A few years back, when we saw the picture of a very odd, yet stunningly beautiful place on the Internet, the colours and contours looked so unreal that we were certain it was a morphed picture. Later, we came to know that it was indeed a real place, a very unique eco-system in Croatia named Plitvice Lakes National Park, and immediately made a mental note to visit the place.
Plitvice Lakes are located roughly at the centre of the vertical leg of the somewhat oddly-shaped country of Croatia, very close to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Plitvice Lakes National Park is essentially a system of 16 inter-linked lakes, lying in the Plitvice Plateau, and located within a lush, green forest mainly of beech, spruce and fir trees. Geologists maintain that this ecological system has been in existence for thousands of years. We read up that the Plitvice Lakes lie in a basin of karstic rock, of mainly dolomite and limestone. The lakes are separated by natural dams of travertine, which are formed by the encrustation of moss, algae and bacteria, with calcium carbonate. These travertine barriers are found to grow at the rate of 1 cm per year. Water descends from an altitude of 636m to 503m, through the 16 lakes, over a distance of approximately 8 km, creating some spectacular waterfalls between the lakes. The lakes are divided into an upper cluster of 12 lakes, and a lower cluster of four. Plitvice Lakes was declared a National Park in 1949. In 1979, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Visitors have the option of walking down from the top of the lake system, or trekking up from the bottom point. Narrow, serpentine ‘bus-trains’ take you to either point, from a central location. We chose the more conventional route down from the top. Wooden walkways have been imaginatively constructed throughout the entire length of the trail, running over rushing waters and minor waterfalls at some places. These walkways serve the dual purpose of giving the visitors the best view of the glorious falls, and at the same time preventing any damage to the delicate travertine, which is the heart of the whole eco-system. At the start, the walkway goes along the side of the large lake at the top — Proscansko Jezero (Jezero is Croatian for Lake) — for a little while, before descending. Very soon, we see many waterfalls cascading from different points. Lake after lake comes into view as we trudge down. The clear waters of the lakes acquire stunning hues, ranging from green to aquamarine to azure, depending on the quantity of minerals and micro-organisms in the water, as well as the angle of the sunlight. We found that some of the most spectacular falls in the upper section are located near the Ciginovac and Gradinsko Lakes.
The big, central lake — Kozjak Jezero — separates the upper and lower lakes. Big electric boats take visitors from one end of this lake to the other, from where they can continue their hike, saving quite a bit of time in the process. The shores of the Kozjak are thickly wooded, and the lake boasts of a couple of islands as well.
The lower lakes are essentially constituted by the run-off from Kozjak Jezero, and lie in a wide canyon carved out of the rock. Short, (nevertheless spectacular) falls separate the lakes in this section. Here, the walkway criss-crosses the lakes, adding to the thrill of the walkers. The view of the tranquil greenish lakes, in the backdrop of the craggy shores covered with lush forests, remains etched in one’s memory. We exit the lakes through a pretty steep climb, at the bottom end, and the view gets even more spectacular as we reach higher. At various points, we get to see the different levels of the lakes, with the numerous falls between them, which is really a fascinating spectacle.
We leave the place a trifle dazed, fully endorsing what Ivo Pevalek, a highly respected scientist who strove hard to preserve the unique Plitvice eco-system, had earlier declared, “There are waters, lakes, waterfalls, and forests in other places, but there is only one Plitvice Lakes.”
