Have you ever heard of Amazon situated in Europe? I have to admit that I haven't, until a few days ago when I found myself in that nature reserve. I have been here many times, but this name Amazon of Europe is new for me. Surrounded by the Danube and small canals, the town of Apatin situated in the north of Serbia has always been a wonderful place to visit. Hunters and fishermen are frequent guests in the area, as well as those interested in good food. The famous Apatin fish stew was and still remains the backbone of summer cultural events, where tourists from the surrounding area, but also from abroad, enjoy these summer evenings.
It happened to me too, I was present at the four-day event, where exhibitors were selling their handicrafts, where fish stew was cooked, many concerts were held in the open air and there were thousands and thousands of visitors. I was so happy to be surrounded by a lot of people again, I think we all missed that. But in this post, a completely different atmosphere will be shown.
Pure nature, no people and crowds, only forest, water, boats and mosquitoes. Oh yes, mosquitoes. My body is no longer accustomed to mosquitoes, and every sting causes redness, itching and leaves a stain on my skin. And believe me, it’s a mosquito invasion, today I’ve already started to be in mild despair from them.
Mosquitoes benefit from this climate and they have a lot of water area for their larvae - the environment that perfectly suits them. And where there are mosquitoes, there are birds that can feed on them, such as swallows. Birds, in addition, like to eat frogs and small fish, which are abundant in these canals. There were swans swimming that did not want to get close... also herons and storks are frequent guests on these waters. The boats are mostly old and abandoned, but I see them as one interesting window into the past of this zone.
The swans that did not want to get closer
We spent some time in this place, it was nice to walk on that old wooden dock. It swayed a little and creaked underfoot, but it withstood my weight, I didn’t fall into the water. Although, two years ago when I last visited this place, I swam in this water. There are a lot of water lilies and water grass, so it is not so pleasant for swimming for those who are afraid of invisible objects in the water. Maybe snakes? Frogs? Okay, we'll stay dry this time.
But what is actually this Amazon of Europe thing? I saw it on the boards that can be found in the area and searched for more information. According to the source, I found out that this is a kind of so-called green belt that is made up of 700 kilometres long waterways. It is crossing 5 countries: Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. It is formed from the lower courses of the Drava and Mura rivers and related segments of the river Danube. This course is among Europe's most biologically significant riverine regions.
In this Amazon of Europe river network, there are 12 protected areas that show the beauty and ecological value of it. In this post, we are situated in the area called Gornje Podunavlje, wich is a special Nature Reserve. Also, Kopacki Rit is so close to us, that is a Nature Park at the Danube-Drava confluence in Croatia.
If you are a fan of biking, it is a perfect place to meet all this beauty on the two wheels. There is a BikeTrail that is very well marked so you dont get lost, just follow the stages. We were here in the stage 14 and later we found the spot of stage 15 too.
The road in this part is asphalt. We are surrounded by forests, lots of greenery, fields with cereals, corn, sunflowers ... If you want to see where you are if you already suspect that you are lost, you can climb a lookout tower, as this young gentleman did.
Right not far from this lookout tower, I went down a small road that I saw. A beautiful house with a typical rural construction for this area. The traditional style has been preserved, it looks nice and tidy, it can be seen that the owners take care for the cultural heritage.
Another interesting thing that can be seen in this area are the bees. Beekeeping has flourished in the last few years, and that makes me happy. We know very well how important bees are for the whole ecosystem. Working with them is beautiful, but not easy. When I was a child, my parents had beehives too. I have fond memories of that period. But, as happens many times, various diseases attack the swarm of bees, so one season we lost all of them in one of the plagues. Fortunatly, many new young beekeepers are present in the zone nowadays.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of this small part of Amazon that you can find in Europe. More precisely, in the protected zone of the Gornje Podunavlje - Upper Danube. If you decide to come by bike, I want you to enjoy and maybe you can make a post here on the Hive platform about this region :)
Enjoy the ride!
Very nice. Near Vienna we have also a kind of rain forest, called "Auwald".
https://peakd.com/deutsch/@stayoutoftherz/im-nationalpark-donau-auen
Oh, I looked your post and also went further to the link in your post 👌
Seems so green, around the river in the whole Donau-Auen park!
Some years ago I stayed in Vienna with a good friend of mine. She took me to a place, crossing the Danube to the other side of the city, but I don't remember now the name of that part. There were swans and people fishing, swimming.
Maybe it was the "Wasserpark" (water park).
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wasserpark+wien&iax=images&ia=images
Ow, maybe indeed. Yes, definitely somewhere there as I recognize that tall building from the photos :) 👍
This is sooooo cool, I'm really dreaming of touring the area, by bike, or since it's a system of waterways, maybe by canoe would be ideal.
I'm familiar with the Danube in Germany, and its myriad of bicycle routes. As a kid it was all great, but even then I found it just a bit too crowded and overdeveloped. The Gornje Podunavlje seems much more appealing in this regard. So thanks to your post, today I'm getting lost in dreams of exploring the Danube past the Hungarian border, through Serbia, along Romania and Bulgaria, all the way to the delta. Okay, thinking about the delta, I once again may favor the canoe idea... But what am I doing? I'm not even on the European continent!
Oh yeah, a canoe would be great for the canal system, although for the "big" water you would need a boat or a small yacht maybe? :) Danube is really wide in this part, and we see passenger as well as cargo ships sailing.
My niece went several consecutive years to canoe and kayak tours during the summer. They they rowed the Drava, and Danube all to the Romanian border. Usually it was during two weeks if I remember well, and they had great time. Always full of stories when she was arriving home.
Hm, dreaming is always good, but why not make the dream true :) I can smell here a bit of European continent homesickness hehehe... am I wrong? :D
No, you are absolutely right! And you know what? It just MIGHT happen sooner than I thought. However, I don't think I'll be visiting the Danube region by far. Instead, there is an awesome opportunity in Portugal for an Earthship build, by a fellow Hivean. I'll be posting about it extensively, once the plans are finalized.
And yes, there are so many travel dreams. My bicycle is still waiting for me in San Diego, where I left it after riding it down there from Canada. And I still don't know which way I want to continue on it: southwards across Mexico, or eastwards, hitting cool permaculture / natural building projects.
As far as exploring the Danube by boat, my sister's boyfriend at the time, a crazy Irish dude from Texas, bought himself a simple csónak in Szeged, rigged it up with a mast and a pair of sails, and took it down to the Danube delta. Another story inspiring fantastic dreams...
Portugal and eco village? Sounds great 👍 At least, when I am Spain, we would be at the same peninsula 😊
You rode from Canada to San Diego? 🙌
Wow, so I don't know who is crazier, you or your sister's boyfriend, I can just imagine the great csónak story 👍
Well, unfortunately I only know the Great Csónak Story from second to third hand, as even my sister was not on board for it (though she was invited). Only while he was rigging it up in Szeged did she sail the Tisza with him for a bit. The boat was really tiny... kinda like those ones in your pics actually. But he had sailed the Atlantic various times, so he knew what he was doing, and the adventure sure sounded exciting.
Now, if you want to read a really amazing travel story, here is my bike trip from Cascadia to Aztlán. It's broken up into the blog entries I wrote along the way, with cool photos and all. There is a more detailed version, of a proper book length, which I may publish eventually, and I'd be happy to share with you, if you liked the collection of blog posts.
Where exactly in Spain do you live? If it's on the way, I would love to stop by, maybe. But then again, there are so many others who live "close by" sort of, including the French Pyrinees. And though I would love to meet up with other Hivers, I don't think it'll be possible to visit everyone. In fact, I'm still not sure if I'll make it to Portugal! Would be awesome, though, and I really want to make it happen.
😀
the place is great.
Ha!!! Have you been here? hahhaha, I know you were :) And now we have a proof too with your photo!
Was it when you made the dron video?
i had the fake drone at that moment :D
place is really a vacation for the soul. worth visiting and revisiting.
Nice nice nice, yes, I was thinking of this video! Is Fernbach castle worth of visiting? The entrance is not closed? Although I think I see it better in this video. And it is sad it is left in this condition...
if you are interested in old abandoned castles then yes. it was 3 years ago so i am not sure what is up now then it was opened and overgrown. I don't see who and how would they close it.
it is in really bad condition, but looks like it was beautiful when build.
if traveling from Sombor to Subotica and not in the hurry, taking the short detour to visit could be a decent option.
Before and after ! It was awesome indeed. (Saw this board a few days ago in Sombor)
How crazy, I didn't know there was an "Amazon of Europe" hahaha the earth is like a mirror of natural patterns that manifest in all its parts.
People from my country (Venezuela) say that this is the "most beautiful country in the world" I have not traveled much, but I am very sure that this is not so; this whole planet is very beautiful and wonderful places like this can be found everywhere! Thank you for showing us this tour, I really feel like I travel when I read this kind of publications. ♥️
Hahaha, I didn't know either... but then I saw those boards with that title and my curiosity woke up!
You are so right in your statement that the whole planet is very beautiful and those great and nice places can be found in every corner of it. We just have to observe and recognize it, right? And of course, take care of nature, actually just avoid destroying it...the nature can take care of itself better than we could ever do it.
I hope you can travel one day across your country and further and enjoy all those travels in real! Un gran saludo @naradamoon 😌
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Hiya, @choogirl here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1290.
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Thanks @choogirl and the whole @pinmapple team 💚
There are some nice posts in today's Travel Digest 👍
Hey (;; You are very talented for visuals too! I have been in Amazonas, the part located in Venezuela, for sure it have a lot of similarities. Nice post @mipiano!
Thanks @ricardomello ;)
Cool you have visited the real one. Must have been a cool experience 🍃
the town is kind of empty ghostly though it is a nice place for nature contemplation (;
Impressive photos of places that frankly we didn't know existed, we are very excited about this kind of publications because somehow they take us to places that we probably won't get to visit. You should consider photography as a profession 😉, they are really very well done.
I like to read and watch travel posts too, definitely it can help us learn more about some places we didnt know they existed, and maybe make a decision to visit them one day. Thank you for your nice words @musicandreview 🤗