June 18 - Danube Flora & Fauna

The Danube, meaning "deep water" or "two rivers", is alternately called the Donau by the Germans and Austrians,  Dunaj or Dunay by the Slovakians, Czechs and Russians, Duna by the Hungarians and Dun_rea in Romanian.  The ancient Romans called the Danube "Danubius" and worshiped a river god of the same name.  So far on our trip it has been mostly wide and fairly slow moving, but in some parts is only about 200 meters wide.  The color of the water is light brown, but that is likely due to the runoff from rains that have been pounding the region for weeks.  It is the second longest river in Europe at about 1,775 miles long, and is the only river to flow from west to east.  Only the Volga river is longer.  The Danube flows through more European countries than any other and since the political upheavals of the 1990s now passes through ten countries; Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldavia and Ukraine.

Most of the shoreline is lined with deciduous willow, alder, oak, chestnut and other smaller "shrubs" that fill in the understory.  Early in the trip when we were in Germany there were stands of evergreens such as fir and pine mixed in on the higher elevations.  Only where humans have chosen to live is the shoreline flora broken with either residential, commercial or industrial buildings.  Quaint villages are seen from time to time and many castles command the highest points along the way.  Church spires sprout from villages, sometimes two or more in each.

The only wildlife we've seen are birds; cormorants (they look like them, anyway), great blue herons, mallard ducks, small terns, gulls and in only one spot a couple dozen white swans.  However, there was this one meerkat we saw in Passau, Germany.  The tour guide was not pleased.