Four days tour in the Danube Delta - Slow boats - 2024

Mile 23 - Eracle canal - Lopatna canal - near the Ciulini Lake - Miazazi canal - Miazazi Lake - Matita lake - Suez canal – Merhei lake - Sidor canal - Letea - Stop to visit the forest and packed lunch. Continuation of the trip: Letea - Madgearu canal - Dunărea Veche canal - Bogdaproste canal - Bogdaproste lake - 3 Iezere lake - Eracle canal - Mila 23.

A full day awaits us, having as main attraction the village and the Letea forest. After a spectacular route on canals and lakes, the Sidor canal, towards the end, shocks us with an impressive change of landscape! After a narrow canal, bordered by reeds and rushes, sand dunes appear unexpectedly and with.. little luck… wild horses!

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

Many tourists who arrive in Letea Forest want to see, in addition to the sand dunes and secular oaks, the famous wild horses. They can't always be noticed, because they don't care what the visitors want and they walk on the 6000 hectares of the reservation. Specialists estimate that there are about 2,000 wild horses in the Letea area. They were abandoned by the locals during the communist period, either because they had nothing to feed them, or after it was declared "infectious anemia", a disease that led many horse owners to abandon their animals. Horses have multiplied over the years, and it is now estimated that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 horses in the entire reserve and almost 2,000 in the Letea area.

The most requested by tourists is the carriage ride, because the road passes through the forest and the landscape is much more picturesque. In addition, the route by cart is shorter and takes about an hour and a half. At one point, tourists get out of the cart and walk through the beautiful forest to the sand dunes, where they can see many species of plants and birds. In any season you choose to visit Letea Forest, the spectacle offered by nature is extraordinary. It is important to protect it, so that this wonder of nature can be visited by our children or grandchildren, with the same joy that the reservation provides us.

Lunch that has been provided "bundled" by our host can be served either in the woods or on board the ship.

The return to Mile 23 is made on a different route than the one we came on! We leave Letea on the Madgearu canal after which we enter the “Great M” line - the ancient natural route of the Danube before the Sulina arm is dug and continue towards Mila 23 through the chain of lakes - Bogdaproste - 3 Iezere and the Eracles canal that leads us to Mila 23 waiting for us with ...

Mila 23 – canal Dunărea Veche – sat Crisan – canal Sulina – oras Sulina și retur Mila 23 Mila 23 - Old Danube canal - Crisan village - Sulina canal - Sulina town and return Mila 23

Sulina an old settlement, it is said that it has existed since the 15th century. VI-VIII BC, with the appearance of the first colonies on the shores of Pontus Euxinus. Sulina became a city in the 15th century. XIX, in 1856 with the establishment here of the European Commission of the Danube. At the time of 1856, there were 1000 inhabitants in the city.
This turns the town from a fishing village into an important city for European traffic. The fishing village becomes the most important port in the west of the Black Sea.

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

In the interwar period, the port of Sulina registered the most flourishing development of its existence, there are 15,000 souls in the city together with the floating population. There are 8 consulates in the city. The 8 most important transport companies in Europe have agencies in the locality. Most of Romania's foreign trade takes place through this port.
The Commission survives World War I but not World War II. When Europe turned its back on Sulina in 1938 and moved the CED to Budapest, the city began to decline.
The Russians destroyed about 60% of everything the CED raised during World War II.
From 1870, Sulina became a porto franco, meaning free port, free of customs duties and with a specific regime. Here is installed the first power line in the country (not in Timisoara, but in Sulina in 1883) and are installed on the banks of the Danube the first floor lamps that use electricity for lighting.
There are 154 shops, 4 mills, a theater with 500 seats, 56 cabarets for sailors from all over the world, 2 schools with teaching in Romanian, 2 in Greek, a school in German, one in Italian, a art school "for young girls" in French, a Jewish school, a British naval institute.

Palace of the European Danube Commission. This is one of the most imposing buildings in the city (built between 1856 and 1858) and is a symbol of economic and social growth of the city of Sulina.

The beach cemetery is the only marine cemetery in Eastern Europe. Once upon a time it was right on the beach but in the meantime alluvium was deposited and now the sea has moved away a bit. There you can see tombs of pirates, princesses, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox - all find rest in the cemetery of Sulina

Sulina beach - between the city and the beach there are 2 kilometers that you can travel on foot, by bike or by local taxis (10 lei / trip). The road is paved. A swim in the Black Sea in the easternmost point of Romania and the wild beach refreshes us and prepares us for the way back to Mile 23.
Route: Sulina - Sulina Branch - Mile 8 - Old Danube canal - Mile 23.

Mila 23 - Olguța canal - Șontea canal - nearby Fortuna and Baclanesti lakes - Candura bend - Șontea Noua canal - behind Nebunu lake - Șontea canal - Optional stop for lunch for fishermen on the canal bank - Periteasca canal - Sireasa canal - Sireasa Nord canal - we cross the Rookeries Lake - Trofilca canal - canal 36 - Tulcea - Tulcea arm.

We say goodbye to our hosts and head to Tulcea on the Olguța and Șontea lata canals, preferred by many anglers. We leave to the left the Fortuna lake, which we crossed on arrival and we pass, next to the Baclanesti Lake, which we will stop to admire for a few moments. We enter the Șontea canal, generous with the multitude and variety of birds in the area. Swans, large and small egrets, coots and pond hens, various species of herons and ibis, woodpeckers and porpoises, all being guarded by the majestic white-tailed eagle, rotating nonchalantly at height.

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

See the route of the day on the inactive map below

After a “curve” called Cot Candura we enter the Șontea Noua canal, which gently and generously in flora and fauna leads us behind the strictly protected area of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve which is represented by Lake Nebunu. At the exit to the Șontea canal, pay close attention to white-tailed eagles who dominate this area. OPTIONAL we can stop for lunch at the fishermen on the bank of the Șontea canal.