TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY IN MLJET NATIONAL PARK

Panorama taken from top of Montokuc

After enjoying the atmosphere of Dubrovnik, it was time to explore the other parts of Dubrovnik – Neretva county. I headed to harbor of Dubrovnik early in the morning and took the ferry to Polace in an island of Mljet. It was still raining in Dubrovnik, but when the ferry arrived to Mljet 1,5 hours later, the rain has stopped. The Polace is small village and the houses of the village are numbered Polace 1, Polace 2… There is only one road going through the village – the same one which goes through the whole island - and all the houses are located within few hundred meters. The small harbor is located in the peaceful bay and village has been built around it. The national park of Mljet starts in the border of the village and that was the reason why I came to the Mljet.

After changing my clothes, putting my sneakers on and packing my camera and some snacks to the backpack, it was time to explore Mljet National Park. National Park is known from its two salt water lakes: Veliko and Malo Jezero (Large and Small Lake). I was going to run and trek to the hill of Montokuc first for some views and after that one my plan was to run around the both two lakes. The total route would be approximately 18 kilometers long. I was also packing my bikinis and towel in my backpack in case I wanted to fresh up in the lakes – the water in those ones should be much warmer than in the sea.

 
The tranquility and peace of Mljet National Park felt nice after being in crowded Dubrovnik. The hike to Montokuc was fast one and views from there were amazing. Unfortunately I also noticed that probably the same rain which was in the morning in Dubrovnik was heading to the island. But I decided that I’m not letting it to change my plans. So after admiring the views for a while, I continued downhill to run around the lakes. I was probably half way when the rain started and I definitely didn’t need to swim in the lake to get wet. Luckily the weather was warm, so actually running in the rain felt nice. I was soaking when I got back to Polace, but luckily my DSLR was still alive in my backpack. While I took shower and power nap in my apartment, the rain stopped and I was able to enjoy the sunset from the terrace of my apartment before heading to the dinner in Polace. All in all perfect day and I could have been staying much longer time in tranquility of Polace!

View from my terrace in Polace during the blue moment

 

Enjoying the dinner, atmosphere and the views in restaurant in Polace

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN DANGER

Landscapes of Everglades National Park

As an outdoor person National Parks are always in my bucket list while travelling. And so are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Everglades National Park goes to both of the categories - like 13 other National Parks in US - so I couldn’t visit Florida without going there! This time our visit was only short stop of few hours and we saw only a small part of this National Park. Maybe I will be back someday to explore more.

Everglades is called as a river of grass flowing imperceptibly from the hinterland into the sea. It looks more like a huge swamp, but technically it’s a river flowing at the slow rate. As Everglades is huge wetland area, it’s not actual hiking paradise, but there are some short and easy hiking trails available. Many people visiting the park choose to go boating or canoeing instead. Popular tourist activity is to go airboat rides and looking for alligators, but most of these tours are not actually located even within National Park limits as it’s prohibited in most of the area. As this unique ecological system has already been partly destroyed, for me the decision was clear – I wanted to disturb wilderness as little as possible so I said no for airboats and we decided to do something else in National Park area instead.

  

So we headed to northern part of the National Park, to Shark Valley area. There is possibility to rent the bikes and cycle the 15 mile trail built in the area, but there are also 2 hour tours lead by rangers available. To get more information about the park and its wildlife, we decided to do small walk by ourselves and then join to tour. That was definitely good decision. We immediately realized that rangers who are observing wildlife on daily basis were able to see much more than you would notice. So you will be seeing more birds and alligators this way and somebody will be also naming you them.

View from Shark Valley observation tower in Everglades National Park

Tri-color Heron in Shark Valley of Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park is bird watching paradise