My awesome mom had booked me a tour to see 6 islands surrounding Split, Croatia. I woke up early to get to the port where my boat was allegedly taking off around 7:30am. A couple from New Zealand was also waiting and informed me they had gotten an email saying due to strong winds the tour was cancelled.
I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and use the day to go to Krka Waterfalls instead which was also high up on my bucket list. I last minute latched onto a small tour group.
The driver informed us that Krka is the second most visited site in all of Croatia, with 1.4 million visitors per season, falling shortly behind Pviltice National Park with 1.7 million visitors per season (both UNESCO heritage world sites; Krka as of 1985, Pviltice 1979).
Once arriving to Krka, we were informed we had to take a boat to get the falls themselves.
Our tour guide let us know where the main falls were and where to go to walk along some trails. I headed straight for the main falls and swam for about an hour. The falls are BEAUTIFUL, full of green vegetation and incredibly clear waters. The biggest downfall was the crowds, however, that is to be expected anywhere in Europe in July.
I grabbed a bite to eat at an outdoor restaurant located within the falls (highly overpriced, so be weary). There is no wifi at the restaurants located within the park, so embrace nature and the beauty around you. It felt good to be disconnected from my phone for about twelve hours that day.
I eventually met back up with my tour guide as we headed back to the main city of Split.
He told us that there is basically no serious crime in Croatia (no mafia, no gangs) but there are two things you CANNOT do here: 1- hit a woman (if you hit a woman and she reports within 24 hours it’s no questions asked: 30 days in jail), and 2- threaten someone (also 30 days in jail).
We drove by the army base and he told me the US helped the Croatian army last year (and that we have multiple times in the past, and they practice together) when Obama gave them 12 choppers, but that could change with the new administration because America always helps Croatia but Russia always helps Serbia. (Croatia and Serbia do NOT have a good relationship).
I also learned that if you buy a house in Croatia and want to install a swimming pool the government will pay for 70% of the pool funds, so if anyone wants to chime in, I’d be happy to buy a house in Croatia!
On the way home, there were wild fires that seemed to have shaken my driver quite a bit; he said it’s common in Croatia, but these were some of the worst he had seen. The sky was smokey to the point that we couldn’t even see a few feet in front of us!
I arrived back to the main city safely, grabbed a bite to eat from a wine bar and slept like a baby after one of the best days I had in a while.