Plitvice National Park, Croatia —
In our travels, we have seen many water elements; from the serene (Japanese Gardens, Portland, Oregon) to the spectacular (Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas) to the questionable (Center Field, Angels Stadium, Anaheim.) By far the most surprising lies in the middle of Croatia’s densely wooded interior and it was created not by human hand, but by thousands of years of playful work by the Gods that be.
On paper, nothing prepared us for the magic the Plitvice Park. Sixteen lakes are interconnected by a series of waterfalls dropping a total of 450 feet over eight kilometers. It hardly sounded like Niagara Falls material.
From the park entrance, you can hear the sound of rushing water but nothing about your surroundings hints at greatness. Low, nondescript hills are covered in thick, deciduous woodlands. This is the kind of landscape we had seen EVERYWHERE in the Croatian interior. A winding path leads down to the largest lake, where you are transported across to the far shore by silent electric boat. I hate to say this, but it’s a lot like the journey to Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland. Until you get there.
From your first step onto the dock, a world of water encompasses you. It flows everywhere; from ledges above, from small tributaries to the side, underneath your feet. This would be an impossible experience if not for man’s one master touch. Since the park’s birth in 1949, many kilometers of wooden walkways have been constructed to allow you to glide over, under and in-between the cascades of water.
At first, you wander in awe taking an impossible number of pictures but then, slowly, you begin to appreciate the details. Life is everywhere. Schools of fish congregate in tiny pools. Algeas of many colors colors grow just below the surface. Birds flit from branch to branch. Odd, but this feels more tropical than Hawaii. Many more photos ensue.
What makes all this possible is complicated and takes up many long paragraphs on Wikipedia. It involves a complicated series of small rivers, underground tributaries, dolomitic rock, travertine and tufa sediments. And, apparently, not thousands of years as mentioned above, but millions.
Our feeling was, it doesn’t really matter. Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of a kind. After our first exploration, my mind ran to the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Victoria Falls; places that are so distinct that once visited they will never leave your memory. There is only one thing that Plitvice Lakes has in common with the other destinations we have visited in Croatia. Impossibly Blue Water.
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