Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve: Cruising the Danube

Dunàrea Veche (old Danube) channel through the Delta Danube

On the south-eastern side of Romania, feeding into the Black Sea, is the UNESCO World Heritage site, largest European wetland reserve and second largest (and best preserved) delta in Europe after the Volga Delta. It is fed by the second largest river in Europe, the Danube, that begins life in the Black Forest at the confluence of the two streams Brigach and Breg (which I visited in 2017). Apparently boasting the third largest biodiversity in the world (surpassed only by the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos Islands – both of which I have visited), the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve is home to over 300 resident and migratory bird species, with over 60% of the 4-5000 km² area still naturalised and untouched by man.

The Danube was sent from South to North by the old Hercynian hills blocking the path to the Black Sea near Constanța. It actually joins the Black Sea at Sulina, Romania’s easternmost point, forming only 5000 years ago, relatively recently in geological time. An estimated forty to sixty-seven million tonnes of alluvium is dropped into the Delta annually. Providing an ideal setting for a diversity of species are the variety of habitats ranging from marshes and lakes to floodplain forests and sand dunes, with maybe up to 25 types of ecosystem. Five percent of the Delta remains permanently above the water with tongues of accumulated silt (grinduri) supporting oak trees, willows and poplars.

For centuries, fishing communities have also lived there; with humans inhabiting the delta since prehistoric times and leaving traces of ancient Greek, Byzantine and Roman cultures. The old town of Tulcea (pron. Tulcha) is the main entry gate into the Danube Delta, an important industrial port town and where we boarded the pontoon boat. This barge-style houseboat was to be both transport and accommodation for us for our stay on the delta. The flat-bottomed vessel was towed by a tug, but also had two small motor boats attached to use for trips in the smaller channels. Minarets were visible on the skyline due to the Turkish influence of the Ottoman empire from past times.

The delta had three main channels: Chilia in the north, and from Bratul Tulcea, it then split into Sulina in the middle and Sfantu Gheorghe (Saint George) in the south. We gently cruised along Bratul Sulina until we reached Baba Rada, where the pontoon boat moored for the night.

Sulina, we learned, was a channel that had in communist times been dredged and straightened. The next morning we hopped onto the small motorboats and started exploring the maze of smaller channels, off Sulina. Once out of the main busy waterways, channels were lined with trees, grasses, bamboo or rushes. Herons and Egrets were common sights along the banks. In amongst the lilies were numerous frogs that prayed on midges and mosquitoes.

The trip took us along Dunàrea Veche (Old Danube), the original main winding channel, turning off this down a much smaller channel Bogdaproste through two ‘lakes’ – Lacul Bodaproste (God bless you for it) and Lacul Trei Iezere (Three Lakes) to Mila 23. The bird life was incredible despite the fact that we weren’t visiting in the peak season. Hooded Crows, Mallards, and numerous frogs on lily pads frequented the channels. In the first ‘lake’ Egrets, Swans, Gulls and Herons searched for food. Cormorants looked on from look out posts in the trees, while Common Terns swooped past us. Then in the distance we saw a pod of White Pelicans, the mascot for the delta.

Pelicans and cormorants were seen feeding together, accompanied by other Gulls. The large group of pelicans coordinated their swimming to drive fish towards the shallows where they could easily scoop them up. While Pelicans are surface-feeders, cormorants are deep-feeders, and gulls are opportunistic meaning several species can feed in slightly different ways within the same habitat. Egrets and Herons took the opportunity to pick off passing or escaping fish.

Mila 23, a typical delta fishing village, is about half the distance between Tulcea and the Black Sea and can be accessed only by water. It is so called because it is the name of the nautical mile along the old Sulina channel, but is important because it is considered to be the epicentre of the triangle formed by the three main channels of the Delta. We stopped for a comfort break and drink before taking a walk round the village to see the Greek Orthodox Lipovean Church. We then visited the museum dedicated to the Romanian rower and four-time Olympic Champion, Ivan Patzaichin, who was born in the village. The museum is accommodated in an 18-meter-tall tower, which has viewpoints to see across the delta and also incorporates parts of the house where Ivan Patzaichin's parents lived.

More pelicans, including a Squadron, cormorants, Kingfishers, Birds of Prey and other birds greeted us on the trip to meet the pontoon boat via channel Olduta.

During the afternoon, the pontoon boat moved along channel Sontea Veche through the Deprestunea Sontea area to our night stop on a point just before canal Mila 35 before it re-joined the Sfantu Gheorghe branch. It was incredibly dark and peaceful with only a chorus of frogs to guide us to sleep.

A shorter boat ride on the second day took us along the dual channels of Gârla Sireaşa to Lacal cu Coteţe, where there was an abundance of bird life including Lapwings, Sandpipers, Gulls, Swans, Jackdaws, Herons and Egrets. A Marsh Harrier gently cruised over the reeds. Herons, Egrets and Cormorants were in abundance in the channels.

Then it was on the main pontoon boat to return along the Sfantu Gheorghe Branch to Tulcea. The main channel leading into Tulcea was much different to the quiet and peaceful environment along the channels of the protected area of the Delta. Military ships, oil tankers, pleasure boats, cranes, construction work, houses, lined the banks rather than the greenery of the vegetation we’d just come from.

After lunch it was time to disembark and travel the four hour trip back to Bucharest.

White Pelicans, the symbol of the Danube