Plitvice Lakes National Park

Saturday July 30th, 2011 Plitvice Lakes National Park
Last night we had another great dinner at Sperun in Split - tortellini in a cream sauce and calamari. Afterwards we took one last evening stroll along the Riva and got some gelato at Ivona, a recommended spot.
This morning, after breakfast in our apartment, we were out the door at 7:30 and walked down the Riva to the bus station. Of course we were 45 minutes early for our bus which left at 8:30 but I tend to be conservative on the what ifs of travel scheduling. Anyway there was time for Anita to have a coffee before we set off for Plitvice Lakes National Park.
The trip here took about 5 hours but it was, once again, very scenic. We’re starting to wonder if there’s anywhere in Croatia that doesn’t look good.
As we got closer to the park, the mixed forest actually started to look a lot like home. We stopped at a rest stop / restaurant not too far from here and there was definitely a hunting theme with some kind of animal roasting over a wood-fired spit, and lots of stuffed bears, boar, deer, foxes and other animals displayed. There were even 2 live bears in a small fenced compound at the end of the parking lot. It was so sad looking I couldn’t even take a picture. I really don’t understand stuffing dead animals to display as trophies (especially when arranged as if they’re having a tea party) and imprisoning live wild animals in a small, dirty compound. I’ve got no problem with hunting and I love to fish but there should be some respect.
It didn’t take long after we were dropped off literally in the bush on the side of the road, to find our hotel. They’ve done a good job of maintaining the natural environment here despite the hordes of tourists.
Sunday July 31st, 2011, Plitvice Lakes
The Hotel Plitvice is fine. It’s not fancy but the rooms, halls and dining room are all big. We have our room, buffet breakfast and dinner for 122 euros per night. It’s a little more than usual but it’s not bad since there are few alternatives. We’re right in the national park.
Sadly, the first person killed in the former Yugoslavia civil war was a park policeman killed here. The Serb army took over for 4 years and used this hotel as a barracks before wrecking it when they were finally pushed out. It’s been completely renovated and looks fine.
Yesterday afternoon we bought our park admission tickets (110 kuna each) at an information office. The tickets are good for as many days as we want since we’re staying in a park hotel. We just get them stamped at the front desk in the morning. There are little buses and electric boats on the biggest lake that are all free with a park pass. So we took the bus down to the other park entrance and bought some supplies at the little store there. There are hordes of tourists but we mostly avoided the trails for the time being and just came back to our hotel.
The hotel dining room is very nice but the food is quite plain. It’s adequate but nothing to write home about (that’s a blog joke). We went to bed early last night because we were tired and wanted to get an early start this morning. It’s best to get out early to avoid the mid-day tour buses coming in.
This morning we were in the dining room shortly after 7 and down to the dock before 8:30. We took the electric boat down the lake so we could start touring the lower lakes area first. It was very scenic with lots of waterfalls between the lakes in the chain. The water dissolves calcium carbonate from the rock and then it re-deposits it as it tumbles down from lake to lake. So the waterfalls are always changing. (That’s the short version). The lakes are all very clear and turquoise coloured. There are lots of fish and ducks.
There are fairly narrow wooden boardwalks that snake all around the lakes and waterfalls. There are also narrow paths below and above the cliffs.
It was a nice sunny morning and we had a great tour of the lower lakes. Then we took the boat back up to the upper lakes section and toured it. Unfortunately it started to sprinkle rain but it was still really beautiful.
After about 4 hours of wandering, we took the bus back from the upper section to our hotel. We’ve just had lunch and may go our for another short walk, now that the sun is shining again. Tonight and tomorrow morning it’s back to the dining room. Then we’ll check out, walk back up the trail to the highway and hopefully catch the 10:45 bus to Zagreb.