Early the next morning, we made our way to the local restaurant our guide sent us to have our breakfast, which was really good. We shared plates of eggs, grilled veggies and bread. After breakfast, we hit the grocery store where L and I picked up rum (pronounced room) and Coke Zero, then we all packed up, got in the bus, and drove about 1.5 minutes to the nearby clinic for our PCR test. We waited a bit, but it was small with just a couple people waiting for their turn. Then the two nurses / techs came outside and gave us our test in the fresh air. It was not my favorite test, they kept the nasal swab in there for far longer than I am used to and swabbed the mouth too - but Namibia was still by far the worst test I have had, it hurt for a half hour afterwards....
Anyway, we then continued onto Biogradska National Park. Biogradska Gora is one of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and is one of the last virgin rainforests in Europe. The park was initially donated to King Nicola I by the people after freeing the
region from Ottoman rule in 1878. He rarely went there and the people still were able to hunt some, but it formally became a protected national park in 1952.
We pulled into the wooded parking area and got together our stuff for the days hike while hanging out at the beautiful lake. Such a gorgeous spot already! We took some photos and then proceeded up to the path, where we ran into many people exploring this wooded area. The path curved up following the road and its switchbacks or steep shortcuts through the woods. Some of these shortcuts were very steep, but the trail was on the forest floor so nice soft soils, while we crossed a few fallen trees and stream beds. But it was just so pleasant walking through the trees - god, I miss trees living in the Middle East... We kept a pretty consistent, but unhurried pace. Milan basically said that this was a test for the next days more intense hike, so he was purposely putting us on the steep slopes up. It was quite humid, and with the trees, the sun did not really break through so in the shade it was cool
- generally a perfect day. We got to one viewpoint up past the steep slopes for a short break and continued along the road.
Around 12:00, we reached our goal for lunch. Walking along the path, we came upon a meadow where we encountered a woman who worked at what appeared to be a restaurant, she was asking where we were from and seemed surprised by all the different answers, until Milan clarified we were all from Dubai. But that was not the spot. So we walked to the end of the meadow where we were getting a home cooked meal by a local family. The two women gave us a warm greeting and the man shook hands with his giant and rough hands. Apparently, he had said the ladies of our group could join the women inside to see how to cook the food. The guys laughed about this. Yes, it was interesting, but after hiking for three hours, I instead opted for a cold beer (no wine available).
The food came and we opted to eat inside because it was just a slight chill in the air. Oh. Em. Gee. The food was amazing. Vegetarian, which
was a nice change. There was a soup with some kind of grain and broth with vegetables. Phyllo cakes, one with spinach and cheese, one with just cheese. There was also an assortment of bread, tomatoes and cucumbers. Then we got even more sweet bread for dessert, which came with jam, honey, and some topping but with a very different flavor. Almost grassy. So good. After getting more than our fill, we settled down on the ground outside to digest for a half hour.
Since we still had a full evening, we left before 2:00, skipping the observation point, and walked mostly down the road path. Between the two hikes, the knees were a bit tender at this point and we still had the hard hike to do. We walked a little down the slopes in a few places for shortcuts, but otherwise it was a very nice stroll down, taking us just about 90 minutes. So we made great time today.
