Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

 

Halo, from Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia!  This place has been a bucket list item since we arrived in Europe.  When planning the trip to Pula, we figured we'd just hop over for a day trip to the national park.  Do not recommend this.  It's a 3 hour drive from Pula, and it was just a tad too far to make it an enjoyable day trip.  If we were to do it again, we'd drive from home to Plitvice, stay the night and hike the next day and then do the drive over to Pula.  

Plitvice may be the most beautiful place on earth that I (Christy) have ever been to.  Everywhere we looked there was something new and breathtaking to take in.  The water colors were incredible and there were different shades with every step we took.  The waterfalls were magnificent.  It was 100% worth the visit.  We only wish we had more time to hike other areas of the park. 

This was another quick trip, so we did a collective answering of a few of our normal questions.  

Something we learned: the national park has sixteen lakes and over NINETY waterfalls.  The largest waterfall in Croatia, called Veliki Slap, is located in Plitvice National Parks (pictured below).

Something else we learned: The lakes constantly fluctuate in color.  At any given moment it may look different than it did before.  The colors range from emerald green to deep blue, to light grey.  They change colors based on the number of organisms and minerals in them and the way the sunlight is hitting them.  The ingredient that makes the most impact on the color is the calcium carbonate from the limestone rocks.  (We did a lot of science learning on this particular excursion)

Even more fascinating things we learned: Like Lake Bled's origin story, there is a fairytale-like story that is often used to explain the creation of Plitvice Lakes.  Legend has it there was a period of drought in this region.  The natives of the region called on a magic queen to help them and she responded by creating Plitvice Lakes.  

We know this is just folklore, and that, indeed, the Creator of the universe probably had a splendid time crafting this glorious piece of the earth. 

Some things the kids enjoyed while hiking: 

-The bullfrog we could hear and had to look carefully to spot in the reeds of one of the lakes.

- The challenge of the hike up to see some of the waterfalls.

- The colors of the lakes. 

- Spotting all kinds of water life, like fish, frogs, and even a couple water snakes.

- Watching the ducks jump on the top of the waterfalls and ride them down like a roller coaster.

Things we did not enjoy:  Our GPS took us to the back of the park instead of the main entrance.  While the sounds of the forest were enticing, the narrow roads that barely fit our van and the switchbacks that we (read: Mike) had to maneuver down to get over to the main entrance were NOT.  It was an adventure, but we would not repeat it.  

I think the pictures probably speak for themselves, but we had an incredible time at Plitvice National Park.  We would absolutely go back and hike some of the other areas.  

Dovidenja, Plitvice!