildflowers

Spring in Reno Tahoe is pretty much the best of both worlds. Not only can you still snowshoe or ski at your favorite mountain, but at lower elevations, the snow is melting, the wildflowers are blooming, and the waterfalls are roaring, making for great hiking. If you’re on the hunt for rushing waterfalls and colorful wildflowers, here are some of our favorite Reno and Lake Tahoe hikes with waterfalls and blooming flowers.

Reno Hiking Trails with Waterfalls and Wildflowers

A sea of purple will take over the desert, as spreading phlox and the common purple mustard begin to bloom during April and May. Check out local hiking trails to see big-headed clovers and desert Indian paintbrushes. Part of the orchid family, the rare broad-leaved twayblade is predominantly located in Tahoe and can be found around small creeks.

In the foothills, look for wild iris, California poppies and lupine to bloom in May and June. There are many popular hiking trails to see these wildflowers, including, Tom Cooke Trail  and Upper Thomas Creek . Other great places to visit are Huffaker Hills , Washoe Lake State Park , and areas around Virginia City . Most of these popular hikes are easily accessible, with parking lots and clearly marked trailheads.

Mixed in with Nevada’s state flower – sagebrush – different types of buckwheat and Sierra primroses will be adding pops of yellow, pink and red throughout the region at all elevations.

Looking for waterfalls? Explore the Hunter Creek Trail in Reno or Kings Canyon Loop in Carson City. Both trails offer spectacular waterfalls that are at their peak during the springtime.

Nevada Wildflowers on Mountain Peaks

If you decide to head into the mountains around Reno Tahoe, you can expect to see Nevada wildflowers, including lilies, penstemon, alpine paintbrushes and wandering daisies as late as July. If you missed seeing the mountains covered in a blanket of white snow, the wandering daisy will fill the meadows with white blossoms. Lilies and alpine paintbrushes will add pops of color along the trails and are perfect for pictures of Reno’s vast and beautiful backyard.

Some of the most picturesque spots for wildflowers are Tahoe Meadows near Mount Rose and Lake Forest Beach in Tahoe City. The Mount Rose trail is a one-two punch with wildflowers and a gorgeous waterfall about two miles into the 4.6-mile (one-way) hike.  Other Lake Tahoe area waterfalls include Glen Alpine Falls and Eagle Falls – both located on the south shore of Lake Tahoe. Learn more about the best photo spots in Lake Tahoe here.

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I’m a Travel Agent: This Is the Best $400 or Less That You Can Spend in Hawaii

Y ou’re planning a trip to Hawaii. Spending time in this beautiful state is amazing in itself, but you might be looking for activities to spice up your trip.

Check Out: 3 Places To Travel That Are Like Hawaii but Way Cheaper

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“At Royal Expression Travels, we believe that the best way to spend your money in Hawaii is by investing in experiences that are not just memorable, but truly transformative,” said LaDell Carter, founder and lead travel designer at  Royal Expression Travels . “Each of these exclusive adventures offers a unique perspective on the islands’ natural beauty and cultural richness, ensuring that your Hawaiian getaway is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Finding these activities on your own can be challenging, but Carter has you covered. Here are seven activities at a variety of price points and activities to enjoy on your next trip to Hawaii.

Helicopter Tour to Molokai With Cliff Landing

• Average price: $400 per person and up

“For those seeking an unparalleled adventure, a helicopter tour to Molokai promises a mesmerizing journey through Hawaii’s untouched beauty,” she said. “As you soar above verdant valleys and cascading waterfalls, the island’s rugged landscape unfolds beneath you.”

No doubt, this view will be stunning, but there’s more to come.

“The pièce de résistance is a cliff landing, where you’ll step onto a remote, breathtakingly beautiful part of Molokai, accessible only by air,” she said. “This extraordinary vantage point offers a sense of awe and tranquility that’s simply unmatched.”

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Kayak and Waterfall Hike Adventure

• Average price: $150 per person

“Kauai’s Hule’ia National Wildlife Refuge serves as the backdrop for an unforgettable paddle and hike excursion,” she said. “Drift along serene waterways, flanked by lush jungle, before embarking on a scenic hike to a secluded waterfall.”

After the hike, you’ll have a chance to relax.

“Here, amidst the symphony of nature, enjoy a leisurely picnic lunch. This private adventure combines relaxation and exploration, allowing you to connect with Hawaii’s natural wonders in an intimate and personal way.”

Niihau and Napali Sailing Adventure

• Average price: From around $200 and up

“Embark on a sailing charter towards the mysterious ‘Forbidden Island’ of Niihau, a journey that unveils the dramatic beauty of the Napali Coast,” she said. “The coastline, with its towering cliffs and hidden sea caves, is a spectacle best admired from the water.”

Enjoy taking in the beautiful scenery, while making lasting vacation memories.

“This sailing adventure offers a blend of serenity and excitement, as you navigate crystal-clear waters and marvel at the untouched splendor of one of Hawaii’s most picturesque regions,” she said.

Private Luxury Manta Ray Night Snorkel

• Average price: From around $130 per person

“The Big Island’s waters come alive at night, and there’s no better way to witness this than on a luxury manta ray night snorkel,” she said. “Begin with a scenic sunset cruise aboard a state-of-the-art catamaran, where the colors of the setting sun reflect off the ocean.”

This will certainly be stunning, but the real adventure begins when nightfall begins.

“As night falls, dive into the warm waters and watch in awe as graceful manta rays glide around you, illuminated by underwater lights,” she said. “This surreal experience is both thrilling and serene, offering a unique glimpse into Hawaii’s marine life.”

Private Mauna Kea Night Hike and Stargazing Expedition

• Average price: $300 per person

“Ascend to the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest point in Hawaii, with an expert guide by your side,” she said. “As you reach the top, the views are nothing short of spectacular, with the island stretching out beneath you and the sky above transforming into a blanket of stars.”

She described this night hike as a must-do for any stargazing enthusiast.

“This private night hike and stargazing expedition provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore the cosmos from one of the world’s best vantage points.”

Snorkel Boat Trip to Molokini

• Average price: From around $179 and up

“Set sail for Molokini, a partially submerged volcanic crater renowned for its clear waters and vibrant marine life,” she said. “This chartered boat trip offers a snorkeling experience like no other.”

A truly magical experience, she said you’ll spend the day swimming among colorful coral reefs teeming with tropical fish.

“The stunning beauty of Molokini, both above and below the water, ensures a day of adventure and discovery that you’ll cherish forever,” she said.

Cowboy-Style Sunset BBQ on a Working Ranch

• Average price: From around $85 per person

“Immerse yourself in Hawaii’s rich ranching culture with a sunset barbecue dinner on a working ranch in the Big Island’s picturesque Upcountry,” she said. “As the sun dips below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, savor a delicious BBQ feast prepared with locally sourced ingredients.”

Enjoy feasting on authentic Hawaiian fare, while taking in the gorgeous scenery.

“This authentic cowboy-style experience provides a taste of Hawaiian hospitality and the rustic charm of ranch life, set against the backdrop of the island’s breathtaking landscapes,” she said.

You won’t regret spending money on any of these once-in-a-lifetime excursions. If you have the money to add one to your trip, do yourself a favor and schedule it.

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On the Brazilian Coast, a Tropical Town Beloved by Artists and Makers

A guide to Paraty, on the Costa Verde, with tips on where to stay, shop and island hop from the artist Vik Muniz and four other insiders.

By Nora Walsh

T’s monthly travel series, Flocking To , highlights places you might already have on your wish list, sharing tips from frequent visitors and locals alike. Sign up here to find us in your inbox once a month, and to receive our weekly T List newsletter. Have a question? You can always reach us at [email protected] .

Roughly halfway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the coastal town of Paraty (population 45,000) isn’t the easiest place to reach. It requires a four-hour, mostly mountainous drive from either city, a 45-minute helicopter charter or arrival by sea. It’s that relative seclusion that keeps the tourist hordes and unbridled development at bay, despite the town’s obvious appeal. Set on Brazil’s Costa Verde, with mountains covered in rainforest on one side and the emerald green waters of Ilha Grande Bay on the other, Paraty (pronounced para-CHEE by locals), preserves more than 30 blocks as its historic quarter, a grid of pedestrian-only cobblestone streets lined with whitewashed 18th- and 19th-century facades, many of them remnants of the Portuguese colonial era.

Starting in the mid-1600s, the town grew prosperous as a seaport during the country’s gold rush (many of the biggest gold mines were in the neighboring inland state Minas Gerais) — and as a hub for the slave trade. African slaves not only worked in the mines but built much of the town’s early infrastructure, such as its roads. Once the gold stopped coming through Paraty for export in the early 1700s, the town continued to harvest sugar cane and produce cachaça, the national spirit, before shifting its economic focus to the coffee trade. At the end of the 19th century, Santos, 190 miles to the south, supplanted Paraty as the country’s primary coffee-exporting port, and the town began to languish. “It fell off the map,” says Luana Assunção, the owner of the Rio-based travel company Free Walker Tours. “It became isolated and poor. Many houses were abandoned.”

By the 1970s, a new highway and an influx of urban transplants had given Paraty an infusion of new life. Lured by the area’s affordability, a number of artists, designers and other creative types began renovating the old mansions and opening a handful of galleries, boutiques, cafes and small hotels, turning the long-forgotten town into an alluring vacation destination.

“I was worried that mass tourism would endanger the future of the culture and the nature in Paraty, but it didn’t happen,” says the nature photographer Dom João de Orleans e Bragança, who has been visiting Paraty since 1968 and now lives there most of the year. He credits the strict building codes for imbuing the town with a certain timeless quality, even after the pandemic when the area’s second-home owners began spending more time in Paraty. “You’ll never see a skyscraper, and we don’t have big resorts or hotels here.”

What Paraty does have is easy access to the dozens of small islands and sandy coves across the bay (local traineiras , renovated wooden fishing boats; large schooners; and speedboats are all available for visitors to rent for daylong outings), and the countless hiking trails, waterfalls and beaches that are part of the massive Serra da Bocaina National Park. Visitors can also make day trips to a handful of villages home to Indigenous and historic Black settlements that have maintained a strong cultural identity. “There’s layer upon layer here,” said Lena Santana, a Brazilian costume and fashion designer who has been living in Paraty for the last decade. “It creates a certain kind of depth that makes people want to stay.” Here, Santana and four other locals and longtime Paraty visitors share their recommendations for where to stay, eat and explore.

The Insiders

Silvia Furmanovich , a fine-jewelry designer based between São Paulo and New York City, has been traveling to Paraty every other year for the past three decades.

The artist and photographer Vik Muniz , who lives in Rio de Janeiro and New York City, has been visiting Paraty since 1999.

Diana Radomysler is a partner and director of the interiors and design department at the São Paulo-based architecture firm Studio MK27. She travels to Paraty annually with her family.

Lena Santana , who was born in Salvador, Brazil, and moved to Paraty a decade ago after 15 years in London, owns a boutique, Atelier Napele, in the historic center, and Bus Stop Paraty, a guesthouse, 12 miles outside of town in Playa Grande.

Gisela Schmitt , originally from São Paulo, is the chef and owner of Paraty’s Gastromar restaurant and a boat-catering company.

Illustrations by Richard Pedaline

“I love to stay at Casa Turquesa , built on the ruins of an 18th-century mansion in the old town. Everything in the Turquoise Suite is white and turquoise, from the fabrics to the artwork. One room has prints from the British botanical artist Margaret Mee, who spent decades traveling to the Amazon documenting flora, which have inspired my work in the past.” (Rooms from about $520 a night.) — Silvia Furmanovich

“I always suggest that friends stay at the Pousada Literária de Paraty, a cozy hotel within a cluster of historic mansions that surround a tropical garden — they return enchanted by both the hotel and its restaurant.” (Rooms from about $350 a night.) — Diana Radomysler

“The Brazilian travel company Matueté has a selection of villas. You can rent the interior designer Linda Pinto’s house in the historic quarter close to the waterfront. It has a beautiful courtyard, so the house is flooded with natural light.” (Rentals from about $1,500 a night, with a three-night minimum.) — Gisela Schmitt

Eat and Drink

“At Banana da Terra , the chef Ana Bueno cooks contemporary Caiçara [the main Indigenous community of the area] cuisine in a charming restaurant in the historic quarter. She offers things like mango and shrimp salad and a hamburger made with crab meat. After dinner, go to Gelateria Miracolo for ice cream and try the flavor made with cupuaçu, an Amazonian fruit that’s closely related to cacao.” — S.F.

“Head to Graúna [about 12 miles north of Paraty], a beautiful valley in the Atlantic Forest, for lunch at Le Gite d’Indaiatiba . The chef is like a wizard of the forest. She makes her ravioli with taioba, an edible plant from the jungle [similar to collard greens]. Call ahead and ask them to prepare the sauna, which is next to a swimmable waterfall on the property.” — G.S.

“ Fugu Japanese Food is a new restaurant that only serves fish that’s been caught fresh the same day, like sororoca [a white local fish] and prejereba [tripletail]. Don’t miss the tuna starter with locally grown shiitake mushrooms or the teishoku, a wooden box with 12 different small portions of menu items, including the day’s fresh catch. There’s also a great sake selection. For dessert, have the wasabi ice cream.” — D.R.

“Recently, one of my favorite designers from São Paulo, Flavia Aranha , opened a store in Paraty. Her pieces are timeless, produced in organic fabrics or natural fibers dyed with Brazilian plants and herbs.” — D.R.

“For handwoven baskets, go to Cestarias Regio Paraty in the historic center. They come in all sizes and are made by local communities. I love the ones made from covo, a fiber extracted from bamboo, that are used to go fishing.” — G.S.

“Visit the village of Cunha in the Paraíba Valley, where the Japanese couple Mieko and Toshiyuki Ukeseki started firing ceramics in a noborigama [a traditional Japanese wood-fired chamber kiln] in the 1970s. A small community of ceramists joined them, and you can buy their pieces at their ateliers or at the ceramics festivals that Cunha hosts throughout the year.” — L.S.

“To pick up authentic Indigenous arts and crafts, such as vases and musical instruments, go to Canoa Arte Indígena . I bought several baskets from there that now decorate my office in São Paulo.” — S.F.

“Paraty has some of the best cachaça in Brazil. My favorite brand is Cachaça Maria Izabel . [Maria Izabel] and her daughters own a sugar cane plantation in Sítio Santo Antônio, about six miles north of Paraty, where they still produce the spirit by hand. You can do a tasting at the distillery and buy bottles there, or at shops in town.” — V.M.

“The Livraria das Marés is a big-city bookstore in a small town. It’s a contemporary space designed by the architect Bel Lobo with black metal shelves and a wood-paneled floor and ceiling. There’s a delightful cafe at the back.” — D.R.

“Don’t miss Saco do Mamanguá, which is the world’s only tropical fjord. You can only get there by boat, and you’ll pass Caiçara villages along small beaches. From there, you can hike to the peak of Mamanguá’s Pão de Açúcar for dramatic views of the entire Ilha Grande Bay. Another option is to rent kayaks at one of the beaches and paddle deep into the mangroves at the very end of the fjord.” — G.S.

“ Fazenda Bananal is a great place to take children. It’s a nature preserve in the forest with a farmhouse. There are walking trails, farm animals and a restaurant called Ninho that’s absolutely incredible. Many of the ingredients come from the farm. I had the best slow-cooked pork of my life there.” — V.M.

“Visit Quilombo do Campinho [a settlement about 10 miles south of Paraty founded at the end of the 19th century by formerly enslaved people]. There’s a restaurant that serves fresh grilled fish and a shop with beautiful wooden animal sculptures, rugs made of straw, bamboo furniture and jewelry made from local tropical seeds. On the way home, stop at the village of Paraty-Mirim, where you can buy artisanal wares from the Guaraní tribe; then swim at its gorgeous beach, which is bordered by mountains and a river.” — L.S.

“One of the best ways to enjoy Paraty by sea is to book Gisela Schmitt’s Sem Pressa boat tour, which takes you to the surrounding coves and swimming spots (my favorite is Saco da Velha) while offering delicious local plates like cachaça- and beet-cured prejereba [tripletail fish], fresh oysters and mussels.” — V.M.

Practical Matters

“It’s fun to be in Paraty during one of its festivals. There’s FLIP [Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty], a large and influential literary festival [this year it will be held in October] and loads of other events throughout the town.” — L.S.

“The best time to visit is from May to August, when there’s less rain, the sky is beautiful and the sea is wonderful.” — G.S.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.

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Skin Care Routine for Adult Acne:  Here is an expert-approved guide to the most effective products and techniques  for dealing with stubborn breakouts at home.

An Antidote to Loneliness:  Patrick Carroll began making textiles during lockdown . Last year, several of them appeared at a JW Anderson runway show.

The 25 Essential Italian Pasta Dishes:  Two chefs, one cookbook author, a culinary historian and a food writer made a list of the country’s most delicious meals , from carbonara in Rome to ravioli in Campania.

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What to eat in Lebanon, from flatbreads to layered desserts

Lebanese cuisine is packed with fresh herbs, flaky pastries and flavoursome stews.

Due to its fertile land, 140 miles of coastline and position at the heart of the Middle East, Lebanon has a cuisine that’s been shaped by traders, conquerors and colonisers. The Phoenicians shared their love of seafood, the Romans established olive groves and vineyards, the Ottomans brought barbecues. More recently, Lebanon was a colony of the French, who left their mark on the table with delicate pastries and haute-cuisine techniques.

Lebanon’s neighbours have been equally significant. The country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south. Similar influences seep into food across the region, and many dishes served in homes in Lebanon also pop up in nearby countries — though each with its own regional twist.

Lebanese home cooks tease out flavour from beans, pulses and grains with aromatics and vegetables such as slowly caramelised onions or jammy tomatoes. Fasolia   is a humble stew made with white beans, tomatoes and garlic, turned indulgent with a generous pour of olive oil, while hearty mujadara   combines lentils and rice with caramelised onions. Hummus is as popular here as it is across the Levant.

Garlic, olive oil, nuts and spices like cumin and cinnamon are woven through dishes to make them taste like summer itself. Herbs, meanwhile, are treated like vegetables, added liberally to tabbouleh or served as a garnish at the table. Most Lebanese families will serve fresh fruit for dessert, but booza   (stretchy ice cream) is popular on hot days. Its texture — imagine hot mozzarella — comes from an ingredient called sahlab , made from orchid root. Flaky, nutty baklava pastries are popular with a cup of Lebanese coffee, which is given depth by cardamom, added during the brewing process.

Three must-try Lebanese dishes

1. Manakish These flatbreads are served hot for breakfast or lunch. The root of their name means ‘engraved’, and they’re often dimpled to allow the flavours on top to concentrate. Popular options include aromatic za’atar and olive oil, or cheese and vegetables.

2. Knafeh Found throughout the Middle East, this dessert is made by layering delicate shredded filo pastry with mild cheese or clotted cream. It’s then drenched in a hot sugar syrup, which turns it crisp on the outside and gooey in the centre.

3. Sambousek These fried pastries can be filled with all manner of vegetables, cheeses and herbs. I like to make a version with equal parts spinach, dill, coriander and parsley, punctuated with salty sheep’s cheese. They’re often served as part of a mezze before the main course, alongside herbs, dips and flatbreads.

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