Experienced travelers, tourists with experience, half of whom adore the sea, sun and sand, recognize that the restraint of the northern natural beauties is absolutely no worse than the sultry and brightness of exotic countries.
The north can not get lost in the background of the south, because they are too different and each have their own unique beauty. It’s one thing - the south has been mastered by tour operators before, everyone goes there, and the north submits only to the brave, only truly in love with its amazing lakes.
Karelia, Vodlozersky National Park - this is where you can feel the true soul of the Russian North-Lake District.
Forests, lakes ... Fairy tale. Reality
Karelia has always been a popular destination for lovers of solitude and relaxation in the "big" nature. Mighty forests, almost the beginning of the taiga, many lakes - all this evokes an amazing, fairy-tale-like mood, the landscape strikes with its unobtrusive beauty, which can be admired endlessly.
But each fairy tale has its own moral. Employees of the park and forestry inspectors always familiarize themselves with the local tourists: you cannot evade officially approved routes, you cannot change the route yourself, you cannot leave the group. Each participant of the expedition must be provided with hermetically packed matches or a lighter, a card, a knife, a flashlight and a whistle (in order to give a signal or scare away the beast if necessary). Well, plus an abundance of insects.
If you strictly adhere to the prescribed rules, then no troubles will happen, Vodlozersky National Park will remain in impressions - a fairy tale.
Flora and fauna
Vodlozero, from whose name the park got its “name”, is one of the largest reservoirs in Northern Europe. Sufficient depth (maximum 18 meters) and the area of the water area (358 kilometers square or 10% of the total territory of the park) allow not to be crowded with two hundred picturesque islands located in it, and the purest water that remained from the melting of glaciers and formed a lake is an excellent habitat fish.
In turn, 21 species of fish are an excellent choice for diligent and patient anglers. Most fishermen, professionals and amateurs, locals and from afar, do not deny themselves the pleasure of at least a couple of days escaping to Vodlozersky National Park. Fishing here, they say, incomparable.
The flora of the reserve is represented mainly by the world's largest taiga massif, consisting of European spruce, pine, warty birch and aspen. The local huntsmen not without pride call swamps a particularly valuable and protected area. In the inhospitable marshland, useful northern delicacies grow - cloudberries and cranberries, as well as saberelnik and rosemary, invaluable in their healing properties. Marshes abound with rare species of mosses, among which there are several "Red Book" ones.
Many botanists and zoologists for research purposes visit the Vodlozersky National Park - animals and plants are truly unique here.
The fauna in the reserve is typically taiga, on its territory several endangered species of animals and birds escaped from complete destruction . The golden eagle , the white-tailed eagle and the osprey found a reliable house in the park, almost a fortress in which they feel safe.
Brown bears and reindeers - a fairy-tale beast roam the reserved paths. You can find smaller animals - fox, wolverine, badger.
Cultural heritage. sights
Vodlozersky National Park - a place of interest to representatives of various fields of science: both natural and historical. The reserve is rich not only in nature, but also preserved on its territory about three dozen monuments of ancient wooden architecture.
The most interesting, picturesque and most visited of all is the ensemble of the Ilyinsky Pogost, consisting of two temples and a bell tower.
This architectural work received the status of a monument of federal significance, which does not prevent it from remaining among the existing churches that host hundreds of parishioners on holidays.
It can be said, a prayed place - Vodlozersky National Park. sights nature reserve - both man-made and natural origin - are able to inspire and energize everyone with positive energy. A silent prayer in the temple, a walk along the mysterious forest paths, probably this is the unpretentious happiness that every soul aspires to.
Rest on Vodlozero
After visiting the reserve, travelers usually emphasize that they rested on Vodlozero. Nothing strange - the lake occupies a huge part of the park territory and therefore it seems that it is everywhere.
But Vodlozersky National Park , in addition to fishing, can offer a lot of entertaining and educational activities. Active recreation here is also organized with knowledge.
The reserve welcomes guests all year round, offering them hiking on ecological trails, camping in taiga (severe and romantic), picking mushrooms and berries, winter and summer fishing, river rafting.
The staff of the reserve prepared a special program for schoolchildren and students, with an emphasis on cognition.
Seasons and weather
If even no one has heard about Vodlozersky National Park, Petrozavodsk and its geographical location can imagine. Between the capital of Karelian Territory and Arkhangelsk there is a reserve. The bay of the White Sea is already approaching the park from the northeast. The edges are northern, severe, the weather is appropriate.
The winters here are frosty and ragged, the summer months have a fairly comfortable temperature regime: from + 16 0 . Sometimes it happens that a mercury column overcomes both 25- and 30-degree marks.
The water in rivers and lakes is warm, in the summer it warms up to 18-20 degrees, the beach season in Karelia is quite possible.
But the peaks of the tourist season occur in May, when people go to admire an unusual phenomenon, characteristic only of the northern regions - white nights, and in September, when mushrooms and berries ripen.
Vodlozero winters also have magnetism: there is a lot of perfectly fluffy snow and the northern lights above your head. True, this tale may drag on a little - winter in the region lasts six months.
Geography. Route
Hundreds of thousands of hectares of protected lands extend across the territory of the Republic of Karelia and the Arkhangelsk region. Most of the tourists who come to these two northern regions of Russia are obligated to visit Vodlozersky National Park. How to get to the reserve? Below are the options.
There are several routes. From Petrozavodsk - by bus, plane or boat. And this is a simplified version.
For those who are not accustomed to looking for easy ways and get their own transport or “crossroads” to Vodlozersky National Park, location map such: moving along the highway Medvezhyegorsk-Pudozh, not reaching 15 km to Pudozh, turn into a dirt road and get to the village of Kuganavolok. This is already in the reserve.
If you successfully reached, one thing remains - to enjoy your vacation.