The cherry on the cream on top of the desert was this year's stay on the most wonderfuly Croatian island, which showed all its natural beauty in June. The Lastovo archipelago is the 14th largest Croatian island and the whole group is made up of 46 islands and reefs. The island carrying the same name was our main destination, when we were traveling, stretching about 46 square kilometres. We’ve gotten to know three quarters of the island in our 6 day stay, as we walked around and enjoyed our free time to the fullest in quiet bays in the shade of the pines.
There are around 800 people permanently living on the island, mostly devoted to fishing and grape growing, with tourism just developing. The locals do rent apartments in larger island settlements – Pasadur, Skrivena Luka, Zaklopatica and offer their home made products to visitors (olive oil, spirits, salties, home wine and jabs). Along with Mljet this is the most forested Croatian island and this green colour really had a relaxing effect on us, while we were exploring the islands in the natural shade of centuries old pine trees. In winter the island is awfully still.
It was a June Monday when we headed for Split, where we still had some time before catching our ferry, so we explored the town. Leaving the harbour a large number of seagulls was escorting us, but with time their flock broke up. The passengers were then enjoying the views of the islands we were passing by. It was the evening twilight when we made the stop at Vela luka and it was already dark when the ferry quietly slipped into the Ubli harbour on Lastovo. Walking ashore we didn’t see the beauty that was inviting us to its embrace, but we did feel the lure of the smells of the Mediterranean shrubs, flowers, pine trees and lime trees, with warm weather that surrounded us. Everything else was to be discovered in the days to come.
In the place called Pasadur the main island has a bridge connecting it to the neighbouring island of Prežba. The bridge sets apart two bays – Mali and Vejo Lago, which is the true paradise for sail-boats and most places in the marina were already taken. At the entry of the bay there’s the island of Saint Raffael, where you can still see remains of the church by the same name. This island was the destination for us swimmers, and it was really great swim there warmed up by long walks.
Hill side trails on the main island and on island Prežba are nicely tended to and well-marked. We took the first day to go from Pasadur to the hamlet of Prehodišće and towards the beautiful beach called Kručica. From there we continued towards the lookout peak of Sozanj. It’s a 231m tall hill offering great view all the way from Montenegrian mountains to the mountain range of Velebit. Off course you can also see the whole island from here and also the fascinating shades of crystal clear blue sea and the sky. The trail back to Pasadur led past the church of Saint Luka, built in the 11th century along the so called “old road” connecting the two largest settlements of the island – Lastovo and Ubli.
Next day we started exploring the island of Prežba. Already in the harbour of Juraj we saw first abandoned military objects and the church of Saint Juraj. During the days of the Socialistic Federative Republic of Yugoslavia Lastovo, just like the island of Vis, was closed off for tourism as everything was arranged for the needs of the navy and there were military bases along the whole of the island. The tallest peak of this island is the 164m tall peak of Juraj, offering the view towards the rest of archipelago, the islands of Mrčara, Vlašnik and Bratin, as well as the island of Lastovo and towards the mainland as well. We returned to Pasadur by another, also marked, path. And as I didn’t feel like I’ve walked enough, there was a group of three of us that headed towards the harbour of Ubli – and naturally the road nicely made along the coast wouldn’t do, so we headed over the hill. There were whole many different lizards and spiders along the way. I felt really relieved when we reached Ulbi, especially since we didn’t meet and other reptiles along the way. The old coastal town has the basilica of Saint Peter, which was built between the 5th and 6th century. From there we then returned to our base by a slow stroll along the coast and the view was spectacular as you get to see many splendid bays, islands and you get to feel the heavenly blue colour of the sea.
We never doubted that we’d reach the tallest summit of the islands the 417m tall Hum. We started our way a bit from Ubli – Vino polje, and took the marked road which forks a bit further on, with one trail taking you to the town of Lastovo and the other towards the hill top. As each summit we’ve reached this one also fascinated us with a great view. You can see all the way to Palagruža, Mljen, Pelješac, Korčula, Vis… and the path to the top is really well planned. Along the way you get a few great views of the town of Lastovo. There’s the church of Saint Juraj on top and a stone marking the highest point, right next to the church. The trail then takes you to two additional peaks – Veji greben (416m) and Pleževo brdo (415m), but we stopped at the picturesque helicopter landing pad, which is also a great look out point. From there we saw a great view of Skrivena luka and cape Struga, where we planned to go the next day.
To get to Skrivena luka and the lighthouse Struga we took the marked path beginning just outside the town of Lastovo. The trail is always paved and leads through vineyards, fields and olive orchards. You can also see interesting rock formations along the way. Reaching Skrivena luka we headed forth to the lighthouse Struga, which was built in 1839 and is one of the three oldest lighthouses built in the Adriatic Sea.
We spent our last day on the island exploring the largest town, from where we visited the vay of Zaklopatice. The town is not along the coast and features many stone streets, where we saw wonderful family houses form the 15th and 16th century, decorated with famous Lasotov chimneys called »fumari«. They are unusual, interesting, of various shaped and all tall! Above the town there’s the castle on the Glavica hill. It’s being used as a meteorologist station today and it offers a great view of the island. Next we headed towards Zaklopatica, and I must say I was more fascinated seeing it from the hill top that up close. I’ll say the same for Skrivena luka, but that’s something everybody has to decide for themselves.
On the last day we jumped into the sea and swam to the island of Saint Rafael, took the last walk to the harbour and with a heavy heart boarded the ferry. Quiet, tranquillity and the calming colours were left behind. In just a few days we’ll be back in reality. Yet the magic of the island will stay with us as the guide – Renato – was able to present it to us in the most heartfelt way possible.
