Krka National Park

In the late 1800’s, Nikola Tesla was a busy man. Supposedly just two days after he opened the world's first Hydroelectric Power Plant at Niagara Falls, Tesla also put the first European HPP into operation in Croatia. It is here on the Krka River that this feat of modern engineering took place, and allowed the nearby city of Šibenik to become the first city in the world whose street lights were powered by a system of this type.

Of course, the large Krka waterfalls are themselves a feat of nature. Comprising of seven main waterfalls and a plethora of cascades that spread over 13 kilometres, the entire ecosystem here is considered to be of exceptional natural value. And we can certainly attest to that!

Along with our boat buddies s/v Gambler, s/v Aihe and m/v Gratitude, we took the first tourist boat of the day from Skradin to the bottom of the falls, in order to beat the crowds and the heat. We spent the morning following the walking trail that leads you up and around the most well-known and largest waterfall, Skradinski buk.

The boardwalk here was teeming with wildlife. We were surrounded by thousands of dragonflies, cicadas, frogs, fish and birds. The Krka Waterfalls area also has the second highest density of lavender in Europe, which accounts for the high frequency of wasps and bees in the area too.

Even more surprisingly, parts of the Krka River area were heavily mined during the Yugoslav Wars. Although tourist sections and paved roads are no longer affected, there are large areas nearby that are yet to be de-mined.

Having explored just a small fraction of this huge 73km river system, we were awed by the scale and beauty of it all. What a treat to find this paradise at the end of our big journey inland from the sea. Walking through Krka National Park felt like spending a moment of time inside a painting by Monet.