The Owl & The Pussycat: Plitvicka Jezera National Park

After leaving Krka National Park we travelled north into the mountains. We wound around narrow roads witnessing some of the most spectacular views. As we drove through the occasional village it is safe to say we witnessed our fare share of odd behaviour. We pulled up to a wild camp we had intended to stay at and were greeted by an Ostrich peering over a fence at us. We parked the van and got out to investigate. As we got closer we could hear all kinds of squeaks and squawks. What we stumbled across next was really quite strange. There was a pen with four alpacas tucking into a fresh bale of hay, two donkeys, two Shetland ponies, four little piglets, a wallaby, an owl, two monkeys a deer and a flamingo. Right in front of us. There was nobody around to talk to just this fairly odd mixture of animals chilling by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

An unusual welcome committee

Two Ringo's

The Parrot

Fluffy Alpacas

Two Shetland Ponies

Two Donkeys

One of four Piglets

Billy Goats Gruff

After taking a few photos and making a little donation towards some food for the animals we continued on our journey. As we crawled uphill and around a bend we spotted an old man perched on a donkey moseying right along the mountains edge. Scarily close to the edge in fact. The donkey was laden with what looked like a lifetimes possessions and a small dog followed. We stopped to take a picture of the old man and his pets, he was more than happy to oblige and gave a right rye smile for the camera, bless.

The happiest man on earth. And his donkey <3

After an eventful journey we reached our next stop, we spent two nights at an Auto-Camp in Muškovci. It was so peaceful and at times annoyingly quiet, but beautiful all the same. Breathing in the crisp fresh air and feeling the morning dew on the grass has been a thing of the past for the last few months although the sun had burnt away all that freshness by about 9am we enjoyed it while it lasted. After a relaxing couple of days we got straight back on the sightseeing wagon and set of for Plitvicka Jezera National Park.

120 km north towards Zagreb we reached Plitvicka Jezera National Park (NP). The park was awarded NP status in 1949 making it the oldest in Croatia. It has become one of the most valuable features of natural interest in Croatia and wider Europe. It is the largest National Park in Southeast Europe extending over 29,500 hectares, forest covers 22,300 ha whilst 217 ha are covered by water and the remaining 7000 ha are occupied by villages. There are 16 lakes linked together by cascades and waterfalls fed from numerous brooks and streams.

We paid 70kn for parking and claimed half price admission (55kn) because of flooding. There are eight walking trails to follow ranging from 2-8 hours. We brought a map and set about exploring. The first trail we followed was centred around the largest lake Jezero Kozjak, three smaller lakes, Milanovac, Gavanovac and Kaluderovac and Veliki Slap, the largest waterfall at the NP and lasted 3-4 hours. We took a boat from west to east on the Jezero Kozjac and began our trail around the Milanovac Lake. A short distance in we realised most of the paths on our trail were closed due to flooding although we were desperate to see the Veliki Slap so we decided to walk it anyway. We ducked under the yellow tape and continued along the trail. We wound around crystal clear ice cold lakes and along flooded pathways sticking close to the foot of the rocks when we couldn’t see the paths edge. The wooden pathways were slippery underfoot and the rapid like waters were spilling over onto stairways and bridges although the pathways were quiet so we were able to take our time. Jac kept an eye on Oscar as I clung onto handrails for dear life frequently losing my feet in the fast current.

We reached the Veliki Slap and were the only ones there. Towering 78m above us it was breathtakingly beautiful. We were showered in fresh cold spray from the waterfall whilst we stood trying to capture it from every angle. Its hard to do it any justice with words and harder to capture the enormity of it in a photo, this really is one of those things you need to see to appreciate.

After all the excitement we decided to find a table to sit at a eat our pre-packed pic-nic. How super organised and money conscious we have become!! We sat in the sun studying the map and enjoying our marmalade sandwiches before heading off on another trail. We were both shattered and walking around with sopping wet trainers but wanted to see as much as we could. We squelched back to the jetty to wait for the boat back down the Jezero Kozjak.

Our next trail was around the 7 smaller lakes, Gradinsko, Galovac, Malo, Vir, Batinovac Veliko and Okrugljak. We saw smaller waterfalls and made our way around most of this on narrow wooden footpaths crisscrossing back and forth over the lakes. After a long day of exploring these enchanting lakes we decided to head back to the camper and find somewhere to stay for the night. We drove to a small Autocamp 2km down the road and stayed there for the night. We paid 10€ each for a pitch with electricity and use of the toilet and shower facilities.

The following morning we woke to rain and thunderstorms so decided to stay in the van and eat our own bodyweight in toast. By early afternoon the weather had cleared up and we made our way to Zagreb, the capital and our last stop before leaving Croatia after almost a month.