Let's say Amazona or Sahara, it will hardly occur to you Croatia. But if you keep reading, you will discover that there are places in Croatia that are called just that for miles. Drava Sands area it is an oasis that will satisfy just about everyone - those looking for peace and relaxation as well as those who would be bursting with adrenaline for the weekend.
It is not difficult to conclude what this area is named after Dravi, sometimes called "Croatian Amazon". This silver beauty is an inseparable part of the Drava Sands area and the whole Podravine.
///Bicycle path through the stunning European Amazon
Numerous backwaters, shoals and banks overgrown with lush vegetation are the ideal environment to stop, take a deep breath and start daydreaming or thinking about life and battle.
Dravski Peski - in search of excitement
If, on the other hand, contemplation is not your strong suit and you are looking for excitement, try fighting the river in one of the vessels on offer.
She is registered there canoeing trail "Drava Tour Adventure" which is located on the route Brodić - Križnica with a total length of about 12 kilometers. The trip on this section takes about 3 hours, and you will drive through two countries - Croatia and Hungary. If you're lucky, you might catch a momentary glimpse of herds of deer feeding from the river, or protected mountain birds digging their nests into the steep bank of the river. The sandy beach on Jelkush might tempt you to stop for a while and sunbathe on it.
Need more adrenaline? Then rafting on the river Drava is the right thing for you. Rafting trail "Podravina adventure" will take you to the last Pannonian island - Križnica in Pitomača. The trail stretches along one of the best preserved streams of the Drava River, and the diverse flora and fauna, and numerous reefs that look like the most beautiful beach are just some of what this trail has to offer. We guarantee that you will experience Podravina in an unforgettable way on this trail!
Sands
And you can step out of the canoe straight into the desert, as they call it here "Croatian Sahara". After the last ice age, the swollen Drava River brought sand particles from the Alps, and during dry periods and low water levels, the strong Podravina wind would blow sand particles across the then steppe Podravina, thus creating a straight desert and forming typical relief forms - dunes.
Desert Sands it stretches from Đurđevac through Kalinovac all the way to Kloštar Podravski. The part of the sand that is located east of the town of Đurđevac in 1963 was declared a special geographical and botanical reserve as an easily recognizable and unique habitat.
The people sometimes call this desert "Bloody Sands". It is a memorial to the hard struggle of peasant farmers with moving, "living2" sand that covered parts of settlements and agricultural lands. Through painstaking, long-term reforestation, the hardworking people of Đurđev managed to tame their Sahara.
///In Croatia we have two deserts: An unusual tourist attraction
But perhaps the most important local belief for hedonistic tourists is that the Sands are probably the only desert in the world where no one has ever been thirsty. Cheers!
Photo: Dravski Peski Tourist Board
