May, 2018
Croatia has eight national parks but only two have mind-blowing waterfalls, and we went to both! The magic is totally natural and the nature is totally magical! Here's the first.
Captivating Krka
We swapped our boat and bikes for this lap of luxury!
Krka National Park has a series of seven waterfalls that are constantly reshaping themselves. Simple rainwater gets an oomph from carbon dioxide from the air and decaying matter in the soil turning it into a weak acid. As that seeps through the relatively porous limestone, it dissolves it and the water becomes packed with dissolved calcium and carbonate. This water pours over moss and algae as it travels down the 242m from top to bottom. Along the way, CO2 is released from the water, partly through photosynthesis in all this natural material, partly though the turbulence of the water (kind of like when you shake a soda can and open it). With less CO2, the water can't hold onto the calcium carbonate which has nowhere to go so it deposits and sticks to the moss in the water. The moss can grow through the crust, and the process repeats itself. This is travertine and this is what builds and grows about a centimetre a year and creates the waterfalls. The lakes and falls are in a constant state of growth and reshaping.
The travertine here is a soft, porous type called tufa and is full of fossilized moss shapes. The calcium carbonate not only builds the travertine dams but also settles as a white coating over rocks and the bottom of the pools. The sunlight reflects off this white coating and that is why the pools look turquoise.
The whole run of the seven waterfalls and pools.
Skradinski buk, the biggest of the waterfalls and the last one in the chain
Stradinski buk is the grand finale of the pools in the chain. This photo from our trip in 2018 was when swimming was still allowed but it is no longer. Swimming was banned in 2021 to protect the travertine and the general water quality.
Not a traditional barbell...this is an original turbine from the Jaruga hydroelectric plant. Built in 1895 right here by Skradinski Buk, this was the world's second AC power systems running on Nikola Tesla's design. Tesla was born in what is now Croatia but was never technically Croatian as the independent state of Croatia didn't exist in his lifetime. That doesn't stop many here claiming him as one of their own! But I digress...This was the second such power system by two days. Also based on Tesla's design (and patent) Niagara Falls plant switched on August 26th, 1895. This one in Krka switched on August 28th, 1895 and lit up Šibenik's streets making it one of the first cities on earth to have electric street lighting!
I couldn't resist capturing this little damselfly.
Such a fantastic introduction to this amazing bit of nature!