August 18 Today we got up at 9:00 because we were so tired from yesterday. We packed the tent and drove from north of Zagreb to Krka national park in Sibinik. It was a 4 and a half hour drive. It was so neat because as we drove south you could see the changes in the climate. We were in this lush forested region, then we crossed the mountain range and BOOM! Mediterranean climate- dry, brush, olive trees, blue ocean. It was so quick and so neat to see.
We are staying at an amazing campsite - the owner is so lovely - there is a pool and he has been showing my parents the olives and wine that he makes himself!
He also has Almond trees in his farm and we were able to see how they grow!
August 19 – Krka National park
We got up and we went down to the near by town of Skradin. We are staying in an amazing campsite and its just the best, but this morning we got up and headed out to Krka National Park. We drove to the small town of Lozovac which is one of the park entrances. We parked and took a bus down to the river valley. We were able to walk along this beautiful boardwalk and see the amazing pools of water that spilled over into the waterfalls.
There were so many fish in the pools. We just kept seeing more and more as we walked along. We walked the main trail until we got to the main waterfalls and then we were able to swim under the falls. We all went in for a swim, but after a bit the boys had a hard time as there was bit of a current and it kept pushing us down stream.
Dad and I went for a bit farther swim and went up to the falls. Dad is such an amazing swimmer he swam under the falls and took video of the fish way down deep!
We had lunch and then walked around the area a bit more and then decided it was time to head back to our campsite. It was really busy at Skradinski Buk, which is where the main waterfalls are. We heard that they sell 10,000 tickets a day to see the falls. Wow. There was a lot of people!! August 20 We got up and went to the middle of Krka national park called Rapski slap. We went on 5 trails, the first was on a mountain up to see a lookout above the whole river. It was incredible. It was really steep and the boys were a bit nervous walking back down the trail but we were all okay. There were not very many people at Rapski slap – not like yesterday!! We were able to see the whole park without too many people around us.
The second trail was up to a cave. It was really amazing – there were neolthtic remains found in the cave. And the park people showed us where two babies had died and were buried in the cave almost 10,000 years ago. It was really neat to learn so much about the caves. We also were able to see the bats that live in the caves now.
The next trail took us around the waterfalls. They are very small at this time of year as it is very hot. But they were still beautiful. The waterfalls are formed from travertine steps that form from the water as it deposits layers of calcium.
We headed on the next trail down to the swimming spot and had a great cool down. Today was 38C !! Wow it was so hot! It was great to go for a swim! We could see the main waterfall behind where we were swimming. The water was so clear that we could see tonnes of fish in the river.
After we were done swimming it was the afternoon and we headed back to the campsite for a great swim and dinner!
August 21
The last day of our 3 day Krka National Park Pass. We headed to the most northerly part of the park and were able to see once of the most incredible Roman legion military forts. There is an amphitheatre that archaeologists are working to uncover and rebuild.
It was so neat to see the arches and walk into the middle of the amphitheater. We could whisper from the middle and be heard at the top from any place!
Here come the Roman Centurions!!
There was also the ruins of a huge military building. There are only one set of arches remaining but there was an description of what the building would have looked like.
We then hiked down to the highest waterfall on the Krka river. It is called Manojlovac slap. It was huge!! There was no swimming near this one.
We really loved Krka National park. It was such and incredible park, full of so many different things. The Krka river created a beautiful landscape.
We are off to Split!
Talk to you soon!!
Tia and Mari
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