The Danube River is one of the most well-known rivers in the world, slicing it’s way through the heart of Europe, hosting countless river boat cruises, flanked by medieval castles, feeding fertile vineyards on it’s slopes and providing commerce, transportation and wonderful views to millions of people.  But eventually it’s journey ends in Romania as it fans out onto it’s vast flat flood plains, forming a delta covering thousands of square kilometres and finally draining into the Black Sea.

The Danube Delta and it’s vast protected area was high on our list for visiting in Romania so when we left Bucharest we headed due east for the port city of Constanta and our old friend again, the Black Sea.  We had become a bit fond of the Black Sea with all it’s quirks and mediocrity while we were in Georgia and Turkey but here we were again, strolling along the promenade in Constanta as the strong breeze whipped up an uncharacteristic frenzy in the sea.  It was a welcome reunion.

And just offshore as we promenaded on the promenade were dozens and dozens of huge container ships just waiting to be loaded or unloaded in Constanta’s busy port.  We are now quite close to the Ukrainian border and couldn’t help but wonder if and how these ships are playing a part – or pawns – in the ongoing struggle for control of Black Sea shipping in the war. 

We camped that night not far away in a crazy unique place, on the water’s edge tucked in amongst the giant concrete structures used as sea breaks, like giant chess pieces all piled up together.  We smiled at our good fortune of finding such a novel place to camp, like so many of our roughly 700 places we’ve spent the night on this trip.

North of Constanta is the most popular coastal holiday destination for 17 million Romanians, centred on the long deep sandy beaches around the town of Mamaia. 

Mamaia might be called a poor man’s Gold Coast or Miami Beach as it has many half-built buildings, rundown services and a general sense of averageness all about it.  Having said that, the endless stream of high rises, hotels and restaurants, the end-to-end beach clubs on the sand and the lapping modest surf of the Black Sea make this a very doable destination for Romanians who will never see an ocean.  We definitely gave Mamaia, it’s sun burnt reputation and (allegedly) bopping night life a good pass mark.

We followed our nose northward across a couple hours of flat farmland, harvested and prepared for the winter, before arriving at the large regional centre of Tulcea, the launch pad for the Danube Delta.

We were fascinated by what we saw on the map and read about the Delta, a national park, a UNESCO World Heritage location and an all-around cool place covering a massive area in this northeast corner of Romania.  We wanted to dive into the delta in a couple different ways and initially settled on a three-hour morning boat ride the next day which would take us into the heart of the delta to see the wildlife and get a feel for these wetlands. 

We camped that night in the small community of Murighiol on the edge of the delta and woke up early the next morning to meet our boat driver Florian at his boat ramp at the ungodly hour of 0600. 

But this is the best time to see the wetlands as the birds are moving about and feeding and the early morning sun is absolutely glorious across the water. Florian took us across a couple of larger channels but we mainly explored the narrow alleyways of water that interconnect the numerous lakes in the delta. 

It was a smorgasbord of birds, a twitcher’s delight, and with Florian’s eagle eye we saw eagles, egrets, numerous kinds of heron, beautiful white swans, ducks and geese, many other types I can’t remember and the champion of the wetlands – the pelicans.   It was all absolutely fantastic and we loved every minute.

But we knew the delta had more to offer so we boarded a fast boat which normally takes about 12 people but on this trip only had us for a 90 minute ride down the main channel of the river to the isolated town of Sfantu Georghe, or St. George. 

This community has no road or rail connection – it is linked to the rest of the world via the shuttle boats that run back and forth along the river.  The town is only a short throw from probably the best beach on all the Black Sea, although that’s not necessarily high praise.

We had parked Tramp up for the night and booked ourselves into a quirky little bungalow in the middle of St. George, although that may sound like St. George has a ‘middle’ which is not exactly the case.  After dropping off our bags we walked the 1.7 kilometres (bit over a mile) down the sandy track which doubles as the main street and then across the open plain to the beach. 

Unfortunately the weather didn’t put the beach in it’s best light but I had a swim – sadly, my last swim in the Black Sea – and we enjoyed the setting for some time before ambling back to our bungalow.  That night we walked into ‘town’, as it was, and enjoyed a seafood dinner in the heart of this isolated community.  It was the only restaurant in town we could find and served up very good food.  As we’ve seen in so many other obscure locations, the locals just get along with their life and do the best they can, just like people all over the world.

Sfantu Georghe, or St. George, is a funny place.  The ‘roads’ are just sandy tracks which have a tractor pulling a water tank a couple times a day to keep the dust down.  Because there are no cars there are also no driveways or garages for the houses. 

The vehicle of choice is a standard ATV or a slightly longer version with only a single wheel up front and room in the back.  After dinner we found an outdoor bar which doubled as the town’s bottle shop and main gathering point for the locals. 

The next morning we walked back into town for brekkie at the same place and by 1100 caught our fast boat shuttle back to civilisation and Tramp.  The Danube Delta had been an absolutely wonderful experience all around but it was time to move on and by late afternoon we were at our next border.  Based on our recent track record, I wonder how that will go?