Safe Return Doubtful

I headed a couple of hours south today which meant a section along the coast. It’s still high season here with lots of campervans and motorhomes around, and 28C though with a strong wind. It’s full of hotels and autocamps and completely unappealing to me. It was a slow road, but I gritted my teeth and got through the necessary 50 kilometre on it.

It was made slower just after Senj when traffic was halted for half an hour for the CRO bike race, an event on the International Cycling calendar. I hadn’t realised I would run into this. It couldn’t have been more convenient, as I just made lunch in the back of the van, chatted with a few other vans, and Roja met a few other dogs. It’s a six day race, and this was day 4, with the spectacular backdrop of the Adriatic as they went past.

There was then a wiggly zig-zag road steeply up into the Velebit mountains and my destination, the village of Kuterevo. There is a brown bear sanctuary here. It’s funded through charities and charges nothing for entrance, though the women who run it encourage visitors spending money at the bar or the souvenir shop. They also have a car park for vans to stay, again free of charge, and just ask for a donation. I arrived just after 4 pm, plenty of time to walk around the large site, about 4 kilometre, and see the bears, then enjoy a local beer on the terrace overlooking them.

There are 16 bears here currently. Most of them are originally from this general area, but were taken into captivity, or their forebears (pun intended) were, and have now been brought back to live out their days. They couldn’t be released into the wild after the habits they have picked up, and seem to have a really good existence. The sanctuary deserves to be better known; I was their only visitor after 4 pm.

It was a really warm day here, with temperatures at 29C, much higher than the average for the time of year. But as soon as the sun drops behind the mountains the temperature plummets. I’m just about to watch Japan Samoa and it’s 7C outside.