Plitvice National Park, Croatia, April 29

An amazing day!  We spent six hours, mostly hiking, in this unique environment.  We took a shuttle bus to the Upper Lakes and hiked down.  Stunning.  16 lakes, all interconnected, separated by natural travertine dams created by moss, algae and bacteria.  The hike went from 2,087 feet in altitude to 1,650 over 8 kilometers.  There were countless waterfalls, more than we have ever seen in one place, by a lot.  The lakes are azur, green, light blue, depending on the minerals, organisms, depth and light. There are extensive underground streams.  Waterfalls dry up and re-form, depending in the dam formations.  The largest waterfall, or slap, is 250 feet high.

   After several hours in the upper lakes, we took an electric, ecological boat to the Lower Lakes, where we had coffee and split a piece of apple strudel.  Then, we hiked along the lakes and to the big waterfall, getting rather wet along the way. (Croatia must be like the US might have been before we were so safety and suing conscious....slippery boardwalks with water bubbling through as we walked right over waterfalls, few safety rails....quite refreshing actually, although we did watch our step!)

We walked mostly through virgin forests of beech, fir and spruce.  We did not see the birds we thought we'd see, but did see a life bird  for us, a Grey Wagtail, which was very cool, as well as a lot of trout and one water snake.

We hiked out of the gorge and got a shuttle back to the car....6 and a half hours....and, it was in the low 80s....a truly glorious day.

Then...back to the restaurant and the same nice waiter...this time we shared a lamb and pork roast, done on the grill.  Four tour busses were also there - Italy, Latvian, Austria.... This is a big attraction and we saw many touring groups of Asians along the trails.