Plitvice National Park

Motivational Picture

The whole reason I ever had Croatia on my list is a result of pictures I saw years ago of Plitvice Lakes National Park. Today we are taking a tour there. I looked into doing this ourselves but the bus network did not look safe to try because of schedule and forums that said sometimes if full, the buses do not stop. So,we opted for the tour instead and it turned out well. It is a long day as we leave Split at 0745 and are not scheduled to arrive back until 7:45 P.M. We arrive at the meeting point which is at the west end of the Riva, literally about 4-5 minute walk from our apartment. We get there at 0725 and a man asks Plitvice?, and I respond Portal Tours? We have found our driver and will ride in style in a Mercedes Benz. Alright, it is a Mercedes Benz mini bus, but a Benz none the less. We get front row seats and eventually about 20 other people join us.
Our guide, Silvio, is a good story teller pointing out a few things as we leave Split. He points out a hotel still under construction on the right and the new seaside promenade on the left. He says the last mayor ordered the promenade built before he left office. He happens to own the hotel across the street which is now for sale, only 90 million Euros. Hmmmm! Silvio also shows us some windmills and explains that for Croatia to join the EU, one of the laws is that the country must have 5% of its energy by wind. He jokes that they put them up but did not plug them in. The long bus ride goes pretty fast even though for about 45 minutes we are driving in a torrential downpour. Dami, our driver does not even slow down passing cars as we cruise along. We take a break at a rest area about two hours into our ride, with one hour left.

Entrance to the Park

When we arrive at the park, it is still cloudy but no rain. We are going to walk through the park for four hours. We start with a very short boat ride across a lake to the trail head. Silvio says that last week his group waited an hour to get on the boat, we just walk right on the first one. The rain forecast is keeping the crowds away. He said they, had 10000 visitors a day last week and the park can really only handle 2000 to 3000 a day comfortably.

Wow

We walk along boardwalks seeing turquoise colored water and waterfalls everywhere. It truly is a beautiful place. About the half way point we stop for picnic lunch and sit with a couple from England. Chris and Lian actually met in China while teaching English there. They are a really fun couple and we enjoy talking with them. We chat some more as we walk and when we take a rest break on the drive back, we ask them if they would like to join us for dinner later at the pizza place we went to last night. They agree to and when we finally reach Split at 0815, we each go to our rooms to freshen up and meet at the fountain we started at this morning.

Chris and Lian

We eat pizza, well Lian had a salad, drink beer, Lian had a iced tea, and talked for two hours. We truly enjoyed their company and hope we all can find a way to meet and hang out together again. In the meantime we have some new Facebook friends. They are leaving for England tomorrow, the end of a three week trip for them, so until we meet again, here’s to future great adventures.
There is not much more to say about today. I will let the pictures tell our story even though they will probably not do the beauty of Plitvice justice.
Expenses
Plitvice Lake Tour. 160 Euro
Dinner and Beer at Pizza Obelix. 128 HRK
Apartment Kaleta Varos 587 HRK
Walked 7.7 Miles