We had a full day today. We woke up at 4:30 am and took the ferry from Mljet to Dubrovnik. We stored our bags at the bus station in Dubrovnik, rented a scooter, and headed into the Old City to explore. We climbed a steep staircase that leads up to a walkway that sits on top of an ancient fortress. From the top, we enjoyed fantastic views of the Old City (“Stari Grad”), the ocean, and several of the Dalmatian islands that are near Dubrovnik.
After our walk, we had lunch and then went back to the bus station where we met the driver whom we had hired to transport us to Montenegro. The scenic drive into Montenegro went quickly and before we knew it we were across the border and into Hercog Novi. We rented a tiny car without power steering from a friendly Montenegran named Dejan and then we set off toward our next destination – the Tara River at the northern most end of Montenegro. The river is literally the border between Bosnia and Montenegro. The four-hour drive up to the Tara River was bizarre, exhilarating and unforgettable. Montenegro is very mountainous and as we started our ascent we were surprised by how modern the roads were. It didn’t last long. Before we knew it we were on a bumpy, one-lane, dirt road. We were a little worried about our tiny car that sat six inches off the ground being able to handle the dirt road, but then we came to construction work and a detour that made us really worry. The detour went off the “road” that we were on and directly through the forest. Other small cars were taking the detour and we saw no alternative so we followed the others through the trees and over the rocks until we were back on the road. It was quite interesting. Toward the end of our journey to the Tara River we came to the Piva Reservoir. The drive along the reservoir was breathtaking with steep mountains leading down to an aqua marine river. We drove through 52 caves – most of which looked like they had simply blasted away the limestone without bothering to do anything beyond that. The inside of the caves was sheer jagged rock. After the our magnificent drive, we finally arrived at the Bosnian border which we had to briefly cross before reentering in Montenegro and beginning a very steep descent into Camp Grab. The camp, situated on the banks of the Tara River, is very beautiful and I instantly liked it. We were taken to our small cabin where we pushed the twin beds together and laughed about the bright orange decor. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the camp actually had a bar. Kory was even more pleasantly surprised to discover that the bar had draft beer. I expected the food at Camp Grab to be subpar but it was among the best of the trip. The wizened chef was superb. On our first night she made grilled trout that were served to us whole along with vegetables. It was delicious. After dinner, we sat around the campfire, reflecting upon our fantastic adventure and enjoying the cool night. What a great day!