I am very much an independent traveler. If I am able to find a path, route, track or trail, I will go it alone. But sometimes, it just isn’t feasible time or expense-wise to make your way to a certain destination. That’s when the tour company comes into play. I have mixed feelings about tour companies.
Most of the time they are fine and do a good job of getting you there and making the day enjoyable. For me, the best tours are the ones where they get me there, give me some information, and then turn me loose. My day at the Seven Rila Lakes in Bulgaria is a prime example of the kind of tour I enjoy. Of course, I almost ended up dying on a mountain, but that’s. small price to pay, no? (Actually, I never came close to dying, it just sounds more dramatic.)
So, where did the Krka National Park tour rank? Well, I’ll describe the day and you tell me how it ranks. The price of the tour was quite low. That’s good when you travel on a budget like I do. The van turned up on time and we were on the road after making sure we had everyone. We got to the park and our guide went to collect our tickets to the park. An hour later!!! we got our tickets.
The ad stated that we would have six hours on our own to explore the park. That’s a decent amount of time. What we didn’t know is that we had to take a boat to the park and the boat ride was about 30 minutes. We also had to build the return time into our schedule, so there is an hour gone right there just for the boat, oh and an hour lost waiting for tickets. We got to the boat dock and had to wait for the next boat as the one currently at the dock was full. Hmm, another 30 minutes gone. So really, we had much closer to 3 hours to explore.
When you have never been to a place and don’t know how much time you need, it’s not going to be an enjoyable day. A shame really, because Krka is an amazing park. I would love to spend a full day there in the spring when the snowpack is melting and the rivers are raging. Plus the crowds, which were shoulder to shoulder at times, would be much smaller. I recommend renting a car or hiring a driver for the day to get a full day in. Tours have their times and places, but Krka is not the place.
Rolling Tsuchinoko 