Pools and Waterfalls of Plitvice Lakes

The road from Slovenia to Plitvice will, without question, lead you through Karlovac and then southward through many small towns, where one can still feel the bloody history of the 90’s in the architecture. Many an apartment block is still riddled with bullet holes, and as we start to approach the national park and grassy flatlands replace the urban landscape, we can see empty frames of houses, burnt to the ground during the Balkan Wars, as well as abandoned churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church, left behind by the inhabitants of the Serbian Krajina. These were moved there during the times of the socialist Yugoslavia and when it fell apart, the battles began right here. The national park itself suffered the consequence of war in the Balkans and most of the houses were burnt down during the fighting – We are talking mainly about farms from the 19th century – And the lakes themselves were barraged and covered with landmines. Luckily, despite the fierce fighting, Plitvice survived... 

Plitvice Lakes are truly some of the most beautiful and the mightiest examples of the slow creativity of Karst landscapes. We are talking about sixteen lakes that were formed as a conversion of several underground and above-ground rivers, which pour into each other in awe-inspiring cascades. The largest of these lakes is the Lake Kozjak with its 81 hectares of land area and the depth of 47 meters. Geologically speaking, the lakes are relatively young; around 150.000 years old and what is interesting is that in different places in the park, we can see different stages of formation of the Karst phenomena; from the melting of calcium carbonate to deposition of sedimentary rocks. Lakes themselves are ripe with life and biological diversity. We can find there rare flowers, such as the Ligularia Sibirica, over fifty different species of orchids and certain plants that have only ever been discovered in Plitvice, such as the indigenous variety of the Buttercup flower. From the animal kingdom one can find there everything from the brown bear to eagles, lynxes and a couple of very rare breeds of bats. 

Considering that today Plitvice Lakes are visited by around a million visitors per year, it is completely understandable that they have elevated tourism into an art form. Surprisingly logical system of boats and busses takes you to almost any corner on the lakes, hidden stands with food can be found almost everywhere and for a price that moves around 200 Kunas you will be able to enjoy a day of workout, surrounded by extraordinary, for most part unbridled nature with truly magnificent lakes and astounding cliffs that bring to mind some of the last scenes from the Fellowship of the Ring. However, the tourist attraction comes with its price. For the ticket one waits for about an hour and the last hour of walking through the hike, I spent waiting on a crowded bridge in the sun for the boats that were to take us to the next lake. And exactly because of this mass of tourist the experience of Plitvice is somewhat bereft of its uniqueness, which is replaced by a bitter taste in the mouth at the memory of the waiting, the crowd on the bridges and coca cola stands on the shores. Of course, the thriftiest among you will be able to find an abundance of hidden places where one can only rarely see a tourist, such as the caves at the lower lakes, but these moments are truly few and far between. 

 

Plitvice Lakes are indeed an extraordinary slice of nature that will astound you at every step with its primal beauty, its unrbridled glory and phenomenal vistas of cliffs that will make you feel truly small and insignificant in lieu of its age. But for every moment of awe offered by this national park, you will be face with a moment of anger on account of touristy watered down experience of being woken up from being moved to tears by loud gabbing and tiresome waiting in crowds, thicker than city masses. Nonetheless, Plitvice are a place that is so close to us and it charm so incredible that it is a special kind of sin if you do not see them at least once in your life. Perhaps in the winter cold less people will set out to spend their Sunday afternoons there.