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We had a beautiful adventure, volunteering in Daruvar and exploring the Northern part of Croatia which has a small fraction of the tourists seen along the country’s Southern coast. Croatia is small with only 4 million citizens but its landscape, culture and history are incredibly varied.

Volunteering

We had a delightful and enriching experience volunteering on an animal sanctuary in Daruvar, a charming little thermal spa town in Slavonia – not the country Slovenia but the region of Slavonia in the North East of Croatia. On the sanctuary there lived abandoned/disabled animals and others who were born there – sheep, pigs, chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs and a donkey.
We had a comfortable place of our own…it was also filled with animals, regularly attached to us.
We had at least 6 cats with us, day and night.
We went to sleep at dusk and rose at dawn to the sound of several roosters.
The chickens were all keen to get into our bedroom
A few of them made it in when we weren’t looking
But thankfully we had Juan, our guard-cat.
Micek the pig kept trying to get into our room too! One night at 3am, he forced his way in. What a nice surprise!
At least, it was not one of the 400kg pigs on the sanctuary.
All of the animals had close relationships. The chickens adored the elderly hog, Darwin. This hen clearly ‘had its back’ and put on a show for the onlookers.
And this cat was Mama to Maya the pig after raising her from when she was a piglet – the beautiful clip below is from 3 years ago.
Our main job each day was to feed all the animals and clean their space.
We were often on the lookout for fruit by the roadside to give as treats.
As we chopped the fruit, Micek became super impatient to gobble them all up. He was hilarious…
Brushing became a daily pleasure…
especially for Beba the donkey.
Even Micek loved it.
On top of our work, we would just love and cuddle the animals all day.
Despite their past, the animals of the sanctuary receive so much love in such a peaceful landscape that friendship between species becomes possible…
And communication becomes easy: We asked Drago the sheep to pose for us and he quickly obliged!
The owner of the sanctuary is an angel to her animals and everyone around her.
We are so pleased to have had this experience in such a beautiful place.

Weekends

Vukovar’s museum describes how the end of communism in Europe saw the unravelling of Yugoslavia and how Serbia under Milosevic invaded Vukovar in 1991 and committed appalling war crimes. Volunteers surged to defend Croatia in its War of Independence.
The terribly moving cemetery at Vukovar.
Vukovar was totally destroyed: not one roof remained and while the town has been rebuilt, several properties still bear witness to the horrors.
The battered water tower remains as a monument.
A wall in Vukovar commemorate its heroes. This French volunteer was executed at Ovčara, infamous for the mass graves of wounded soldiers and staff taken from Vukovar hospital by Serbian forces on the last day of the war.
On a happier note, we were lucky to have arrived to the town of Vidovici (self styled “the first town in Europe”) in the area of Vukovar in the week of its annual folklore festival.
And we of course partook in showing off our large gourds!
We also visited Ivandvor to meet hundreds of Lipizzaner horses.
Incredibly, these white horses are born black (and they also bite)
We were delighted to happen upon a dressage show in Đakovo where they undergo training from the age of 3.

Road Trip

Our stay at the sanctuary over, we wanted to discover a little of more of Croatia. The National Park at Plitvice had been on our Must See List for decades.
It was really a dream come true.
Heading West, we spent beautiful days exploring the hill towns of Istria, which was part of Italy and still feels Italian. We visited Motovun, perched on a hilltop…
Oprtalj, Groznjan, Vrsar and other equally unpronounceable towns. They were all magnificent in their middle age splendour. Some like Bale felt pristine, while others like Zavrsje were crumbling apart and made us feel we were in the 15th Century as little has changed since then.
In Porec’s wonderful Euphrasian basilica, with its Byzantine splendour and its peerless acoustics, we discovered the music/story of Marcel Tyberg, a musician and devout Catholic who was murdered in Auschwitz as his great great grandfather was Jewish. His hand written scores were brought to light in just 2001 and are now considered masterpieces.
Pula is more of a real living town but with Roman buildings scattered everywhere. Who needs Rome’s Coliseum with its thousands of tourists?
We adored Zagreb for its parks, markets, café culture, trams…
its hundreds of statues like this one but without the crowds in Brussels…
…and its museums which include this remarkable “Vucedol dove”, a 5,000 year old artistic symbol of prosperity made in Vucedol.
Croats are highly carnivorous, and Zagreb, despite its vegan places, is not a capital of gastronomy. That, we found in Istria, famous for its truffles and we certainly did not complain about the produce and fruit we bought at markets all over the country…
or about our daily servings of the delicious Ajvar – sauce, dip, condiment…it is so versatile!
We love to see unusual things on our travels – this is a vending machine for fromage frais!

Next

After a few weeks back in London, we will be volunteering in Cyprus for two months at another animal sanctuary.

10 Comments. Leave new

  • James
    October 1, 2024 11:50 pm

    Land of hope and glory was not what I expected.
    Looks like another wonderful adventure!

    Reply
  • Indira
    October 2, 2024 2:26 am

    It’s nice to see you! Your lifestyle is inspirational. It teaches so much to do and acquire varied experiences. Thank you for sharing, Jeff and Sylvie!

    Reply
    • admin
      October 2, 2024 6:28 am

      And in our turn, we learn so much, each time we go to India, that informs how we see and engage with the world and those who inhabit it. It has made us more respectful of life and sentient beings, I hope. Warm and fond thoughts to you and thank you for reading and responding.

      Reply
  • Angie and Steve
    October 2, 2024 6:03 pm

    Amazing as usual! Where are you off to next…..the moon?

    Reply
  • Nicole
    October 7, 2024 9:46 pm

    Always so great to see your photos and words. Love your life. Happy New Year xxx

    Reply
  • Audrey Brent
    October 13, 2024 4:48 pm

    Just read your blog at last. Fascinating, as always. Land of Hope and glory was an unexpected surprise! And I’m intrigued by the way you communicate with all the animals- and the way they respond to you.
    It’s clearly genuine communication.

    Hope Cyprus is just as successful.
    Lots of love.

    Reply
  • Marta Cristina Rodriguez Santa Cruz
    October 21, 2024 4:32 pm

    Dear friends, your texts are so inspiring… glad to see you keep on moving around! Love to you both !

    Reply
  • Reeva Godson
    November 4, 2024 4:00 pm

    Good to see you at SSRS – another 5*adventure beautifully documented.
    Looking forward to seeing the next intrepid adventure.

    Reply

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