Waterfalls, Rainfall and...Stilettos

magnificent!!!

Today was an incredible day at Plitvice National Park, one of Croatia's many UNESCO World Heritage sites. The park consists of the Upper and Lower lakes made up of 16 interlinking lakes and a series of waterfalls encased in a lush forest. Describing this magnificent place in words can not do it justice and to be honest, it really should be viewed in person to fully capture its true beauty...but I'll try my best. 

park logo

We headed on our 12km drive to the park around 9am and began our journey from Entrance #2.  From here we took a 15 minute electric train to the Upper Lakes...

ready to go...

although for the longest time we thought we were actually in the Lower Lakes...yes we have a great sense of direction I know!

our first view of one of the many falls

The path along the lakes is constructed of logs made into a boardwalk, with some sections simply made of well groomed dirt paths. Along the way we would stop to look at the fish in the beautiful aqua coloured lakes, watch the rushing water run under our feet, or just stop and admire the beauty all around and listen to the sounds of the many birds in the extremely dense and lush forest.

fishy, fishy where are you??

be careful you don't slip!

During our first attempt to explore this area, we were soon greeted by a "no entrance" sign, as parts of the path were flooded from the heavy rain this past month. 

lots of flooded paths

We met a couple from the US  along the trail who had a map, so we decided to join them as they headed off the path, up the hill to the main road and then back down the hill where we reconnected with another path. To be honest the maps and signs are not all that great in the park, which makes it a bit challenging at times to know where you are and what path leads you where.

right or left???

From here we toured around a number of waterfalls of all sizes, taking in this vast area and finally enjoying some welcomed sunshine.  There were definitely a lot of photographs being taken at this point, but none really captured the sheer beauty of the falls and thundering sounds of water falling all around. 

lots of water spray from this one

even the tress are big here!

At times the path was somewhat submerged in the water, so we had to cross over on a ladder that was put on the path for traction…just don't fall!!

a little balance beam act

At around 12:45pm we arrived at the electric boat we were to catch to take us to the Lower Lakes...just in time for the rain to start!  While waiting for the boat, we ate the lunch we brought with us and suited up in our rain gear. The ride to the Lower Lake was about 15 minutes and the views of the lush greenery along the ride was absolutely stunning. 

electric boat

On arrival at the Lower Lakes we headed up the hill to a few viewpoints of the falls. At this point the rain was coming down pretty hard and we were seriously wet...but we journeyed on. From the look offs we saw waterfall after waterfall.  Every now and then we would stop and try to figure out where we were and how to access the path below where we could seen large numbers of tourists. 

view of the many falls from above

The incredible sights just motivated us more to keep investigating the area, even though I eventually had to stop taking out my camera because of the rain. Finally we arrived at Velika Slap (The Big Waterfall).  To get there we had to walk down a number of very slippery stairs, pass through a tunnel and whenever possible find a bit of shelter from the rain.  

slippery when wet!

At the bottom, the spray from the falls was fairly intense, making it difficult to take pictures...the view was nice, but to be honest I was so tired of being wet and worried about my camera I didn't stay long. 

The Big Waterfall

From here we finally connected to the pathways we saw while up above...and we also finally found all the tourists along the paths!!! Lines of people walking on narrow log boardwalks...single file at its best.  It was especially dangerous passing by people in areas where the boardwalk was flooded and sitting under the rushing water of the falls...plus people were almost hitting you with their umbrellas as they tried to stay dry. 

beep, beep…here we come

The best moment of the day was when we passed an Asian women walking on the boardwalk in stiletto high heels...yes you heard me correct.  One slip or push and I'm sure you would have seen a domino effect of people falling into the water below...only wish we had a picture to demonstrate this highly effective hiking footware!!

Along our trek back up the other side of the falls we came across Supljara (hollow) Cave...a ceiling and floorless cave. We decided to head down the cave where we had more incredible views from below. 

hollow cave on the left

The trek up and down the cave was a workout in itself and once at the top again the rain eased off and out came the camera. We walked until about 3:00pm when we caught the electric train back to the main entrance where we made it back to our car...again we had challenges paying for our parking and getting through the toll...we really are hopeless!  

What an incredible way to spend 5 hours...rain or shine!

after 4 hours of trekking

From the park we decided we needed to get our daily dose of kava, so we headed to a nearby caffe/bar, only to be smoked and pickled by second hand smoke inside.  It was so smokey you could cut it with a knife...did I forget to mention Croatian's love their cigarettes?!?!

Back at our apartment we changed, checked out our pictures and then went to Restoran Degenja at the recommendation of our host Sanja. The best part about this restaurant was that there was no smoking aloud!  We had great service, enjoyed our meal and also tested out two new local beer...Toceno pivo for me (a local draft) and Velebitsko pivo for Lisa (dark beer).  It was a nice multicultural evening out....I think every table was from a different country...and a great way to finish such a spectacular day. 

Today is our final night inland and we are heading south to the coast of Croatia for the remainder of our journey....Trogir, via Zadar tomorrow. Can't wait to see what lies ahead!

Until then...

the Two Lisa's