Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera

Nacionalni park Plitvička jezera

...or as we know it Plitvice Lakes National Park

The lakes that make up the park – all 16 of them – and their natualistic, cultural and historic significance are fully described on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park) and  I urge you, if your curiosity is aroused by our experiences, to visit this and other sites about the park. All I can do in this post is try to capture our experience visiting the park.

Other than some passing mention somewhere, neither Pat nor I had ever heard of Plitvice Lakes – which is not surprising. I am sure there are many travelling Croatians who have never heard of Yellowstone or Yosemite. That is not an inaccurate comparison because Plitvice is the best-known park in Croatia with visitors at the 1.2 million level every year. In fact, as we came to find out, it was the site of the first armed conflict between the Croats and the Serbs in March, 1991.

When our friend from Rowan, Connie Rosenberger, suggested (strongly) we visit the park, we gave it some thought. As we were planning the next phase of our adventure after Ljubljana, a glance at the map said Plitvice could be a side stop on our way to the Dalmatian coast. We identified and booked a B&B 3.5 km outside the park entrance – mind you, we are thinking American parks here with clearly marked entrances, rangers, and shops – and plotted a route.

As we were leaving Slovenia, our trusty GPS suggested we leave the European equivalent of the interstate and drive over the mountains. It looked like it would save us about 60 km. And even though the line on the map was, at times, a faded yellow track (meaning cow path as we came to find out), we followed its advice and headed south. But our trusty GPS kept changing its mind about the best route, and the shortcut ended up adding more than an hour onto what should have been a simple drive. Gradually this visit to the park seemed like more of an effort than we anticipated. Thank the good Lord we persisted.

 We did manage to go through a wonderful sleepy border crossing from the invisible borders of the EU countries (like Slovenia) into a non EU country – Croatia. But the driving adventure wasn't over. We left the safety of the A1 (think super highway) for a faded grey line on our map – Route 42 – think goat path. Our destination was a mere 48 km away, and it took us most of an hour and a half as we negotiated switch-backing one-lane roads. 

Our B&B

The sign we happened to see

When we got to the B&B (which we found almost by accident and which was located in a village cluster of maybe three buildings) and our room, the largest of the three available, barely had space for the bed and the shower was literally 2x2, the park was seeming less than a good idea.

Don capturing the big falls

Big falls (Slap) from in the gorge

At the suggestion of our host, Mario, a strapping Croat who hefted both our suitcases up to the 2nd floor with ease, we took a short drive to what we would learn was the west rim of the canyon that makes up the park. It was nice – we saw the high waterfall from the top – but not  quite up to anticipation. It reminded me more of Letchworth Park in the western tier of New York State. We returned to Mario and his mom who made us a platter of mixed grilled meat and sausage, soup, salad, and even a cake for desert, slept fitfully – the wood burning boiler seemed to have gone cold during the night – and awoke to a typical Croatian breakfast of sliced processed lunchmeats and nescafe coffee. We were ready for this park and it had better be good.

View from a side canyon

Boy, was it ever good. In fact it was amazing. And, we discovered (again) that our brain plays tricks on us. We experience the unfamiliar, that which departs from our experience and expectations, as unsettling. I was nervous about all the walking and climbing the park seemed to demand and confused because I could not make sense of the (unfamiliar) directions to view the park. There was no one at the information areas and no clues as to what to do or where to start. Of course, we are here in March and while the park is open, it is not really geared up for an onslaught of visitors. Part of the park was not even accessible. But it took us a while to figure this out as our anticipations gave way to the reality of this experience.

The wooden walkways

The people who designed the experience park visitors have really got it right. The 16 lakes that make up the park are in a canyon which, at its deepest point, is about 250 meters. Because we visited in spring when the snow is melting, there was a lot of water running through the canyon, cascading from lake to lake.

Bottom of the gorge

We started at the bottom of the cascades, heading down a switch-backing trail to the canyon floor. The park designers have built a series of wooden walkways that took us back and forth across the floor of the canyon, walking on the surface of the water (or so it seemed), and slowly climbing up the canyon. 

We were almost walking on the water.

The walkways kept us from walking on the delicate travertine, the build up of silt and biomass that separated each lake from those above and below, allowing us to view the cascading water upclose and personal.

Interplay of the walkways with the water

Travertine is what makes Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone and the springs in Pamukkali, Turkey. And, the walkways protect the delicate material that makes this all possible. The sound of falling water is omnipresent, and the colors of the water vary through the full range of blues and cyans as the sun plays across the surface and various minerals interact with the plantlife. Further, the colors are always changing.

The emerging flora

After climbing up through the four or five lower lakes, we headed to the second trail which involved taking a ferry across a short strait in one of the lakes. This walk - it took about an hour to complete - really brought the magic of Plitvica to light. The three lakes the walk circled were relatively small and the cascades between the lakes were dramatic to say the least.

A view looking back

The pictures capture some of this but the interplay of the sounds of flowing water, bird cries, changing colors, and yet more breathtaking vistas around each bend create an experience that is indeed indescribable--and when you turned your back to look at what you've just seen--you were treated to another breathtaking vista from a different vantage point.

We left the park after meeting a Venezuelian teacher who currently is teaching high school Spanish in Kansas and was travelling with his Spanish-only speaking sister during his spring break, and who shared his wonderment at the experience of the park with us. We all noted how the experience of the park we had, with very few other visitors and lots and lots of water, made this the best of all times to visit – unless we had waited a few weeks until the abundant fauna would be in full bloom. But we got a lot and the inconvenience of the drive and the discomfort of having our expectations vary from what we experienced faded very quickly. All I can say is Wow! And a shout out to Connie for turning us on to this place and this experience.

The adventure continues.