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Hi from Gacka Valley!
Nestled between the Plješivica and Velebit mountains, the Lika Region is often called the untouched heart of Croatia.
In the heart of that heart lies Gacka Valley, with the world’s third-longest sinking river as its main artery. Nowadays 11-kilometer-long Gacka sources its water from several lake-like springs. One of them was a reason enough to leave the cozy warmth of my car, as I rushed toward Dalmatia.
A display on the highway warned of zero degrees Celsius when I diverted in Otočac, and soon I was on a road, barely wide enough for one car, leading me to Majerovo Vrilo, one of the three main sources of Gacka.
I love immersing myself in pristine wilderness; tropical waterfalls were still in the back of my mind while my frontal lobe reasoned why getting behind the wheel and heading south of wintery Zagreb, like some migratory bird, was the most logical step forward.
Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing the snow (through a window), and even enjoy watching the Winter Olympics (on TV). Any kind of protective screen separating me from the white idyll works for me. When it comes to coldness, I prefer using sight to touch.
I know, what is ice and snow if not just a form of water? I do appreciate nature’s ability to create extraordinary things; snowflakes are literally as diverse and as unique as fingerprints.
Some of nature’s peculiar creations can communicate deeper stories, which can easily draw the attention of this storyteller. I have researched a variety of (not only) geological wonders through the years, from heart islands to those shaped like a boat.
Knowing that Valentine’s is coming up, I had to see Majerovo Vrilo from a bird’s perspective myself. Some earlier photographs I’ve come across suggested this pristine river source had the shape of a heart (recognizable both in greener, as well as in whiter months). I had to take my drone out.
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But this is what I recorded. A dreamy observer could still read a heart in the ever-changing water spectacle. But even without knowing the shapeshifter’s airborne secret, Majerovo Vrilo could only leave an impression of a lovely place.
So lovely that I ignored the growing frostbite feeling in my fingers as I tried to pilot the drone. I was envious of ducks gliding through the same water and diving into it, with their cute little behinds and restless legs sticking outside, as if they were not affected by the temperature at all.
One’s mind races away when romance takes over. So, only when I returned to the warm vehicle did I figure out my fingers had cooled down properly in the refreshing Lika’s winter air.
As if I had infused myself with an injection of happiness, I continued driving southward, under the murky sky. When I passed Sveti Rok, a 5.7-kilometer-long tunnel through Velebit, it was as if I had entered a new universe. Skies on the other side were cloudless, and the world seemed much less gray.
Now and then, it’s worth diverting from mainstream paths. My short off-road adventure in Lika powered me up with so much beauty that I could clearly see the light at the end of any tunnel.
I might not have found Valentine’s heart this time, but the adventure has taught me it’s never worthless to try looking for it.
Have a lovely week,
Ivan Kralj
Pipeaway.com
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