The American Wild West in Croatia?
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Published: September 28th 2019
In the 1960s, films were made of the German author Karl May's "western" novels, featuring the characters of Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, a Native chief. They were filmed in Croatia, which was thought to look like the American West! From the clips, it seems that May was sympathetic to the Native cause. Much of the filming was done in the Plivice National Park, our destination on Thursday. Here's a clip if you're interested:
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The park was founded in 1949. It was fought over during the war, and landmines are still thought to be found in remote locations in the park. Much of the infrastructure was destroyed in the war, and this gave the area time to recover from over use.
"The national park is world-famous for its lakes arranged in cascades. Sixteen lakes can be seen from the surface. These lakes are a result of the confluence of several small rivers and subterranean karst rivers. The lakes are all interconnected and follow the water flow. They are separated by natural dams of
travertine, which is deposited by the action of
moss,
algae, and
bacteria. The particularly sensitive travertine barriers are the result of an interplay between water,
air and plants. The encrusted plants and bacteria accumulate on top of each other, forming travertine barriers which grow at the rate of about 1 cm (0.4 in) per year.
The 16 lakes are separated into an upper and lower cluster formed by
runoff from the mountains, descending from an altitude of 636 to 503 m (2,087 to 1,650
ft) over a distance of some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), aligned in a south–north direction. The lakes collectively cover an area of about 0.77 square miles, the water exiting from the lowest lake forming the
Korana River.
The lakes are renowned for their distinctive colors, ranging from azure to green, grey or blue. The colors change constantly depending on the quantity of minerals or organisms in the water and the angle of sunlight." wikipedia
Most you have seen the photos of this park, if you have seen any photos of Croatia. It is incredibly popular (over a million visitors a year), even with the hefty $25/person entrance fee, which does not include parking! We knew it would be crowded, but the sheer number of people there was overwhelming at times.
We picked up our rental car at 8:30am
and set off for the park, over two hours away. The drive was slow once we were off the autoroute, since the speed limit was between 25 and 40 miles/hour on the road to the park. We passed through areas that were heavily bombed in the war for independence from 1991 to 1995. Serbian homes remain empty, since most Serbs fled the country during or after the war. About a quarter of Croatia's economy was ruined and over 20,000 people were killed in the war.
Once at the park, we found parking, bought tickets, and walked down to the boat landing, to cross the upper lake. We unfortunately got off the boat right behind a slow moving, and very large German or Austrian tour group, who all had ear pieces and were listening to the leader, out of sight up the trail. We tried to pass the group a few times without success. When we finally saw a chance, we went for it, but I got criticized for touching a woman on her shoulder to warn her I was passing her. I also almost put out a man's eye (according to Bill), when the hiking poles slipped in the
backpack and pointed sideways...no one died or fell into the water, but I now know that that I have a very low tolerance for being in large groups out in nature!!!
We spend the day walking the boardwalks from waterfall to waterfall, and taking boats between the lakes. The colors of the water were amazing, and while the waterfalls are not spectacular, the sheer number and variation is remarkable.
On the way back to Zagreb, we stopped in the cutest town ever, to look at more waterfalls, and have dinner. When we remarked to our young waitress that the town was so pretty, she shrugged and said it was always the same. Bill asked what she did for fun, and she said there was a disco not far way and "they all have cars"..
We got back to car rental (with some difficulty in the dark and a poor GPS) just as they were closing...
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linda talman
non-member comment
The park in snow!
Hi Lynn - First of all, the grand baby has arrived. Don't mention on social media please. We went there a few years ago in March - making the case of off season travel. It was awesome. Snow and empty of visitors. Almost. But in any case and at all times, beautiful. Sometime we can show you the pics if you are interested. And definitely the baby pics! Cheery.