On our final day in Croatia we visited one of the most famous nature reserves in the country, Plitvice Lakes National Park. The drive was a little longer than the trip to
Krka National Park, but the scenic ride from the Dalmatian Coast mollified any angst for the extra time in the car. Plitvice Lakes National Park is appropriately named, where a series of sixteen lakes collectively feed into each other - creating a unique and impressive landscape. The major tourist attraction appeared to be densely populated when we arrived, the parking lot was teeming with cars and chartered buses. Although, the protected area is the largest in Croatia, nearly covering 300 square kilometers. Clearly, there is plenty of room for everybody, however, we found ourselves among the masses when entering the gate. Fortunately, once inside the park, the populace diffused into the trails.
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| Veliki slap (large waterfall) |
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| Large Waterfall and lower lakes |
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| Lower lakes from a cave |
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When purchasing our park passes, the employees helped us mark our map with all the top sights and attractions. Given the immense undertaking of covering the reserve in a day, we had to refine our route with the most conducive approach. To start, we would tour the caves and the lower lakes. Later, we would board a ferry to the upper lakes where our journey would end (return to the main entrance with the "panoramic" tram). As we embarked on our adventure, it was apparent that Plitvice Lakes offers an over-stimulating serene environment. So much so that I unknowingly went for the unofficial world record of waterfall pictures in a single day (six robots have been crunching the numbers for weeks).
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| Small cascade |
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| Lower lake |
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Hiking Plitvice Lakes National Park is a wonderful experience and highly recommended, however; it is difficult to write an interesting account because every attraction is either a waterfall or lake (for the most part). Rather than write an narrative with inundated redundancy, here is our simplified saga.
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| Veliki slap (again, 78 meters) |
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| Another lower lake |
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We walked down the trail, stopped every fifty meters (or so) to either take pictures or admire the picturesque surroundings. Traveling to "enter lake name here" with the "enter corresponding waterfall name here," we snapped a countless number of photos (even though, cameras with SD cards default to counting).
Read the previous paragraph and replace the "name" to each of the sixteen lakes and plentiful waterfalls (if you so choose. I recommend you don't)...ha-zaah!!!
Note: The "panoramic" tram from the upper lakes is quite a misnomer - the lakes are mostly hidden by tree canopies.
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| Croatian Ent |
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| Racking up the pictures of us - thanks friendly strangers |
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| More cascading water |
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| Trail path above small falls |
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| One of the upper lakes |
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| Two pictures of us in a single post |
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| Waterfall in upper lakes |
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| Upper lakes |
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| More waterfalls... |
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The six robots broke in their attempt to calculate the total waterfall picture count. I was forced to employ our Haustiere, Bella and Duffy. Although, they are adorable dogs, their math skills are limited. Regardless, they totaled 832 pictures between Plitvice Lakes and Krka National Parks. They were rewarded for their efforts (even if they are inexact).
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