Vacation Trip 2006 June/July 2006 Photos of the Curonian Spit in Lithuania and Russia Photos in Album: 192

The Curonian Spit is a fascinating stretch of land (or sand) which makes up a nature reserve, half of which is in Lintuania and the other half of which is part of Russia (Калининград Оьласть, Россиа) in Kaliningrad Oblast. In order to get there from the Lithuanian side you have to take this ferry, the ride on which takes all of about 10 minutes.



From here you have to drive to the park entrance, where you will pay a fee that helps support the reserve. You also pay to enter the Russian side as well. This is a map of the park.



Now we are driving along the park. The entire park is essentially a large sand dune upon which these local pine trees thrive.



Unfortunately this year there was a fire, and this is part of the damage. Luckily it did not encompass the entire reserve.



This is the part entrance.



Here you can see the sand, and the structure which is built of wood from the area in order to help hold the sand in place.



Here you can see the larger sand dunes



This is a monument in the park.



It really is amazing how these trees grow on the sand. In the far distance you can see a tower.



This is the town of Nida - it is located just before the Russian border.



These are carvings of the local folk character sea goddess Neringa, who is said to have built the island.



These are traditional tools used in processing amber.



Here are a couple of large amber nodes.



This is an unprocessed amber node - it just looks like a rock until you work with it.



One of the best ways to see if amber is real is to float it in salt water. Real amber will float, and plastic etc. will sink.



These are traditional fishermen signs - the different fishermen each had their own design, which includes symbols for the town they work out of.



This was my guide in the Curonian Spit



This is the local cemetery which has some unusual designed grave markers.



More photos of town.



We stopped here for lunch.



These are photos from the Witches' Hill. Local craftsmen got together and carved various statues which represent folk tales from the region. As we went carving to carving my guide would tell me the story which goes with each.



More photos from town.



In the distance you can see trees which are only bare branches. This is because the feces of the birds in this area (Grey Herons and Cormorants) is acidic and kills the trees.



This sign tells you about the birds.



More photos of the birds and trees.

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