We woke up this morning to blue sky, glorious
sunshine and high temperatures. What a contrast to yesterday’s
wind, rain and cold temperatures. The weather in Croatia seems to change so quickly. We
wanted to get to KRKA early to avoid the crowds, and luckily the park was only
a few kilometres from the campsite. We got there for 9am on the scooter and not a tour group
in site - result!
You usually get a boat up the river to the entrance to the
park but all this week is known as ‘Mobility Week’ and for a 25%
reduction on the ticket price they are encouraging people to walk to the
entrance rather than take the boat. It’s only an 8kms round trip, so we thought why not we could do
with the exercise. At the ticket office we handed over 130Kuna (€17.50 for 2 adults). The man handed us our tickets and asked us
where we were from. England, we replied,
okay he said, so would you like an information brochure in English or German? Erm, English please Mel said slightly confused! We know it has been nearly 9 months since we were in England but we are sure, as night follows day that the language hasn't changed!
Skradinski buk is the longest waterfall on the Krka river and
one of Croatia’s best known natural wonders.
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| Skradinski buk |
In this part of the lake you are allowed to swim, although the waterfall area is sectioned off. We were tempted to go in for a swim but were put off by the sign "Enter at your own risk, there is an increased risk of drowning due to the strong under currents and coldness of the water". We decided we valued our lives too much to chance it and chose to pose for a photo instead!
Like Plitvice Lakes that we visited a few days
ago, you follow a network of trails and wooden walkways around the lake and
waterfalls. We enjoyed Krka, as there wasn’t the crowds we had encountered at Plitvice or the sweltering heat. The National Park covers an area of 109km2 and impossible to cover it all in one day unless you join a
tour group or purchase additional tickets that takes you on an extended boat and bus trip. We spent 3 leisurely hours
wondering around the lakes and waterfalls. WARNING: there are a lot of waterfall photos coming up!
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| There are over 20 species of fish in the lake - couldn't tell you what these ones are though! |
There is a water mill on the route, that demonstrates how they use the water to soften wool and mill corn and explains the history of the hydropower plant.
Remnants of the former Krka Hydropower Plant stand at Skradinski buk. Hydroelectric Krka was the first Croatian hydroelectric alternating
current. Put into operation August 1985,
two days before the hydro dam on the Niagra River was put into place.
Krka is an amazing natural wonder, just like Plitvice is stunningly beautiful. We would definitely recommend you visit them
both.
Sally x
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