After exploring Zadar for a few hours, I jumped onto a bus (3hrs, 55Kuna) headed inland to Plitvice Lakes National Park. Plitvice, pronounced "plit-veet-suh", is a world heritage site protected by UNESCO, and it just takes a few seconds in the area to see why. Lush green forests are home to bears, wolves and many rare species of birds (including the cuckoo, which I had never heard outside of a clock before).