A fairy tale of the old forest
Valentina Kozlovich, "Sovetskaya Byelorussia" (The Soviet Byelorussia) newspaper, March 18, 2009
About Belovezhskaya Pushcha
Have you visited Belovezhskaya Pushcha in the Indian summer's golden season? Even if you will nod "no", I am sure you agree that this time is the best to think up for "forest" celebrations. This autumn, on September 19 20, there will be actions on the occasion of the 600th anniversary since first nature protection in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Come there and you will be delighted with. I say this with competence because I quite often visit Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
All works are now in high point there. You can ask what should be done in the National Park and, in the main, what is allowed to be done there. Things have reached the culmination for a long time to improve the material and technical basis of the National Park. 26 billions Roubles (~ $ 12 millions) were invested in the Park's infrastructure last year. The Brest and Grodno Regional Executive Committees, ministries and departments, together with the Presidential Administration of Affairs, which has basically taken care, are involved in the program.
And changes are to the fore. An excellent hotel with a pool, saunas and a conference hall has appeared. The builders of the Brest building company No 8 now erect an environment-educational center and a museum of nature. The Presidential Administration of Affairs finances the construction (3.3 billion Roubles or ~ $ 1.5 millions were invested last year) and 4.2 billion Roubles (~ $ 1.9 millions) will be given from the state budget. Much money - over 6 billions Roubles (~ $ 2.7 millions) - is however required more. The sums of finances are big but agree that Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a Belarusian brand and the main and the most popular tourist object of the country. The investors, where are you? Join and you will not regret.
By the way, I prompt where one can invest money more. One of the tourist routes to come to Pushcha runs through the monastery of Zhirovochi. A wonder-working font is on this sacred land but, unfortunately, not yet served with facilities. The Manager of the Presidential Administration of Affairs Nikolai Domashkevich has offered to refine on it. Why not? Not only the Pushcha's tourists will be grateful, this is important and useful for all of us taking care of nature and soul ...
Let's continue our tour of the building site. The administrative center of the National Park, the village of Kamenyuki, is quickly changing its face. 15 new cottages for the Park's experts are erected. A local school and a dispensary will be repaired. Elevations of houses and roofs are renovated. A sewage disposal station is modernized. Reconstruction of the bridge through the river of Lesnaya is in progress. Roads and entrances are under construction...
The builders can undoubtedly surprise. And what is about ecologists? 4 new ecological routes the bicycle "Imperial Glade" of the length of 10 kilometers, the "Animal Passage" (16 kilometers) and the "Wood Tracks" (19 kilometers) - are developed in addition to the existing ones. The footpath "Protected Oak Forest" is for the most inquisitive tourists, its length is a bit more than two kilometers. So, the National Park is not limited to the manor of Grandfather Frost and the zoo enclosures that to make Belovezhskaya Pushcha memorizing for the tourist tired from urban boons and exhausts.
However, to be convinced and to support my delight, it is no matter to wait for September. It is also incredibly beautiful in spring there. So much water has flowed in the local river of Narevka for 600 years, as much changed have happened in our life, while this corner remains unique in its beauty. Everything was deeply intertwined in the centuries-old history, in the majestic history rich in powerful energy of the Earth beauty and in the unique and unforgettable Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It is a pleasure to have a rest there. Have you filled the lungs with curative air? Have you embraced an oak which gives forces? Have you wandered in the museum? Have you admired bison? If it is so, then you go directly to the restaurant "Belovezhskaya Pushcha". A beef Stroganoff is prepared from the game, a garnish and a cutlet "Belovezhskaya" are served with calibrated mushrooms. For those who keep the fast, the cooks will offer many dishes too, for example, a salad "Forester's Dream" from mushrooms with cranberry or fish from forest lakes.
It is a fairy tale, isnt it?..
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