They say that somewhere, between the peaks of Kucaj mountains, there is one of the last rainforests in Europe. Vinatovača is the largest, some say the densest and most mysterious rainforest in Serbia. The tree has not been cut down there for three hundred years. The human foot didn't set foot in some parts of the forest. Trees are born, live, and die without ever getting to know people and their crimes. Animals do not know about hunters and are not afraid of people. A dying tree stays in the forest forever. Sounds like a real destination in golden autumn, right?
Although, honestly, you don't need a rainforest to grow up to have reason to visit this area. I experienced a lot of adventures in the Kučaj mountains in the past. These mountains hide great locations for mountain biking and hiking. A considerable number of visits to this area took place in the fall. With a good reason. When leaves of those forests rustle under your feet, when your eyes catch the golden color of autumn leaves and when you listen to its streams - you will have a million reasons to return there every autumn.
This time we went to find the Vinatovača rainforest.
We armed ourselves with cameras and set off on an easy hike. Infos on how to get there are sparse. We found a few half-written notes and a couple suspicious tracks. In the end, we chose the route, which turned out to be completely wrong, and set off. The mentioned instructions told us that we have an easy hike of 8-9 kilometers along the Resava river, and then a little more along a stream named Vinatovački, to the entrance to the forest. That's it.
With such a short mileage, the plan was to stop on the way back to the waterfall named Veliki Buk (Big Beech). Also, some of the most magnificent cave formations are in this area...
The day has just begun, and a short and easy walk was in front of us.
Let me tell you right away, we didn't find that rainforest
The ninth kilometer passed, followed by the 10th, and where the tenth is, there is the fifteenth ... I mean, you have to be really reckless to get lost, the rainforest is not really hidden and inaccessible.
We arrived at a path that leads to the forest. We followed the stream with the same name as the forest for a few hundred meters. Rainforest is there, easy to be found even without Indian tracking skills. It is only significantly further than 8-9 kilometers. It must be somewhere around eighteen kilometers ... in one direction.
With the darkness falling so early at this time of year, we are simply run out of time. And strength, to be honest. Thirty kilometers of walking in one day is enough. More than enough
So, somewhere on the threshold of entering the forest, we made the decision to return. I haven't seen the rainforest. But, our path was leading us through the dense, beautiful woodland of the river Resava canyon. I really enjoyed every step. Well, maybe those steps hurt us a little, especially the ones at the end of the story. I did ask myself a little more often - are we there yet?! But I never once asked myself - what am I doing here?! All the time I knew perfectly well what I was doing - I'm enjoying it with a full heart!
Posted from my blog VD-Photography with SteemPress : https://vd-photography.com/index.php/2020/11/28/vinatovaca-the-largest-and-oldest-rainforest-in-serbia/