Soomaa National Park in
central Estonia is an area of bogs and mires. Visitors are most
attracted by the Soomaa floods which follow the thawing of snow and
heavy rains. The time of early spring floods is known as the fifth
season. During this period, all low-lying forests, roads and even
yards are flooded and people can only get around by boat. This is an
interesting time, the beginning of the water hiking season when you
can go about canoeing in the forest. The biggest floods are late March
and early April. People canoe in front of
a flooded house in Soomaa National Park. An Estonian region, hit by
floods every spring, uses this natural disaster to attract visitors
and organise canoe tours through flooded territories. Flood is called
fifth season by local people and can raise the water levels by as much
as five metres. Photos: Reuters/Ints
Kalnins
A flooded forest in
Soomaa national park.
Tourists canoe through
the flooded forest in the park.
Soomaa National Park in
central Estonia is an area of bogs and mires. Visitors are most
attracted by the Soomaa floods which follow the thawing of snow and
heavy rains. The time of early spring floods is known as the fifth
season. During this period, all low-lying forests, roads and even
yards are flooded and people can only get around by boat. This is an
interesting time, the beginning of the water hiking season when you
can go about canoeing in the forest. The biggest floods are late March
and early April.
