Nestled in a cluster of lush mountains is a mysterious ancient forest known as the "Devil's Garden," where the olm, lynx, black stork, wolfs, bears and Ural owl live together in an enchanted world of thunderous waterfalls, cascading lakes, and subterranean caverns. Not long ago, mankind nearly destroyed this land with warfare. But nature has found an ingenious way to rejuvenate this land, almost as if by miracle. This Eden is Plitvice Lakes National Park, the oldest national park in Europe, located in Croatia's Dinaric Mountains. Plundered during the Balkan War a decade ago, Plitvice owes its new existence to a type of limestone called travertine, which has the ability to grow quickly and continuously, creating new pools and barriers, water slides, and cascades. There are 16 falling lakes arranged in breathtaking terraces, connected by countless waterfalls and rapids.Underneath the Dinaric Mountains, rainwater gathers and rushes through subterranean caverns, drawing lime from the stone. Here, stalactites hang and species dwell that are so rare and strange they defy the imagination.

Plitvice - Land der fallenden Seen

Wolves hunt their prey in the valleys between high-ranging dunes, bears and lynxes wander through dense primeval forest, and the big lakes are a magnet for hundreds of bird species. That is the so-called «Balkan». Today the «Balkans» stand for a Europe that hardly exists elsewhere. The mountains of Montenegro harbour one of Europe's last primeval forests with trees over 400 years of age. In the difficultly accessible hinterland we find the Tara National Park with the deepest gorge in the Karst Mountains - the 1.300 meters deep Tara gorge. Nearby Lake Skadar is home for 270 species of birds; no other lake in Europe can claim such diversity. Europe's last coastal forest area can be found in Albania and in Bulgaria and Romania huge bat colonies live in the cave-dotted mountains. In Serbia one can cross the «European Sahara», a desert covering a surface of 30.000 hectares.

Wild Balkans

In Bohemia, at the very heart of Europe, south of the Golden City of Prague and guarded by medieval castles, lies a hidden mosaic of lakes and gently flowing rivers, of misty forests and mysterious peat bogs.