Pădurea Domnească

Towards Pădurea Domnească, after passing Glodeni and continuing towards Cobani, the landscape slowly begins to change.

There are still houses, fields and people going about their day, but gradually there are more trees along the road and longer distances where there isn't much happening at all.

You drive.

A tractor appears ahead of you, then you wait and eventually there is enough space to pass by.

Then another village, another field and another stretch of the road.

There isn't a time when you can say now the forest begins, you simply notice that there suddenly are trees everywhere.

Pădurea Domnească lies beside the Prut in western Moldova and was established as a scientific nature reserve in 1993.

Around 6,000 hectares of forest, meadows and wetlands are protected in these areas here, stretching for roughly 40 kilometres along the Prut valley.

Those are the numbers.

From the road it feels considerably less organised, because one moment you
are driving beside fields, then trees close in around you, then the landscape
opens up again.

You start looking down the smaller roads wondering where they go and sooner or later, you just choose one.

Elsewhere in the reserve, you find some of Pădurea Domnească's old
oak trees.

You can read that some trees here are several centuries old, but standing beside one is different.

You look up, then further up the trunk is wide, the branches spread above you and suddenly the number of years matters less than the fact that the tree is still standing there.

You touch the bark, walk around it, then looking back up again.

Then perhaps take the photograph everybody takes when standing beside an enormous tree - partly to prove just how enormous it actually is.

Pădurea Domnească surprises you again because the area isn't only forest.

Drive further ahead and you can reach Suta de Movile, where the ground is covered by rounded hills.

Around Butești, limestone formations change the landscape again, while Stânca Mare rises above the surrounding countryside.

You get out of the car again and by now this is becoming a habit.

Walk a bit, look back towards the road, tthen towards the landscape and
you realise the car has once again become considerably far away than
you thought

Inside the wooded areas, you slow down and not because somebody tells you to.

The road, the trees and the uneven ground do that perfectly well themselves and if you open the window and you'll notice the place changes again.

You hear birds that you couldn't hear from inside the car.

Leaves move above you and there are insects somewhere nearby and occasionally something moves in the vegetation.

You stop and turn off the engine.

For the first few seconds, you realise just how much noise the car was making but then the forest takes over.

Pădurea Domnească is home to an unusually rich collection of wildlife for Moldova.

Official information records 49 species of mammals and 159 species of birds, together with reptiles, amphibians and hundreds of plant species.

But knowing that and seeing them are two completely different things.

You walk for a while and start looking between the trees and suddenly something moves.

You stop.. Nothing.. Then you continue, then another sound behind you.

You turn around.. still nothing... Apparently, the wildlife is considerably better at this than you are. ;-)

Then there are the animals that are considerably more difficult to overlook.

Pădurea Domnească has a european bison enclosure, and seeing them in front of you makes photographs rather inadequate.

You look at one, then you look at the fence and then back at the bison.

They are enormous animals, but there is something strangely calm about
watching them.

One walks, another eats, then another seems perfectly satisfied doing absolutely nothing.

But somehow, you just stand there watching anyway.

Suddenly you find yourself closer to the Prut.

Here it is worth doing almost nothing, but find somewhere appropriate to stop, to et out and walk towards the water.

The river marks Moldova's border with Romania, but standing just beside it, it is simply a river moving past you.

Trees grow along the banks, the birds move above the water and somewhere on the opposite side is Romania.

You will find yourself standing there for a while.

Maybe sit down, maybe take something to drink from the car but there is no particular reason to hurry back.

Pădurea Domnească is a scientific nature reserve, not simply a park.

That matters when you go and visiting it, because some areas are
protected, wildlife should be left alone and instructions from reserve staff should be respected.

Take photographs, walk where access is permittedand take you time to look around.

Whatever you brought with you, please take it back out again, the forest doesn't need a souvenir from your lunch.

Eventually you will get back into the car.

There will probably be leaves or dust on your shoes, maybe something has fallen out of your pocket while you were walking and you spend five minutes looking for it.

You start the engine and continue.

Trees become fields again, the villages return and somewhere behind you are the Prut, the old oaks, wetlands, birds and animals you never managed to see and observe.

And the bison.. You definitely saw the bison. 😄