Summer in the Danube Delta: Water Lilies, Pelicans and the Quiet Hours

Summer is the season when most people come to the Danube Delta. It is the time of holidays, and the Danube Delta is at its greenest and fullest of life. It is also the season when the hour you go out on the water matters most.

The right hours

From about 9:30 in the morning, hundreds of speed boats race through the Danube Delta, packed with people who come to tick off places rather than to see nature. The noise and the waves scare the wildlife away. Speed boats are today the greatest threat to the nature of the Danube Delta.

That is why our summer trips go out at sunrise and in the late afternoon. These are the most comfortable hours of a hot day and the hours when the crowds are gone. While the speed boats race, you rest in the shade at the guesthouse; when they are gone, the water and the birds are quiet again, and you go back out.

Life on the water

Summer is the busiest time for the birds. They feed without pause, because they all have chicks to raise, and some of the young are already big and always hungry. Carpets of water lilies cover channels and lakes, and the water chestnut forms floating mats where thousands of birds find food. Common terns and whiskered terns nest here, and you can watch them bring fish to their chicks.

Pelicans

Pelicans feed in large squadrons, and at sunrise and in the evening you see them pass overhead in great numbers. On the lakes they fish together, and only a guide who knows them well can tell how close the boat may come without scaring them. That way you see them fishing, in action, instead of only watching them fly away.

Herons and young families

As the water drops, the herons hunt along the banks of the channels, out in the open, and you can admire their patience and elegance. The young geese, ducks and swans have grown, and you see them swimming with their parents, not yet able to fly.

Heat, sun and water

Summer days can be hot across Romania. On the water, early and late in the day, the air is fresher and the willows give shade. The boat is open, so bring a hat, sunscreen, light clothes with long sleeves and enough water.

Between the trips, enjoy the summer. In Mila 23, Alexandru & Alexandra House has a pool. At the edge of the Danube Delta, the Nena Art Resort escape combines a large pool with boat trips to the wild beaches of Sfantu Gheorghe and Perisor. And on our private day trip to Sulina there is time for a swim in the Black Sea.

In July and August, our shared multi day nature tours run only as summer programs, built around these hours: see the Summer Nature Escape, in a 3 day version too.