The crystal clear waters of the Plitvice lakes in the hills of central Croatia daily fall over tufa – or travertine – barriers formed over millennia. The waterfalls are in two sets, the upper in a broad valley above Lake Kozjak and the lower in a narrow gorge below. In 1979 the Plitvice Lakes National Park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I visited the park in the summer of 2015 and winter of 2015 – 2016 with the Leica X1 and X Vario in my bag.
In the summer the water flows are reduced and the trees on the wooded hills are in full leaf, giving a sense of order and tranquillity. As winter comes and the cold descends ice can form in the lakes and the waterfalls can solidify leading to a frozen silence.
On one cold overcast March afternoon, after snowmelt and rain, I trudged through the freezing lake overspill on the trail on the northern side of the upper lakes. I knew something was unusual as I heard the roar of the falls growing louder the higher I climbed. Turning a rocky corner I was struck by the view of Galovac Lake and the valley above as the normally orderly streams rioted across the valley floor glistening in the weak wintry light. The view was in stark contrast to that of a few weeks before when the lakes and waterfalls were quiet and frozen. Now they had been released from winter’s icy grip.
I felt very fortunate and rewarded to have witnessed this occasional phenomenon that faded after a day or two; one of the park’s staff told me that they call this natural spectacle ‘lace’. To me it was ‘Plitvice Lace’.
All photographs taken with the Leica X Vario
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Nice images Kevin, thank you for sharing this magical moment.
Very very nice and wonderful tour !
Great photos, Kevin. These waterfalls remind me of a couple things. In 2005 my wife and I went on a short holiday to Slovenia where the local word for waterfall is ‘slap’. One day we visited the slaps, which were very dramatic, and met some people from our hotel when we got there. That night we decided to go to a local restaurant rather than have dinner in the hotel, which was part of our package. My wife asked ‘do we have to tell the hotel that we won’t be at dinner tonight?’ and I said ‘probably not’. When we returned from the restaurant, the hallway of our hotel was full of policemen. Apparently, when we did not turn up for the dinner and enquiries were made, somebody said that they had seen us up at the slaps. Immediately, the emergency services were contacted and a search was organised up at the slaps. I had to apologise to the police who took it very well and to the hotel staff as well. When we got to our room we found that the hotel staff had left food for us there as they thought that we had missed our dinner. I had to leave a big tip, of course.
The other place this large group of waterfalls reminds me of is Milford Sound in New Zealand, which we visited in 2004 on a rainy day. There were hundreds of waterfalls some as high as 500 feet, which were being blown sideways in a series of veils by the wind.
Sometimes, bad weather can bring really spectacular sights and you have certainly captured one here Kevin. I hope you were not late for dinner afterwards!
William
Thanks William,
The Croats use the same word for their falls and yes I did make it back for dinner which was very welcome after the cold wet afternoon!
Kevin
Stunning country. I should have liked to know which were X1 and which XV.
All taken with Leica X Vario. Says so in the last paragraph.
In fairness to John Nicholson, the reference to the XV was added my me after I read John’s comment — so all should now be clear! Mike