Białowieża – more than bison

Let me start with acknowledgements. Thanks to Andy P for suggesting, organising and executing a four-day road trip through eastern Poland with his brother Roman and myself, taking in Białowieża, Przemyśl and Zamość. And thanks to my children for popping over to the działka to look after Wenusia and her kittens (all are doing fine).

Below: this is what Białowieża is associated with – Bison bonasus, in the European Bison Show Reserve (Rezerwat Pokazowy Żubrów). The European bison had been hunted to near-extinction in the early 20th century before being saved here. Bred in captivity and released into the wild, bison are no longer under threat of dying off, with over 2,600 counted, all but 200 of them living free. At this time of year, the bison have shed nearly all of their winter coats.

Below: wolf and I, eye to eye. Canis lupus, from which the dog was domesticated some 14,000 years ago. The current wolf population of Poland is believed to be around 5,000 individuals, with the north-east of Poland seeing the greatest concentration. 

Wending our way by road through the last and the largest remaining part of this immense primeval forest. The puszcza is dense; from the road, you cannot see more than a few metres in.

Below: the memorial to the Polish forestry workers and their families deported into the depth of the USSR in February 1940. This was also the story of my grandfather and his family, including my mother (then aged 12), although they lived 230km south-east of here.

Below: the Soviet repressions against Polish citizens that began in September 1939 continued with the return of the Red Army in 1944, with further waves of deportations.

Below: the former Białowieża Towarowa station (closed to passenger and freight traffic in the 1990s) is now a hotel, where guests can sleep in pre-revolutionary Russian railway carriages. The station building hosts a restaurant.

Lovely atmosphere, approaching that of British heritage railways.

Below: though steam engines no longer move trains around, there is one form of motive power that still moves passengers along these rails – human legs. A draisine powered by up to four cyclists goes up and down the track on three routes (4km, 7km, 14km). Cost depends on distance, up to 200zł. An excellent way of seeing the forest.

A taster trip to Białowieża that has convinced me of the necessity to return for a longer stay (at least two-three whole days), to capture the experience more fully!

This time last year:
TriCity miscellany

This time two years ago:
Footpath between Widok and Chynów station is opened

This time three years ago:
Summertime, and the living is lazy

This time four years ago:
Thoughts occasioned by the picking of fruit

This time six years ago:
First half of 2019 - health in numbers

This time seven years ago:
Key Performance Indicators - health - first half 2018

This time eight years ago:
Three and half years of health and fitness data

This time nine years ago:
First half of 2016 health & fitness in numbers

This time ten years ago:
Venus, Jupiter – auspices

This time 11 years ago:
Down the line from York

This time 12 years ago:
Cider – at last available in Poland

This time 13 years ago:
Despondency on Puławska

This time 14 years ago:
Stalking the stork

This time 16 years ago:
Late-June lightning