Into Each Heart Some Water Falls

Plitvice National Park

The Plitvice National Park in Croatia comprises 16 lakes at different altitudes (about 500 to 640 m above sea level) linked by several waterfalls, the highest of which is 78 m. Several rivers, the Plitvice, the Black and White River (Crna i Bijela Rijeka) feed the lakes, and the limestone and dolomite rocks also mean that there are large underground water currents.

map looking into Plitvice
there's water down there
blue the high falls rainbow at the bottom green bridge quiet and blue indian file at the rock base the big rock
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Turquoise water

The waters are transparent and turquoise and full of fish (trout and chub), the transparency of the water has a strange effect when you see ducks paddling around... as if they are floating in the air.

green coins hovering duck standing or floating? tufa deposits incredible blues ice blue blue period painting transparency
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Green barriers

The calcium from the rocks dissolves into the water and is deposited again further on in tufa (travertine). Bacteria, algae, mosses and plants in the water help in this process because they extract carbon dioxide from the water for photosynthesis. The calcite then settles on the mosses that become part of the tufa barrier, called phytogeneous tufa. However, too much vegetation in the water stops the sedimentation.

cascades along the stairs
mingling currents adventurous boardwalk panorama higher falls water splashing from everywhere cascadinhas refreshing Touché on the boardwalk falls packed in vegetation plants dominate the falls curving water mass getting into the soup water sprouting from the vegetation green wall green palette
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The tumbling waters are enveloped in green, the vegetation wants to withold the flow and uses the lime from the water to build a solid dam.

Solid rock walls, quiet lakes,
more waterfalls and hurrying brooks

boardwalk under the rocks solid rock wall Gavanovac Lake another rock wall wild corner water coming out of the woods a rare wide shot Milanovac Lake reflections more waterfalls on a boatride falls coming through the trees Milanovac Falls large falls boiling water leaking trees many strains hurrying on big falls big showers many falls big showers broad wall running down the stairs
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At times, the park gets slightly overcrowded...

trafic jam on the boardwalk take a number to make your photo
Each year, the park is visited by over a million people and that makes it sometimes hard to enjoy the place. The paths and boardwalks are narrow, with the result that you get pushed along the way by the busloads of people that come after you. We preferred the nearby parks on the Una (Bosnia) and Krka (Croatia) rivers, that receive far less visitors and have easier access.

Boats on the lake

vast expanse of water ferry boat crossing the lake boat on the blue
There are paths all around the lakes, but to shorten the distances, boats cross the largest lake to bring visitors to other parts of the park.
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Fauna and flora in and around the lakes

The water is very alkaline, but fish seem to thrive in it.
fish papa fish fish in blue small fish school of fish blue damselfly blue damselfly damselfly beetle sunroses rock daisies little lilacs fringy white bellflowers Straw foxglove tamponia verdens High mallow cranesbill sunrose mullein hop-hornbeam widow flower little stars Wood cranesbill orchid broomrape broomrape leguminosa little propellors more stars pinks Scarlet pimpernel omelettes
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Bye, bye, Plitvice

kissing under the falls what a beautiful place nature at its best trees run over the falls boardwalk across the falls
a last look at the meandering boardwalk
All photos, movies, and texts (except those signed by Touché Guimarães) were made/written by Guy Voets, and everything is published under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license (attribution, non-commercial, share-alike).

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