Croatian Anchorages, Hiking and Cicadas

From Milly at Uvala Lopud on Otok/Island Sipan.  Croatian skies have meant gorgeous sunsets with magnificent backdrops.  The cicadas still "singing".

Whether hiking in pine forests, floating in anchorage, or even motoring along a coast the air seems to vibrate with a constant chorus of a single note cicada song.  It is not the lone and occasional loud buzz, I am used to in Ontario/Quebec that notes a hot day.  This cicada chorus, obviously from countless numbers, is one long note from just prior to sunrise to after sunset.  The single creature, smaller than it's big North American cousin, is tough to spot blending in perfectly with the bark of a tree.  It doesn't stick around long after seeing a camera trying to capture it's image with it's enormous bulbous eyes so we have only been able to hear the solo buzz over the chorus once - a short blast that ends pianissimo.  Hence, the seeming vibration sometimes throb of the whole chorus which is an appropriate accompaniment to the shimmering heat of the day.  The song is so loud while hiking through some popular mating grounds that even walking side-by-side we can hardly hear each other.

Looking for a mate

The cicadas are in olive groves, pine forests, deciduous woods, shrubs - everywhere.  Only on one walk have they been pelting us as we walk.  There fat bodies do not make for delicate flyers.  Rather they fumble through the air, with a whir of wings and bump into all in their way including human heads, and trunks, sometimes making an unwelcome rest stop.

If you're still with me, you have to imagine the constant background noise.

My mum always gave a hello pat to a magnificent pine at the family summer cottage in Quebec.   This one needed the same or maybe vice versa.

The west coast of Otok Lopud

Milly in Uvala Lopud.  The anchorage and town were overrun with day-trippers until about 5:00 when the place quieted right down except for the cicadas

The hills are covered in pine.  Unlike Canadian White Pine these have thick dome, even flat. tops with long soft needles.

We are always grateful for a trail tunnel.  It is hot here wherever you are but in the sun it is brutal.  We have attempted to make our excursions in the a.m. and completely understand the civilized siesta although we haven't made it a habit yet.

There are small ancient chapels all over the place in Croatia, in complete seclusion, often at the top of hills and sometimes with  small cemeteries.  

A view down to Milly and across to our next island, Otok Sipan in the distance with Otok Mljet in the distance.  There are over a thousand islands alongs the Croatian coast.  

Along with cicadas, wild boars are supposed to be keeping us company.  Haven't seen any but we did see a lot of earth routed up and lots of scat on one hike.  Luckily, they are shy.  We have seen two brown snakes who seemed as frightened of us as I was of the - not a lover of snakes.

View of the mountainous mainland.

From the top of Otok Sipan.

Milly in the peaceful Sipanska Luka on Otok Sipan.  We loved it here and stayed three night.

One valley on the island where some crops, mainly grapes are grown.  The slopes are dotted by abandoned villas to which the wealthy from Dubrovnik used to summer.

Hard to believe this is the sea.  Luka Polace on Otok Mljet is completely protected with no view of the open sea.  It's in a national park and a fee to anchor is applied - about $120 CDN.  And then there is the fee for the park about $50 CDN each.    When you're used to anchoring without charge, this is a bit of a shocker.  But the park is beautifully maintained and the anchorage is amazing.  We happily pay to protect the natural setting.  

The national park is best known for two salt water "lakes".  The sea actually flows through a narrow channel into one which in turn feeds another.  This Benedictine monastery, turned hotel during Tito's rule, is being restored on it's small island within the lake where the monks built probably to avoid the poisonous snakes which infested Mljet. In 1910, Austrians brought seven males and four female mongoose/mongeese? to eat the snakes - a successful strategy.  But, of course, they ate all the small mammals and birds as well. 

The monastery.

The lakes reminded us of Quebec with lovely water and tree clad hills.  The water was a sensational colour of various blues and greens.

Another island, another monastery.  They are also all over the place.  This one had it's own island, with the incredible backdrop of a mainland mountain.  It became one of our favourite anchorages even though the bells tolled at dawn each morning.

We have grown to hardly notice the constant background noise at the pitch of a squeaky wheel but how long does this mating season last?  So far it's been about two months.  We've seen empty exoskeletons on tree trunks so some at least have done their thing.