Ancient oaks in Danube Delta

stejari seculariDelta is the only place in Europe where the vines grow. Secular trees, on trunks of which, creepers wrap like snakes, sand dunes and wild horses romp freely. This is small jungle of the Delta.
In the middle of November, the forest looks incredible. Maybe because it is well hidden in the heart of the Delta, protected by thousands of acres of reed, intricate channels and roads covered by sand, Letea is among the few wonders of nature that have survived the invasion of the modern world. It is the oldest natural reservation in our country: the forest has received this status since 1938. It begins north of the village Letea and stretches almost 3,000 hectares.
The forest is surrounded by a fence rather symbolic. From the first steps you take, you can see the wild horses heads up, staying nice for a picture, then losing among secular oaks. "Here, as a rule, anything that fallls down: tree, branch, remain so untouched by man, it's all natural. A feature of the landscape is how strange this trees developed in this forest.
Their trunks are bent toward the water, gnarled and twisted. Letea is subject to a regime of protection, considering the existence of rare plant species such as wild vines, lianas, herbs of Mediterranean origin, giving the forest a tropical character. "Liana reaches here the northern limit of spreading in Europe, "says guide Papadatu.
Under the shade of oaks you feel like in a greenhouse. Creepers hanging as in exotic landscapes, others are wrapped on trees like a floral arrangement. We reach to some large dunes, with fine white sand, just good for sunbathing. You feel happy on sand wave, among huge oak trees around, comforted by the friendly autumn sun.
From place to place, there are stops fitted with wooden benches where you can stop and take a rest. There is also a watershed fountain, with good spring water. At another oak with a hollow, in which it could enter a house, we meet five Austrian tourists.
"It's phenomenal. I was in the Danube upstream, up in the top, into the Black Forest, but here is more spectacular, probably because of the sand and lianas. It is a global rarity, "says Jan Mosler, pleased that all his colleagues fitted into the tree.

Tll you reach the woods it takes about 20 minutes by car, during which you can admire the stunning landscape changes. Here you see the field, than an oak forest , linden forest, poplar forest , and there lianas, and later, behind a reed, the sand dunes.
Until we reach the sand dunes, tourists are guided by guides, which require 20 lei per person to see the most famous tree in the forest. It cannot be embraced by ten people and it is told about it that it is a miracle that has grown so large in the sand. Some say it is 300 years old oak, some 400 years, and the proof stays in the rust on bark and canopy lost sometimes.