I spent the day yesterday wandering through Croatia's Plitvice Lakes National Park with my group. The oldest national park in the country, Plitvice consists of 16 strikingly clear emerald and turquoise lakes at the bottom of a densely forested karst gorge. The lakes cascade into one another down a huge staircase-like series of waterfalls, which you can walk through, over and around on wooden boardwalks. In the early 90s Plitvice was known as the place where the first armed confrontation in Croatia's War of Independence occured; today it is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, providing income for the local economy and serving as a refuge for wildlife and weary travelers alike.
