Practical
Safety in the field
Sun, ticks, water, the border, the Delta: field notes, not medical advice and not a police rulebook. A licensed guide, a doctor and 112 beat any paragraph. Dobrogea looks gentle because it is low - the sun, the wind and the channels are not.
Sun and dehydration
Hat, cream, plenty of water. The sites have no shade. July heat at Histria or Tropaeum is a reason to turn back, not to "tough it out". Children and older visitors give out first. The heatwave guide lists places to take shelter.
The Delta
Life jacket on the boat, keep to the boat timetable, mosquitoes, no swimming in unknown channels. Currents, propellers and vegetation do not show the way they do at Mamaia. Tell someone your schedule. Cash and weak signal are normal, not surprises.
Măcin and the gorges
The path is dry and slippery. Snakes live here; do not kill them and do not put your hand into scree. Ticks appear in tall grass in spring and autumn. Check yourself in the evening. The signal dies on the ridge - download the map.
The sea
Flag, lifeguard, no swimming after a storm, no air mattresses in a north wind. The breakwaters are wet and slippery. Off-season the water is cold and posts thin out - it is not "emptier, therefore safer".
Border and road
Papers at Vama Veche and Isaccea. Official sources only for opening hours. The vignette is required on national roads. Drink-driving is whatever the current law says, not a 2014 holiday memory. The visitors' guide has the detail.
Emergencies
112. The lifeguard on beaches that have a post. ARBDD and the environmental gendarmes in the Delta. We do not publish a mobile number for "a friend in Tulcea". Useful numbers keeps the public list.