Plitvicka Lakes National Park

With a surface area of 294.82 sq kms, the Plitvicka Lakes National Park is the largest of Croatia's 8 national parks.  It is an amazing place to visit and in 1979 the NP was included in the Unesco list of world heritage sites with good reason.  The park represents a phenomenon of karst hydrography and has the same tufa as at Lawn Hill in Queensland Australia.

This is a map of the NP with all its lakes.  Getting around is by a combination of lots of walking, taking a boat and also taking a bus and following a set out route.  But one can vary the route and wander around as Andrew did after our combined trip.  He did and extra 21 kms on his own, worrying me to death by staying out until 6.00pm.

This shot is taken on the biggest of the lakes where we travelled across by boat.

The lakes are best known for their cascades and the ongoing biodynamic process of tufa formation under specific ecological and hydrological conditions. Tufa or travertine is a porous carbonate rock formed by the sedimentation of calcium carbonate from water.  Lawn Hill has much smaller cascades than these giant ones.

There is hardly any need for commentary for these photographs.  Just enjoy the beauty as we did.

The tufa builds barriers, sills and other forms in karst rivers and streams.  This travertine formation is especially prominent here at these lake waterfalls and is constant, happening while the over 1 million per year visitors to the park are enjoying their walks through the park.  This travertine formation creates the impression that the Plitvicka Lakes are never the same from one day to the next.

It was a wonderful way to end our very brief visit to Croatia.