The inside back cover of National Geographic Traveler magazine always shows a single beautiful picture of breathtaking scenery, usually from some remote place in the world. We had an issue in our magazine rack back home for several years (go ahead, mock my housekeeping skills -- I can take it) that featured a lush forested area with waterfalls cascading into ethereal aquamarine lakes. Plitvička jezera. The Plitvice Lakes. Croatia.
"Well, that looks lovely," I thought. "If only ..."
Then Hartwick approved Karl's sabbatical year in central Europe. And a plan was hatched. Based on a picture.
Ben and Garrett had a long weekend scheduled for the US Memorial Day weekend. They would be out of school on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. We started the break early, however, by leaving at the end of school on Friday the 20th. We're all good with the boys missing a few days of school for the education of travel. I mean ... that's why we're here, right?
Friday night, after driving through spectacular mountains in the eastern edge of the Alps, we spent the night near Graz (hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the dog) at Hotel Amira. We arrived in the Plitvice area (central Croatia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina) early Saturday afternoon and finally found our guesthouse, Apartments Renata. Croatian backroads are not Google Maps strong suit. Apparently.
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| Ben looks for more ripe cherries on the tree at Apartments Renata. |
After settling in at Renata, we headed off to Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Guidebooks say that you could "do" the lakes in a day. And you could. Certainly lots of daytrippers do. But we allotted two days at Plitvice, which gave us time to hike to the upper lakes on Saturday and explore around Veliki Slap (Big Waterfall) and the lower lakes on Sunday. Ben and Garrett have become terrific hikers -- in fact we probably covered 8 kilometers on Saturday afternoon -- but attempting to see the whole park in a day would have frustrated and fatigued everyone.
We started our exploration at Entrance 2, simply because we missed the turn for Entrance 1. (Inadequate signage was a recurring theme of the trip.) It worked out for the best though. Veliki Slap is kind of the feature attraction of the park, and it was nice to take in some of the subtleties of the upper lakes before going for all the bells and whistles at Entrance 1.
We hiked down to the water and took a boat to the west side of the lakes.
From The Rough Guide to Croatia ~
The unique landscape was created by the movement of travertine, calcium-rich material picked up by the river and then deposited downstream -- a process which, when repeated over the course of several millennia, produced a terraced sequence of barriers behind which the lakes formed.
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| The forest wrings water out of itself from every level. |
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| Frogs croaked lustily. |
According to the park's web site, the color of the water changes depending on the quantity of minerals and organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight.
We loved the turquoise of this pool and were intrigued by the underwater structure. It appears to be an old foundation or wall taken over by organisms and bacteria in the water.
Garrett looked at it and sized up the situation immediately. "It's the barrier for the frog teams. The teams get on opposite sides when they battle each other."
The water is constantly changing direction, abandoning some pools, creating new ones.
This pool clearly saw action recently -- a higher water mark is visible in the vegetation -- but it's no longer part of the cascading route and has gone stagnant.
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| Water-logged stump |
It seems unlikely this former tree would have grown up in an existing pool.
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| Underwater nurse log |
The boardwalks were sturdy enough, but they must require a lot of upkeep as the wood deteriorates.
New paths were being constructed in various parts of the park.
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| The boys get a geology lesson. |
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| Plaque commemorating Plitvice Lakes champion Ivo Pevalek |
In the 1920s, botany professor Ivo Pevalek recognized the unique nature of the lakes' landscape. His work led to Plitvice Lakes being established as the first Croatian national park. In 1979 the park was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Interesting and sad recent history: In March 1991 the park was the site of the first armed confrontation of the Croatian War of Independence and led to the first fatalities in the Serb-Croatian conflict. For several years the park was on UNESCO's Endangered World Heritage List due to the risk of mines in the region. Plitvice Lakes was among the first areas cleared of mines, and it was removed from the endangered list in 1998.
We wrapped up our first day and headed out for pizza.
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| Karl's Karlovačko |
And pivo.
Sunday ~ Day 2, Entrance 1
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| Veliki Slap (Big Waterfall) |
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| Cooling the tootsies. |
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| In front of Veliki Slap |
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| View from the northern overlook |
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| At the northern overlook |
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| Boys and sticks and water |
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| Karl on the boardwalk between lakes Gavanovac and Kaluđerovac. |
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| Here's the same boardwalk from above. |
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| Imp in a tree |
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| Another tripod success. Especially as it didn't swing off the railing into the water. |
Had lunch and bought postcards at a lakeside concession area.
Then took a boat back to the start of the upper lakes.
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| Our final view looking up the canyon. |
We left Plitvice Lakes on Monday to head to the Istrian Peninsula on the Adriatic Sea. Tales and pictures up soon.
More Plitvice pictures, if you're so inclined ~
Our accommodations at Apartments Renata.
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| Karl enjoys some complimentary slivovic. |
By the way, we can not recommend the Slovenian rest area WCs highly enough!
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| I've taken more pictures of toilets this year than I care to acknowledge. |
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| Garrett comes to a fork in the trail. |
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| Cheep stands guard at our window as we pack to leave Hotel Amira. |
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| Sign Language |
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| Still waters ... |
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| Relaxing back at the guesthouse. |
Garrett and Ben hatch a plan to start a dog-sitting business.
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| Ben gets a jump on the idea by pampering a local pooch. |
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| A man and his pivo |
I will now humbly admit that I was wrong. Croatia is gorgeous. And now I desperately want to go.*
ReplyDeleteAlso - how much older does Ben look now than when we saw him not five months ago?
* Did you ever play Myst? It reminds me of the water world in Myst, wooden decks and all.
A ~ wait 'til you see Rovinj and the coast! And I give ... how much older *does* Ben look than when you last saw him? :)
ReplyDeleteFinally, have never played Myst. Is it fun?
At least a year older, if not 18 months. It's the look in his eyes, one that says "I have see the Veliki Slap. I have changed."
ReplyDeleteMyst was great fun. I'm not a gamer but it came out when I was frittering my life away in Austin and I was sucked in. Like - missed hours and hours of sleep to play it. Don't know that that would happen now, however.
But, no matter. It's a fun game.
Scenery is a bit drab but those toilets, wow!
ReplyDeleteI think this is the best series of photos I've seen so far. This reminds me of a small park in northern Michigan that we visited once. I could stare into the crystal clear blue waters for hours. How tragic that it was once the site of war and had land-mines. The idea that a human being could look at that space and decide to put explosives there boggles my mind.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me there as a cache there to be found. There had to be...
Love the "Still Waters" photo. Still waters, indeed.
Who is "cheep"? Looks like he would fit in with Team-Ducky...
Absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to share this post with Cheryl.
@ Adrienne ~ That's the makings of a tee-shirt for Ben, right there.
ReplyDelete@ Andrea ~ i KNOW! Doesn't it just make you want to go?
@ Craig ~ Have to confess: we had the Geomate with us, but the only time we turned it on was in Rovinj on the Croatian coast ... and the nearest cache was miles away. I'm sure there were caches to be found along our route, but our attention was elsewhere on this trip.
You'll be happy to know, though, that Ben went geocaching yesterday with a friend and his family. :)
Cheep is one of Ben's stuffties. That is one well traveled chick.
@ Cheryl ~ Hi! Hope you enjoyed the scenery. :)