Lošinj archipelago was very much about sailing. There were boats everywhere. Flemming and I were lucky to get tickets on a small boat going on a day tour to the nearby islands.
We looked forward to spend a day sailing, swimming, visiting new places…
The departure from Mali Lošinj was at 10 in the morning:
After approx. 1 hour of sailing, we had a stop at Balvanida Bay, where we could do cliff jumping, cave swimming, or just go snorkeling around our boat (that offered good masks and snorkels to everybody):
The colour of the water was of a bright turquoise; there were lots of curious fish:
The water was so salty, you didn’t have to move much and could just relax in the water:
After the swimming break we continued the tour, and arrived to the Ilovik island of 6 km2, our main destination:
We got a couple of hours on the island, and were asked to come back to the boat for lunch.
Ilovik is said to be the island of flowers, because almost around every house there are oleanders, roses, eucalyptuses and other flowers. The flowers on the island were promoted as part of the islanders’ way of life. I otherwise didn’t think there were fewer flowers in Mali Lošinj where we stayed 🙂
Flemming and I came by the local church in the harbour:
It was built in the 19th century, replacing an older church. Inside, it was simple and beautiful.
There were lots of butterflies around all those flowers:
It was a very hot day, in fact the hottest during all our vacation (more than 4 weeks); Flemming and I were very happy to spend it on the seas. We went to the beach, and cooled a bit down in the water. But as soon as you get out – the sun was burning immensely, so we quickly escaped under the trees.
Wandering around those clean narrow streets with flowers, it became obvious the island didn’t have many residents. The properties were either left behind for now and forgotten, or they looked very weathly – thoroghly restored, with surveillance cameras around, manicured gardens, and closed gates, likely used as summer residences.
Later we discovered a map of the island, with hiking routes. It was a pity, because we’d rather go hiking than just walking around, but at that time it was too late:
More flowers, more butterflies, and even bees:
Ilovik has been inhabited for many centuries. The oldest recorded name of this island, Neumae Insulae (translated from Latin: Island with No Name), is from AD 1071.
The population of Ilovik has been on a steady decline since the early 1960s when the community was granted passports by the Yugoslav government. At that time there were around 400 inhabitants, and almost a quarter of them left quickly, many crossing to nearby Italy where they were accepted as political refugees. Today, around 85 people continue living all year around on the island, while approx. three-four times that amount live in the United States.
People from Ilovik who live in the US, live in the New York City, Long Island area (good choice!). Each summer the island population will often triple in size when these expatriates return home with their families for vacation. People in the New York area have even organized a club called the Ilovik Social Club!
We returned to our boat, where we had a very tasty lunch – grilled fish and veggies. The crew grilled the fish on the boat, and served immediately:
During the tour, lots of cold beverages were served, wine and grappa. One could drink ad libitum, but we thought for those soaring air temperatures only water was really suitable. Later in the afternoon they also served fruit.
We saved bread from our lunch for feeding fish 🙂
And when we arrived to the next swimming stop, the fish were quite happy about meeting us (the bread from lunch helped!):
We swam for an hour, before heading back home.
Everybody was tired when we got back to Mali Lošinj – of sunshine, sailing, swimming, but delighted with all those wonderful experiences. The company behind this tour was Krško Excursions – we highly recommend them. This full day tour costed 50 euro per person, all inclusive.
In the evening, Flemming and I went to the downtown, that was just in front of our home. There were artists, live music, and very nice atmosphere:
