Croatia has thousands of little islands spread out along its coastline, tops of a mostly submerged mountain range. Bram and I hit a boat to see the islands, some of which make up the Kornati Park.
Across the sea from Zadar, many towns dot the islands.
These islands were actually a top tourist destination for Roman tourists. Imagine being a Roman, making the trip across the Adriatic to your "summer home" on the islands.
Bridging two islands.
The geology was pretty cool. Check out the upheaval in this island.
The islands used to be populated by sheep and goat herders. These herders let their livestock eat these islands bare, so some of these islands, to this day, have little or no vegetation, not even grass. Sometimes, you could see the ancient ruins of these "sheep pens".
More interesting geologic upheaval.
It turns out that more and more islands are constantly being born. This is because Italy is slowly moving towards Croatia at a rate of 4 mm per year, pushing more and more islands above the level of the water.
On the boat, we enjoy a lunch of freshly caught grilled fish. Bram, who ordinarily is not the world's biggest fish fan, loved them.
The sea was very clear. Even from the boat, you could see the bottom of the sea.
We stopped for a snorkeling break...
... where I encounter some of the wildlife!
It is a commonly known fact among sea gulls that if you follow the tourist boats, you get fed. The seagulls were SMART. They knew exactly when to come by - they showed up mid morning, and sure enough, 15 minutes later we were served little sandwiches. They also followed us all during lunch, when they got some tasty bread handouts.
When the seagulls disappeared, we knew we wouldn't be getting any more free snacks for a while...
Later in the afternoon, we stopped at this quiet island.
But we did see something very interesting here. We saw a shark! A point if you can correctly guess what we saw the shark eating:
a. a fish b. a scuba diver c. an inner tube d. a squid e. a pizza
I will guess "c" an inner tube... Do I at least get a point for spelling it right? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll take squid - mostly because I think that would be really cool to see!
ReplyDeleteThe shark was eating neither an inner tube or a squid. (I have, however, seen a squid eat a lobster. Really weird.)
ReplyDeleteI will guess Pizza! (Ginny) and Sjaak will try the "too obvious" Fish answer.
ReplyDeleteAlex decided that even though "a scuba diver" isn't very likely, he's going to take that guess since no one else is taking it. I told him that Auntie Beth is tricky, so sometimes the least likely answer is actually the winning one! :) Ginny
ReplyDeleteAuntie Beth is tricky? What would make you think that? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe correct answer is a pizza. Let's face it. Pizzas are yummy.
But it was not a REAL Shark....that is beyond tricky and just downright misleading! As your mother I am totally embarrassed that I did not figure that out myself.
ReplyDeleteWhat can I say? I am always full of surprises. :)
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