Eco tour, island style

Lastovo Nature Park Islands, project DestiMED, Mezzomondo local travel agency and WWF ran their second test round of an eco tour in June. A group of specialists from both environmental and tourism backgrounds were brought together to give feedback on a package designed to be a socially and environmentally responsible travel experience with a focus on community inclusion. 

These few days took the group on an adventure to discover Lastovo, one of Croatia's most remote and beautiful islands. A world so untouched, it is known as the island of bright stars, a little piece of paradise on Earth. This experience gave us an insight into both the natural wonders of the island as well as the local lifestyle and culture.

Lučica Bay from the looking point 

  

As a WWF Adria volunteer living and working in Lastovo, I joined the eco tour for the week. I met up with the group of testers for a welcome dinner at a family owned tavern where we enjoyed authentic Mediterranean food while we ran through the expectations and focus of the rest of the tour.

Day 1-Split, Croatia and the Palace of Diocletian

Day 1 for testers had started in Split, one of Croatia’s most known cities and an emerging tourist destination. Split is home to the ancient Roman Palace of Diocletian, a designated World Cultural Heritage site under UNESCO. The adventure started in the heart of it all, within the palace. A guided walking tour in Split focused on giving testers an alternative story of the city, looking at the challenges of over tourism. Whilst it covered some the city’s main tourist attractions, local markets, local hangouts and coffee spots were also on the agenda, giving a more authentic experience of the tourist destination. 

  The bell tower in Palace of Diocletian

For the testers, the local market was a unique experience of colours and smells, buying cheese from a local elderly woman who told old Croatian stories was one of the highlights of the trip. Another highlight was listening to traditional acapella singing which echoed throughout the Palace of Diocletian.

Testers arrived in Lastovo that night to become temporary islanders for the rest of the week, a life style I have become acquainted with in the last month. The tour was organised in partnership with a local tour guide, Meri Glumac, through her tour agency Mezzomondo. Meri is very knowledgable about the legends and history of the island, and being a local herself this was an opportunity to see Lastovo through an islanders eyes. Accommodation was in Zaklopatica Bay, where the cries of the rare Kaukala birds on the islet in the bay can be heard as the sun sets for the day. They are easily mistaken for those of a crying child. In fact, as legend has it, the cries are those of a heart broken women whose love drowned during their swim to the islet from the Bay’s horizons. Zaklopatica Bay offers a stunning view of a neighbouring island, Korcula. The accommodation is owned by a local couple and conveniently located between the harbour town of Ubli and the main island village of Lastovo. 

Testers often spent their free time in the evenings paddle boarding in the bay, dipping into the ocean or enjoying a glass of wine next to the pool while taking in views of the Adriatic sea.

Day 2- Lastovo through conservation lenses

The first morning on the island was dedicated to the story of Lastovo Islands Marine Protected Areas (MPA). We got a chance to see the island through a conservation lense, as the island is Croatia’s    

youngest designated 

nature park.

A ride on the MPA boat with the rangers gave insight into the hidden conservation gems of the island, discussing both the successes and challenges of conservation it faces. 

Discussing conservation with the ranger, Marin

Snorkeling with the local ranger, Marin Katić, offered a new perspective into the Adriatic Sea’s diverse and colourful sea world, seeing first hand the beauty that needs to be protected. Marin shared tales of growing up diving great depths into island caves and the challenges facing some of the Adriatic Ocean’s creatures and fauna. This was a great way to dig deeper into conservation of the island, both from a rangers perspective as well as a local islanders perspective. 

We then headed to Mihajla Bay to head up through a Mediterranean oak forest to the main village of Lastovo.  Late afternoon was spent kayaking around Zaklopatica Bay, before heading for another taste of fine local cuisine at a local family owned tavern. 

Kayaking in Zaklopatica Bay

Day 3 – Cultural immersion

Day 3 of the tour started at dawn as we joined an ornithologist, Robert Crnković, on a bird watching mission. We huddled in the fields hoping for a sighting, but unfortunately, birds were too shy that morning.

It was then time to grab a shovel and go vegetable hunting in a local garden. It is safe to say this was a successful mission as we filled our basket with freshly picked zucchinis, potatoes, cucumbers and peas. We all helped with washing, peeling and cutting the vegetables at the Podanje family farmhouse. Ante, a member of the family, showed us how to grill our vegetables the traditional way and shared some stories from his family who have been on the island for some 300 hundred years. Eggs were also served, supplied by the farm’s chickens and Robert shared some Croatian jokes with the group over our fresh breakfast. 

After breakfast we were ready to head out on our bicycles to our next stop, the up hills were tough, but the lunch waiting for us was well worth it.  Before lunch we took a walk from the past to the present along a heritage path through some of the villages most notable historical monuments such as the Duke’s house and some old stone churches. The group also got a chance to chat to some passing locals and duck into a small market with homemade wines, rakija and essential oils.

Shopping at a small market in Lastovo village

Lunch was a truly authentic Mediterranean experience as we enjoyed a range of different flavours of rakija, a fruit brandy that Croatians swear cures any ailment. Locally caught fish and domestically grown vegetables were also on the menu. Every meal on this tour was in line with the traditional way of life on the island, most vegetables and fruits are grown on the island and fish is mostly from local Lastovo fishermen, the olive oil is one of a kind in the world as it is produced with olives that have fallen off the trees rather than being picked. Each tavern paired meals with their own family wine, every wine was different and unique. Having lived on the island for a month, eating meals with locals from their own homemade produce, I was glad that this way of life came through so strongly in the tour. It was also a great way to ensure meals were sustainable.

Testers enjoying some Rakija 

Free time was next on the agenda, often the best moments were spontaneous little adventures we didn’t plan. Some testers headed to visit the lighthouse keeper with Robert and enjoyed some wine over an honest conversation about life on the island, and in Croatia in general. Some testers grabbed paddleboards and set out to have a bit of peaceful time on the sea, while others cycled to nearby hidden beaches.

Dinner that night was another cultural gem, the local Lastovo acapella group sang Croatian songs while we sipped a variety of different local wines. In exchange we sang some songs for the acapella group from our different countries, although not as in tune. Traditional sword dance and folk-lore dances were performed by talented young people of the island. As we watched, they whirled their way around a cobbled street with old stone houses in the back ground, it was easy to get lost in the moment. Our moonlight walk to view the Milky Way in Europe’s second clearest sky was interrupted by a storm rolling in and we called it a night as lightening lit up the skies.  

Traditional folk lore dancing

Day 4- Fishing and experiencing the fjaka

A tester helping out on the boat

We woke to the sound of raindrops on our windows on day 4. That didn’t stop the adventure as we joined the local fishermen, Ivica Lešić, and his wife, the ‘first mate’, on a fishing trip. The island has a long tradition of living from the land and sea. We learnt about local fishing traditions, culture and customs from an experienced local fisherman whose family has lived off the sea’s             

resources for generations.                                                 

According to the fisherman if it is someone’s first time on a fishing boat then they bring good luck. We must have had luck on our side that day as two rare fish and one small bottom shark were caught. For lunch we took shelter from the rain in an old battleship bunker. This was a rare experience as it felt like having lunch with some old friends, learning about the life of a traditional fisherman in the Mediterranean. 

Many challenges face small island fisherman and new and alternative ways of making money as fish populations deplete is needed. Fishing tourism, showing tourists the ins and outs of traditional fishing is one. This gives them a unique cultural experience to live in the shoes (or fishing boots) of a local for a day. 

Ivica, the fisherman, at the helm of his boat

We also had some free time this day to experience the ways of fjaka. Fjaka is a Dalmatian state of both mind and body, something that is difficult to explain and is considered a gift from god on the islands of Croatia. You will know when it hits on a hot island day, it is a state of mindfulness but also complete relaxation. Jakša Fiamengo, a Croatian poet, described it as “a faint unconsciousness, a state beyond the self or – if you will – deeply inside the self, a special kind of general immobility, drowsiness and numbness, a weariness and indifference towards all important and ancillary needs, a lethargic stupor and general passivity on the journey to overall nothingness. The sense of time becomes lost, and its very inertness and languor give the impression of a lightweight instant. More precisely: it’s half somewhere and half nowhere, always somehow in between”. A trip to a Dalmatian island wouldn’t be complete without fjaka. 

To finish off the Lastovo adventure, we dined with MPA and WWF staff on the island for a final farewell. We used this opportunity to dig deeper into the efforts to protect and preserve this amazing island, and spoke in depth about the implementation of a sustainable project in the near future on the island. Our farewell dinner was a sad goodbye to a wonderful group of people from all around the world who came together to experience this little island gem.

Spending time with local fishermen, tasting local family wines, enjoying rakija whilst listening to traditional acapella singing and tasting locally grown and authentic Mediterranean delicacies were just some of the highlights of the trip. 

Lastovo is a unique island for an eco tour because it is truly one of the most untouched islands in Croatia, rolling hills fall into crystal aqua waves and beauty is at every turn. A small community of people whose every day life is part of nature itself, a living contradiction to the idea that humans need to be separated from pristine environments for it to thrive. This makes it so important to encourage sustainable and responsible tourism to the island to ensure both the culture and nature is preserved.