9 Almost Paradise

Plitvice Lakes is equally as stunning as Lake Bled but totally different. It’s a UNESCO protected natural wonder and geological paradise. Steves puts it this way, “Imagine Niagara Falls diced and sprinkled over a heavily forested Grand Canyon.” Now imagine miles of narrow winding boardwalks just inches above the fresh water lakes, 16 terraced deep blue or bright turquoise colored lakes, ponds really, ranging in size from a mini-gym to an entire high-school campus. Imagine these wooden plank walkways within midst-distance of cascading waterfalls, some steep flowing like fast rapids while others high cliff falling with hard-hitting splashes encased in a misty glow. We walked on water. Now combine this landscape with over 300 species of butterflies, 40 types of dragonflies (my favorite) and 160 types of birds. Add 1600 types of plant life and you begin to get the picture … actually you don’t. Though it is a photo safari, no picture or narrative can duplicate this mystical oasis. Surely Adam and Eve knew Plitvice Lakes.

We spent three hours one afternoon immersed in the upper lakes region and four hours the next morning engrossed in the lower lakes region. Each day I drained my fully charged camera battery. Dave said it well, “Every ten steps is another Kodak moment.” Our first outing started with a shuttle bus to the upper lake entrance. The walk took us up close and personal with sheets of waterfalls that poured over wide areas of rock. The science of this area is fascinating. The magic is the heavy deposits of calcium carbonate in the water. In a typical water-park such as this, the water erodes the rock, cutting deeper canyons and more clearly defined channels. In Plitvice, the calcium carbonate mineral in the water slowly calcifies and actually builds up rock, travertine, to form new waterfall configurations. It’s likely that if I return in ten years the waterfalls will have moved, some will have dried up while new ones will have formed. Equally as magical is the water clarify and brilliant color. Again the calcium plays a role. It retards algae that would normally cloud the water and it reacts with the sunlight to yield a bright range of deep blue to stunning turquoise.

Our second trip began with a boat trip to the lower lakes entrance. During our ride, I notice a young man reading the English version of the Lonely Planet Croatia guide. By far, the Lonely Planet series was more visible than Rick Steves’ book. The lower lakes hike was different than the upper lakes. In the upper journey we walked on the water and closer to the waterfalls. In the lower trek, we scaled higher peaks that afforded breathtaking panoramas of the azure lakes. At one point, Donna and I committed to scaling a steep trail on the far side of the canyon for a better photo-op with the parks’ highest waterfall. I counted them, 289 steps to the top of the cliff and 289 back down. Petey waved from her vantage point on the opposite side. In all there are six trails one could take around Plitvice Lakes. We took two. In the end, we were wonderfully exhausted … time to eat.