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  • Day 522

    Day 523: Bialowieza Forest

    July 22, 2018 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today's WHS was the Bialowieza Forest just outside town. This is an old-growth forest, the last remnant of a huge forest that once covered much of northern and central Europe. It's also the refuge for the last remaining European bison, so off we went.

    First stop was the bison breeding reserve, since our chances of spotting bison in the wild was basically zero. It's got quite a sad history - as with the North American bison, it was hunted to extinction because of the meat, fur and skins. The last one was shot by German soldiers in 1919, apparently only days before the Versailles treaty was signed and the Germans were forced leave the area. At this point the species was extinct in Europe, and around 50 animals remained in captivity around the world. The new Polish government bought 4 animals and set up a breeding program in the forest, so that now these days there's a few hundred animals - about 30% of the total population.

    It was basically a small zoo here, in addition to the bison they had wolves, deer, moose, lynx and a few others. Got some interesting footage and then headed off.

    Next up we went to the Palace Park, where the Russian Tsar had built a palace in the 17th century. Only a couple of outbuildings remain, since the Germans used it for an army HQ during WW2 and the Red Army burned it down in 1944 during their advance - not sure whether they were more disgusted by Nazis or Romanovs.

    From here we had a quick bite for lunch and then headed off on a short forest walk. Most of the really old growth sections are off limits without a guide (Polish spoken only of course), so we just sort of fumbled around filming and talking. At least with forests you can film a bunch of footage along the same trail and have it all look quite different, very nice!

    Back home in the afternoon to relax and escape the heat, before heading back to the same restaurant as yesterday for dinner. We both kind of wished we'd splurged on the nice hotel in town that had a swimming pool, but in the end we saved about $70 per night staying in a small guesthouse so it was all OK.
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