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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Cruisin' to the Kornati Islands

This is how I started my trip to the Kornati islands:


We were welcomed aboard the Barba Ive (our ship) with a shot of the local fire water... at 8:30 in the morning. I have no idea what we drank, but as you can tell from the photo, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. Jim handled it equally well:


Kornati National Park contains 150 islands, most of which are uninhabited. According to our guide, only people born on the islands have the right to own property there. It's not the most convenient place to live, as there's no electricity, no water supply, few plants, and no connections to the mainland. To get there, you have to own a boat or join a tourist excursion.
Map of the Kornati islands
It took us more than three hours to get to the islands (longer than I expected, but this gave me ample time for a nap!) They fed us some tasty lunch along the way:
Mmm....more grilled fish.
Unfortunately, lunch left me feeling pretty hungry, as I have a slight aversion to fish. But Jim was a trooper, eating most of his!
His expression clearly says, "I'm lovin' it."
(Jim edit: I'm more of a fish and chips type. I guess it was good if you like that kind of thing.)
Being in a confined space with so many gills, fins, and eyeballs made me a wee bit nauseous, so I stepped out to get some fresh air and snap a few photos:
Seagulls drafting our boat.




Around noon, we arrived at Telašćica Nature Park, a secluded bay at the southern end of  Dugi Otok (Croatian for "Long Island.") It was great to get off the boat, stretch our legs, and do a little exploring:
Our ride
Telašćica bay
Wonder if this leads anywhere? (It did: to a parking lot!)
Mir, a  large salt lake in Telašćica
Telašćica Park is famous for its stene, which are rocky, 160-meter high cliffs facing the open sea. 



But for us, the highlight of the day was meeting some of the local residents!
"Do you think I can ride it?"

It's a rough life being a donkey!