KOPAČKI RIT NATURE RESERVE

Full to the brim with Slavonian specialties, it is time to go back and rest up for my adventure to Kopački Rit, a nature reserve that I have been waiting to visit for close to 7 years. It is a protected space that offers a breeding spot for rare birds, such as black swans, grey herons, great cormorants and over 130 other breeds of birds!

But it's not just feathered friends that find a refuge here - Kopački Rit is home to a decently sized deer herd, turtles and fish - among more than 50 other mammal species, building half of the total of the latter that inhabit Croatia.

A quick bus ride - which I just so happen to get on because I had forgotten to withdraw cash to pay the driver for the ticket - later, I land in Bilje from where my app is telling me I can walk to the entrance of Kopački Rit.

Notice how I've said 'my app is telling me'? Yup, as so often in Croatia, I am being put into my place with my 'eh, there's gonna be some sort of trail' mentality. There is a trail - it's the main street that leads to Kopačevo, the town where Kopački Rit is located in. Well, with a few hours to spare till the next bus back, I decide to walk the path - I have been waiting for this adventure for a long good while!

As I follow the main street in the bristling sun - not recommended -, a car comes to a halt next to me. Kids, do not get into strangers' car, seriously. The guy asks me: "Kopački Rit?" and I respond "Da". He offers me a ride, which, after some careful consideration, I accept. Kids, don't ever get into stranger's car! I usually don't do it and also tell people to not hitchhike, simply because it can be extremely dangerous.

This - exceptionally nice - man turns out to be the owner of the local camping ground in Kopačevo and drives me all the way to the entrance to Kopački Rit. As if that wasn't enough, he tells me to come by for coffee on the camping ground to meet his team later before he drives off into the midday sun.

I enter the reception area and am greeted by two lovely ladies that not only tolerate my attempts at speaking Croatian but even try to meet me halfway with German and English. It's off season, and due to the bridges that make Kopački Rit accessible to the public having been under immense strain, they are being redone before the season in autumn starts up. This means: I can't walk the pathways, BUT: the boat through Kopački Rit still goes - and with that I can still see a lot of wildlife and flora. The interactive educational center near the reception hold vast information about the many animals and plants calling this place their home, before it's time to go and catch my boat.

A short walk along the educational trail (which is not part of the stilts maze and therefore accessible) brings me to the pier. I am the only visitor in the park, which in itself is an extraordinary experience in itself, since Kopački Rit is usually flooded by people, as I am being told. Despite them having to set sails with just me on board, the two guys are extremely friendly and tell me everything about the nature reserve, mentioning that only rarely black swans show their face.

It is with wide eyes that the guide runs out of the driver's cabin our way back that he points at what I have already spied with my little eye: a black swan flying overhead into the direction our boat is headed. Luck of the draw? Maybe not as rare an occurrence as I've been told? Whatever it is, it makes my adventure to Kopački Rit a very special one.

After a coffee with the owner of the lush Family Camping ground, he gives me a lift back to Osijek and before I know it, I am back in the big - err, small - city. After all the walking, exploring and learning, it is time to focus on local specialties, like the black Radler from Osiječko brewery - or just a Lager one, for when they have run out of the refreshing juicy drink.

Welp, I didn't get to see the many attractions this vast nature park offers, but I did get to make acquaintances with its rarest inhabitants because the park wasn't visited by many, which in itself is a very special thing. Will I be back to kayak and see the castle and more? Absolutely!