WOX Travel Contest | Week 20 | Baška, Croatia
Baška, Croatia
This is my 1st time to participate in this travel contest but not the 1st time that I write about Baška, Croatia & display the photos on my numerous visits to that paradise place. Baška is a little town situated on one of the most beautiful & famous Croatian beaches. The beach is the end of the valley through which a small stream called Vela Rika is flowing & pouring directly into the Adriatic sea. This valley I prefer to call the Paradise Valley even it is a tradition to call it Bašćanska dolina or the Baška Valley.
The valley is surrounded by 2 not so high hills & opened towards the South-East, towards island Prvić & mountain Velebit. Even thou in the summertime it is a true Paradise, it has also its bad sides like a sudden weather changes caused by the proximity of the high mountain & the differences in temperatures & air pressures on the mountain & sea levels. So, during the days the temperatures in Baška can rise to 35-40 °C but if the sudden rain drops on the heated mountain tops on Velebit & cooles them down quickly, than always the cold strong wind comes down blowing heavily on Baška & also bringing the cold. So, quickly the paradise can be turned into not so pleasant environment.
On this 1st shot, I'm shooting the view that I got from one of the hills on the way to Škuljica. On this shot you can see the channel between the island Krk, from where I'm shooting, & the island Prvić, where the other lighthouse is. Behind Prvić, you can see the mountain tops of the highest, biggest & longest mountain massif called - Velebit
Hiking From Zarok To The Lighthouse Škuljica
Zarok is a special part of Baška where the specific sand dunes are formed with a specific eco system & specific flora & fauna. From there start the hiking paths with different directions. This time & for the 1st time I took the one leading to the edge of the hill where another small red lighthouse tower is installed to signal the ships in night navigation. That place is called Škuljica - which means "hole". It is a 4 km walk in one direction, which means 8 km in both directions.
This is almost the same shot like the one before, only vertical & cropped.
The day or night before was raining a bit, so the cold wind from the mountain came down in the morning, but still sunny, maybe around 28-30 °C. I had good lunch & decided to use the opportunity when it's not too hot while the cold wind bura is blowing to hike this path towards Škuljica.
It was really hard for me, unexpectedly hard cause when I was halfway towards Škuljica, the wind almost completely stopped & the Sun started heating more intense & I believe that the temperature also rose. I even missed the path at one crossroad so I walked 10 min in wrong direction & when I realized it, than I walked 10 min back. So, I wasted 20 min of my power for nothing. But I was going slowly & consciously breathing slowly through my nose only & taking breaks whenever I felt like.
I also carried my new camera - Nikon Z6 - in the bag but I was so exhausted & lazy to take it out & shoot. But than I saw sights like the one above & some more below this point that I just couldn't ignore anymore & from my inner depths I got some waves of energy & strength to use my camera & capture those moments.
Stairway To Nowhere
When I reached Škuljica, there was a small beach & a bay waiting for me & surely I took all of my sweaty clothes off together with the bags & went straight swimming & snorkeling! That was an orgasmic & refreshing sensation & award for coming that far. After a bit of sunbathing I went swimming one more time. In this beach-bay there were these magnificent & rather irrational stairs & a pier built of concrete leading to the stony Mediterranean desert or I would rather say - to nowhere! That's why I admired this sight so much because it's totally unlogic for me to build these here but someone really saw the purpose & benefit of building those there! Can you imagine how much effort it takes to do that?! I hope you'll enjoy the next 3 shots of that pier & those stairs! I adore them!
Behind me was the following sight - a true rocky wasteland where only the toughest plants & animals can survive. Many medicinal plants & spices, blackberry & other thorny plants which are trying to protect themselves with those thorns so that they are not eaten by the sheep, donkeys or dear. Many grasshoppers were jumping & flying around, many different birds too, a big green lizard which really surprised me & many smaller black-brown-green ones running around too.
In the middle of these to hills was a path leading to & back from Škuljica. That was the way I passed in both directions. The way back was kind of easier even thou I needed to climb up from 0 m, the sea level, all the way up to approx. 300 m to the hill pass where the path was again going downwards.
After swimming the 1st time in Škuljica, I went to the very edge of the island from where I had the most perfect view towards Prvić & big stone lighthouse on its shores. I took several nice shots of that sight but I must admit I missed the telephoto lens so that I could capture that lighthouse & the bots properly! Nevertheless, I still believe I made few great shot of it:
On that edge was the red metal lighthouse installed, which didn't inspired me much but I also turned back towards Baška & I saw this nice wooden boat taking tourists on a sea tour. Just straight behind that boat, in the distance, you can see the town called Baška. Back there I was heading to soon after.
When I climbed up to almost the height of the hill pass, I turned back toward Škuljica to take just the last shot of that extreme but extraordinary, wild place before I go back to the concrete, asphalt & humans.
All the way down to the bottom of this hill, I was swimming & snorkeling & than it was just a far away memory but I was present in the moment fully enjoying & watching forward in the future, but not too far...
This is my entry to #woxtravel challenge week 20 by @o1eh. Thanks for keeping up this great travel challenge!
The upper shots I made with Nikon Z6 & Nikon AF Nikkor 35-70 mm lens without the possibility of using AF, only manual but with the help of peaking highlights & for the self-portrait below I used Nikon D800 with same lens but with the possibility of AF.
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WoW! Thank you very much!
Thank you for such a detailed and thorough story. You mesmerized me and now I dream of visiting Croatia someday. This is a very feasible dream, but in the future. Previously, people from Ukraine often traveled to Croatia.
"Stairway to Nowhere" is a truly surreal picture. I wonder why they were built. I think there was a reason for that at one time. Now the lonely staircase is a very dramatic and sad picture, like the remains of some civilization.
I can understand you, I love hiking too. I often went to the Carpathians, where it is impossible to guess the weather. At first it is cool and wet, then it is hot, but a cold wind is blowing, etc.
Thank you for participating.
Thanks for such a nice comment! You're welcome to Croatia! Everybody is welcomed here! That's our tradition.
Before entering EU & fucking embargo on Russia we had a lot of Russian. Now, during the fucking war, we have a lot of Ukrainian people living here all-year-long.
Our Slavic connections with both Ukrainian & Russian people & other Slavic nations are unbreakable! & I wish all wars finally stop!
I would really like to travel Ukraine & Russia, especially Kavkaz & Carpathians but everywhere indeed!
Thank you, friend!
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