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The Letea Forest nature reserve is one of the main attractions of the Danube Delta and is a reference stage in several circuit trips through the Delta, sometimes supplemented with a delicious fish meal right in the village of Letea. Access to the village of Letea is only by water. From the jetty to the visit point, almost 5 km, travel is done on sandy roads with safari-type cars. To begin with, one cross through and admires the village of Letea, with a special story, it being inhabited by ethnic Ukrainians Hahols, descendants of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks who came here in the 18th century. The Hahols should in no way be confused with the Lipovan Russians, between them, traditionally, there is also a certain rivalry.
The Letea Reserve is famous for its sandy soil forests that run parallel to the former shoreline, sand dunes, and more recently, for its thousands of wild horses. These elongated forests in strips tens of hundreds of meters wide and kilometers long are called "hasmac". During the early period of formation of the Danube Delta, the Letea and Caraorman sandy hills were in continuity, not being separated by the Sulina Branch. The two sandy hills are home to the northernmost European subtropical forests.
The unusual appearance of the Letea Forest, presenting a wide variety of trees and grasses arranged in the form of elongated north-south strips, parallel to the old shoreline and separated by sands, even in the form of dunes, attracted attention since 1930, in 1938 being established on 500 hectares Pădurea Letea Forest Reserve, the oldest natural reserve in Romania. Currently, the Letea Forest protected area has over 5,200 hectares of which the strictly protected area covers more than half of the surface, representing one of the 18 protected areas of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.
It should also be mentioned that years ago, the visit point of the Letea reserve was further away, about 11 km from the wharf, on the sandy road between the villages of C.A. Rosetti and Periprava. There, a themed path was set up that crosses a 235 m wide ”hasmac”, at the end of the path being a sand dune. I captured this place in the following video: • Rezervația PĂDUREA LET... . We can say that then we saw dunes, but we didn't see horses, and now, vice versa.
The wild horses in the Letea sandy hill area number over 2,000 and represent a special tourist attraction. The guide, a very nice and clever young local, tells us about the vegetation, the fauna with the horses of Letea, as well as about other things and traditions. In the visiting area there is also one of the secular oaks of the Letea Forest. There is also a pond here that attracts horses, so we had the opportunity to see a lot of wild horses, not scared, but very reserved at the approach of man.
15 апр 2024
