Biokovo Safari
I hope you all gave the notion of 'activities' in the promotional brochure some thought.
As I waited at the pickup place outside Hotel Meteor, looking earnestly for a camouflage jeep (surely I couldn't have missed it? Too well camouflaged?). I worried that the activities mystery would lay unanswered.
Apparently there was some miscommunication, but Mladan doublebacked and picked me up after a few phone calls.
First 'tick' for the 'audio commentary', it started playing as soon as I got in the jeep, with 'odakle ste vi' quickly answered. Loud and in wonderfully accented English - words like 'bewildered' pronounced as though it was a wild beast.
Mladan tells me that his wife is jealous of his love for Biokovo, and he is certainly passionate about it. We picked up the other two guests 5 minutes down the road where he had left them to come back to pick me up - these two (mother and daughter) are also from Tucepi but live in Makarska - and their task is to document the tour for promotional purposes. Petra is an Influencer with 125,000 followers (parents ask your kids) - and she contracts separately as a professional photographer.
We are invited (and we graciously accept the offer) to ride on the top of the jeep, Petra in a nest of cushions in a tyre and me bouncing around behind her - and bounce we do. The road is up, and uneven, and in some places not completely formed. The views are spectacular though.
First stop is Zlib - an old village, no one lives there any more but the bocce court is used every night. This is Pentanque/ bowls/ Croatian style. There are often arguments, and there are official measuring sticks (expandable tv aerials). I've watched the men play at Makarska, and there are also a lot of swear words.
On the face of the huge rock formation at the side of Zlib was an old sundial giving villagers the time of day.
So, we have a glass of visnejvaca (cherry brandy) and smokva (dried fig) and on to the bocce court for the best of 6 games. I may not have my grandfather's skills. We lost 3 games to 4.
And then we travelled up. And up. And up.
While Mladan was preparing the marenda we wandered 500 m along the old track to see an Illyrian tomb. Incredible to try to get your head around just how old civilisation is in this area. We are talking 1000 years before Christ. On the tomb is a half moon and a 'swatstika' both ancient symbols.
We ate domaci anchovies (or similar) with bread cooked in a pekar and beautiful olive oil in a table set under the pine trees. The water for all of the villages (including Makarska) is sourced from Biokovo and here at this marenda spot was a pipe coming from a spring source with a tap - beautiful cool water. And beside this was the plant house for the water supply to neighbouring Bast. Wild mint flourished at the water outlet.
The wall in the picture is for rock climbing and the plan on the sign shows the degrees of difficulty. I'm saying 'Very' would be the degree. We saw other areas used for climbing which I would grade at 'Bloody Difficult', 'Ridiculously Difficult', 'Impossible' and 'Don't be Stupid', all of which are climbed by hardy local folk.
We travelled to 748 m above sea level. At one point the jeep pulled up on a sheer rock face. The point was made and after sitting on the top of the jeep for a few nano seconds, I announced 'to je dosta' (that's enough!), hoping that Mladan wouldn't put the jeep into first gear by mistake.
I know that you are busting to know what the anti-stress activity was: well, walking around one bend in the road where the huge limestone rock face formed a sort of arc, we all stood and yelled at the top of our voices and the echo rebounded for nearly 10 seconds. It was a perfect way of de-stressing - better than stabbing someone (Annette).
It was a good 4 hours before we finished at Veliko Brdo, the Beverley Hills of Makarska if you will. Mood lighting and pools galore.
I've always been drawn to the Mighty Biokovo from the first venture to Makar in my jandals with half a bottle of water 8 years ago (yes, the shame of it, I did, but quickly found Sturdy Tramping Boots after being chastised publicly on face book...).
This gave me an intimate look at parts of it with a man who is passionate about his mountain range. He even showed us a mistletoe which has rooted itself on a pine branch and is co-existing very nicely up there in the extreme conditions - and another tree that has been hollowed out after a lightening strike but is soldiering on.
Take the Safari Makarska when you are here next - just don't freak when Mladan stops the jeep on the cliff face.
As I waited at the pickup place outside Hotel Meteor, looking earnestly for a camouflage jeep (surely I couldn't have missed it? Too well camouflaged?). I worried that the activities mystery would lay unanswered.
Apparently there was some miscommunication, but Mladan doublebacked and picked me up after a few phone calls.
First 'tick' for the 'audio commentary', it started playing as soon as I got in the jeep, with 'odakle ste vi' quickly answered. Loud and in wonderfully accented English - words like 'bewildered' pronounced as though it was a wild beast.
Mladan tells me that his wife is jealous of his love for Biokovo, and he is certainly passionate about it. We picked up the other two guests 5 minutes down the road where he had left them to come back to pick me up - these two (mother and daughter) are also from Tucepi but live in Makarska - and their task is to document the tour for promotional purposes. Petra is an Influencer with 125,000 followers (parents ask your kids) - and she contracts separately as a professional photographer.
We are invited (and we graciously accept the offer) to ride on the top of the jeep, Petra in a nest of cushions in a tyre and me bouncing around behind her - and bounce we do. The road is up, and uneven, and in some places not completely formed. The views are spectacular though.
First stop is Zlib - an old village, no one lives there any more but the bocce court is used every night. This is Pentanque/ bowls/ Croatian style. There are often arguments, and there are official measuring sticks (expandable tv aerials). I've watched the men play at Makarska, and there are also a lot of swear words.
On the face of the huge rock formation at the side of Zlib was an old sundial giving villagers the time of day.
So, we have a glass of visnejvaca (cherry brandy) and smokva (dried fig) and on to the bocce court for the best of 6 games. I may not have my grandfather's skills. We lost 3 games to 4.
And then we travelled up. And up. And up.
While Mladan was preparing the marenda we wandered 500 m along the old track to see an Illyrian tomb. Incredible to try to get your head around just how old civilisation is in this area. We are talking 1000 years before Christ. On the tomb is a half moon and a 'swatstika' both ancient symbols.
We ate domaci anchovies (or similar) with bread cooked in a pekar and beautiful olive oil in a table set under the pine trees. The water for all of the villages (including Makarska) is sourced from Biokovo and here at this marenda spot was a pipe coming from a spring source with a tap - beautiful cool water. And beside this was the plant house for the water supply to neighbouring Bast. Wild mint flourished at the water outlet.
The wall in the picture is for rock climbing and the plan on the sign shows the degrees of difficulty. I'm saying 'Very' would be the degree. We saw other areas used for climbing which I would grade at 'Bloody Difficult', 'Ridiculously Difficult', 'Impossible' and 'Don't be Stupid', all of which are climbed by hardy local folk.
We travelled to 748 m above sea level. At one point the jeep pulled up on a sheer rock face. The point was made and after sitting on the top of the jeep for a few nano seconds, I announced 'to je dosta' (that's enough!), hoping that Mladan wouldn't put the jeep into first gear by mistake.
I know that you are busting to know what the anti-stress activity was: well, walking around one bend in the road where the huge limestone rock face formed a sort of arc, we all stood and yelled at the top of our voices and the echo rebounded for nearly 10 seconds. It was a perfect way of de-stressing - better than stabbing someone (Annette).
It was a good 4 hours before we finished at Veliko Brdo, the Beverley Hills of Makarska if you will. Mood lighting and pools galore.
I've always been drawn to the Mighty Biokovo from the first venture to Makar in my jandals with half a bottle of water 8 years ago (yes, the shame of it, I did, but quickly found Sturdy Tramping Boots after being chastised publicly on face book...).
This gave me an intimate look at parts of it with a man who is passionate about his mountain range. He even showed us a mistletoe which has rooted itself on a pine branch and is co-existing very nicely up there in the extreme conditions - and another tree that has been hollowed out after a lightening strike but is soldiering on.
Take the Safari Makarska when you are here next - just don't freak when Mladan stops the jeep on the cliff face.
👍
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