Turism Delta

Danube Delta

The Danube Delta, is a major target of tourist interest in nowadays  Romania. The Danube Delta was included in the UNESCO Project as a Reservation of the Biosphere because its peculiar features and the originality and variety of the ecosystems (more than 25 types of natural ecosystems). There are settled 16 areas strictly protected where no economical activities are allowed, then areas for ecological rehabilitation and, finally, buffer and economical areas, where tourist  activities are permitted under the circumstances of protection and maintenance of the
environment. At the end of the great river Danube's  journey through Europe to the Black Sea there spreads out a natural paradise unique in Europe, where channels, lakes, reed islands,  pastures and sand dunes cover over 5,165sq km (2,000sq miles). In the long run, deposition of million tons of alluvia linked the three branches of the Danube: Chilia, Sulina and Sf. Gheorghe.
This amazing wetland shelters over 310 species of birds countless fish from royal sturgeon down to carp and perch, while its 1,150 kinds of plants range from sinuous lianas suggesting tropical forests to gently blossoming water lilies. It is small wonder that UNESCO has designated the Delta a "Reservation of the Biosphere". Only 15,000 people make their living from fishing, livestock breeding, and reed harvesting in this vast area. Their villages, lapped by the waterways, seem untouched by time. The starting point for a Delta adventure is usually the ancient city of Tulcea, with modern tourist hotels and special small cruise ships, plus a worthwhile museum devoted to the natural history of the Delta. It is 72 km (45 miles) by boat from the almost equally old settlement of Sulina at  the other end of the Sulina channel and cruises between the two offering passengers a panoramic view of wildlife. You can see pelicans and cormorants, eagles and vultures. Local fishermen make their own version of Russian bortsch over an open fire. At restaurants you can sample Danube herring, croquettes of  zander, or sturgeon steak, tastly washed down with Aligote, Muscat or Merlot wines. In every way a Delta trip is a memorable experience. Wherever you look, you can see floating islets covered by rush and  reed, lians like in tropical woods, lakes with muddy depths but with  surfaces like carpets of water lilies hiding a puzzling under-water world. The silent boats of fishermen stir numberless pelicans and flocks of cormorants and moor hens from their nests beyond the reed curtains.

LETEA FOREST
Letea Forest covers an area of 182,4 ha, located on the homonymous fluvio-maritime bank ridge .This forest is made out of forest strips of 10-250 m in width placed between the sand hills, forming a landscape extremely interesting from the scientific point of view. These forest strips contain a mixture of several species among which noticed are oak tress of huge dimensions. From all these forest strips called " hasmac", " Hasmacul Mare " ( about 10 km in length) has the most luxurious vegetation, among which one can mention the oak tree, the brown oak tree, the white poplar, the black poplar, the white willow and the fluffy ashtree. The tropical aspect of Letea Forest is mainly due to the presence of the tropical creeper named periploca, a Mediteranean plant which finds its most northern refuge in our delta.This liana is made out of tendrils 1-25 m long, with reddish -brownish bark and simple, glossy leaves. Alongwith periploca, other climbing plats are woven on the branches of the trees, like the wild vine, the hop plant , the ivy and the bindwing.

ORNITHOLOGY IN THE DANUBE'S DELTA

The ornithological fauna of the Danube Delta includes 310 species among which:
• about 60% of the world number of small cormorants;
• the greatest part of the European colonies of white pelicans and Dalmatian pelicans;
• during winter time, almost half of the world number of red-reasted-geese.
Beyond the native species here come to hatch 80 species of birds from Asia, Africa and Northern areas of Europe. Red-breasted-geese, long tailed ducks, whooper swans, black-throated divers etc. spend winters here. By spring time come pelicans, egrets, purple herons, spoonbills, curlews and others. White fronted geese, ospreys, cranes, red-legged geese etc pass in their way through the Danube Delta. Here are also some rare or near extincted species such as: the griffon vulture, the teal, the sheld duck and the ruddy sheld duck. The Dalmatian pelican and the white pelican, the sheld duck and the ruddy sheld duck, the curlew, the bee-eater, the roller, the white-tailed eagle, the black-winged stilt, the great white egret, the spoonbill, the cormorant, the eagle, the falcon, the black-throated diver, the eagle-owl, the mute swan and the whooper swan are species protected by the law.
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