We stayed five days in Bialowieza National Park (pdf file),located east of Poland, near the border with Byelorussia. It has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

Białowieża Forest covers an area of about 150 000 ha located on the both sides of the Polish-Belorussian border.

We can observe a large variety of species in the park, such as european bisons, deers, wolves, lynx, elks, amphibians and more than 170 birds species.

The flora is very various (more than 800 vascular plants species) and we can observe the oldest oak trees in Poland.

The park is divided into two parts :

- the area of active protection is opened and we can go hiking, riding horses or biking,

- the strictly protected reserve is accessible only with a guide.

We have been received by the deputy director of the park Aleksander Bołbot who put us in relation with Łukasz Ławrysz, manager of tourism department. During our stay, we made a little movie of the park and set up with Łukasz, an ecovolunteer program.

We were really impressed by the infrastructure of the park. We spent nice time in this place who is worth seeing because of the various biodiversity.

Thanks to Łukasz, we met a woman who lives with her children in the middle of the forest without electricity in a former forester house. We slept in their yard during three nights and we enjoyed a lot spending time with them and their friends. We also tasted a typical polish dish : potatoes pancakes.

We also enjoyed walking in Bialowieza National Park to see many animals and feel the ambiance of the forest. It was everyday a pleasure to listen to the woodpecker hammering sound.