Hello dear Hivers!
We seemed to be far away from discovering the whole area of the National Park. It was our first time to check another entrance to it and last weekend, we went to check it out. Located at Decantweg 11 in our district, where the Lobauhaus is located, we took a walk in a never ending dirt track before reaching a small crossing..... There was a way going to the nudist island sort of area and there is a pathway going to the Josefsteg, a bridge built to cross the water to the other end of the field.
The area of 9600 hectares of land, forest and floodplains used to be an unregulated wild area that had been turned into a national park after a mass protest against the building of a power plant happened about more than 3 decades ago. Now it is a paradise for bikers, hikers as well as water sport enthusiasts (boat tours with park rangers, kanu tours, etc.).
Flora and Fauna
We were surprised to read the info in front of the main track, could not believe the fact that there are about 5000 species in the place. This is amazing and we are lucky to be living almost right next to it where it only needs to be discovered and experienced by the gift of Mother Nature.
Source
In the reserve there are more than 700 species of higher plants, more than 30 species of mammals and 100 species of breeding birds, 8 species of reptiles and 13 species of amphibians and about 50 species of fish. The characteristic inhabitants of the floodplain landscape of the national park include Danube crested newts, European pond turtles, dogfish, white-tailed eagles, kingfishers and beavers. With the rich fauna of terrestrial and aquatic insects and other invertebrates, the total number of animal species in the Donau-Auen National Park is estimated at at least 5000.
The Nudist Haven...
Yeah, Lobau is known to be a real haven for the FKK movement (lit. "frei-körper-kultur) or the nudist movement. They even have a private club in the vicinity. This small body of water, that is like an island, is popular for the nudist because to get there, you would have to pass through the forest, although a pathway is available, not many people come here.
At Josefsteg...
This picture below was taken 2 years ago when I made a very long stressy walk coming from another entrance of the National Park called Saltenstrasse. The end of this bridge will get visitors to the Lobaohaus in Decantweg 11. The reeds took over the area so that there is almost no water left for the birds. Also below is the excerpt of that previous post or you can find that full story here.
So finally, I arrived at my destination, The Josefsteg. This area used to have a beautiful landscape and there were plans to open a portion of the old Danube River to allow water so flora and fauna would flourish in the area. The politicians involved wanted to make this a swamp-like area so that it would become the habitat of plants and animals. But this did not materialize for some political reasons.
The reeds fully took over left and right of the bridge so that the water continued to recede until no more wet land was left for the animals.
It was time to go back...
We also saw stables for horses next to the Lobauhaus. I was greeted by this horse who saw me nearing and showed me his approval by coming closer to me. A lady who saw the horse coming towards me, took the horse to another stable. Beautiful creature!
On our way to the parking lot.... The area is full of green, good for our eyes to enjoy. We had a lovely day coming out here and it was another beautiful day experiencing all these, we had our share of good life.
All images are owned by 
.
.[//]:# (!pinmapple 48.194364 lat 16.465855 long Lobauhaus,
Decantweg11, A-1220 Vienna, Austria d3scr)
Wishing all a beautiful Friday ahead.... until then, I´ll see you around!
