July11: Arrive in Dubrovnik, visit Orphanage, Kayak at sunset
View of the Old City of Dubrovnik from the orphanage. We could not take photos on this service visit because it is illegal to take photographs of children in Croatia.
Melissa, Jenni, Chris, Mike, Ryan and I decide to rent kayaks to explore an island off the coast of Dubrovnik called Lokrum.
We found a cave in the rocky cliffs of Lokrum and decided to check it out! I was first in line and it was pretty nerve wracking. I didn't know what we would find in there......
Me, Jenni, and Mike in the cave and kinda freaking out....
Melissa, Mike, me, and Jenni in the cave :)
Ryan, Melissa, Chris, Jenni, Mike, and me enjoying the sunset from Lokrum
July 12: DUSTIN'S BIRTHDAY!!! SAS Field trip to Montenegro (small country to the south of Croatia)
Me standing in Kotor (an ancient walled city in Montenegro).
The view of the ancient city of Kotor and its more modern 'suburbs' from the bus on our long scary bus trip up the mountain. Kotor is located on the coast of a secluded bay on the Adriatic sea and is surrounded on all sides y huge mountains. Its absolutely gorgeous there...but, sitting in a bus on narrow roads with endless blind curves is another story..
Back in Dubrovnik. Melissa and I met up with Ken to head into the Old City for some dinner. On our way, we got lucky enough to see this view of the sunset...
Me, Melissa, Kathy (the Student Affairs at Sea professor), and Ken (Teachers at Sea professor) at dinner in Dubrovnik's Old City...Drinking Croatian wine to celebrate Dustin's birthday and the birth of Ken's new grandson, Brody!
July 13: Spontaneous Roadtrip to KRKA National Park
Melissa and I woke up this morning to our friends, Chris and Evan, bursting into our room telling us to "get out of bed and get ready for an adventure". I had all intentions of spending the day on the ship so I could work on my thesis...but the adventure seemed too good to pass up. We rented a car to take the 4 hr scenic drive up to Krka National Park in Croatia. On the way there, we had to cross through Bosnia for 5 minutes...no passport stamp, though :(
One of the many waterfalls in Krka National Park. Loving the hat Jill & Rick bought for me in Costa Rica :)
DON'T WORRY MOM! We checked the depth of the water before diving in. AND...we made the boys dive in first to make sure we were safe.
Hanging out in the tree after our picnic lunch in the park. I would like to mention here that during our picnic of tomato, mozzarella, feta, bread, and several 2-liters of beer we were interviewed by the hosts of a Spanish TV show...not quite sure how that interview panned out or if we ever made it on TV, but it was an interesting twist in our day :)
Me and Melissa so happy we decided to partake in the adventure :)
July 14: Snorkeling in the AM, Kayaking & Cliff Jumping in the PM, Depart Dubrovnik
Chris and Tiana
Snorkeling in Croatia is nothing like snorkeling in tropical areas with bright colored fish and beautiful coral reefs....but, the water is so clear, and there was lots of marine life to see, like sea urchins and starfish. AND the best part was diving down to swim through an underwater cave that emerged in a cove surrounded by cliffs...that we climbed up and jumped from :) (see pic below)
Before getting back on the ship, we rented kayaks to explore Lokrum again. We went back in the cave from the first day and this time found a smaller "chamber" inside...that we had to lay down in the kayak to get into. Then, we met some students from Yale and we cliff jumped together. I've never jumped off a cliff so high in my life. It was amazing. My camera died, but our new friends from Yale took photos and promised to email them to us. I"ll upload them as soon as I get them...Then we completed the tour around the island of Lokrum and passed by a section of the rocky cliffs that seemed to be "the place to be" if you felt the need to sunbathe nude with lots of middle aged and well fed european guys......
ANYWAY...I LOVED CROATIA! WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE IT WAS :)
So awesome!
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