Expedition to the caves of Bosnia

Expedition to the caves of Bosnia

Text and photos Mateusz popek

Right next to the car are piles of cylinders, cave bags, backpacks, a compressor, a tent and a lot of other stuff difficult even to name. I can't believe that in a moment all these things and the three of us, namely Wiktor, Kuba and I, will get into a small car. About 30 minutes later we manage to bend the space-time and pack everything inside. We have a 1,300 km way to the South before us. Direction: the caves of Bosnia.

After 20 hours of a journey in the car, we enter thebeautiful mountainous Bosnia. To our surprise, wedo not have the least problems on the border, and our car packed under the roof with strange equipment does not raise any interest of the border guards. Several kilometers from the border there is the first karst spring from our list, Izvor Klokot. The road runs along a river with incredibly clean water. However, the entrance to the cave is blocked by the fishing farm, the owner of which gave us a firm "no" to the question whether we could dive there. Without further discussion we pack back into the car and go to point number 2 – Vrelo Krusnica. Like with the most of the karst springs, also to this one leads a winding, steep road on the slope of the valley, at the end of which we can see the spring. Our way is again blocked by a fishing farm, this time closed, but the road is separated by a chain. We decide to look at the cave. In the river we can see an incredible amount of trout, which in the crystalline water you can to catch with bare hands. The cave opening is separated by a barrage, the current does not look very strong, which encourages us to diving. However, we have to leave empty handed and set off for our next target. Are we not to dive in Bosnia?

Another point on our list is the Drabar cave. When we go downhill towards this cave, the words "steep" and "winding" take on a whole new meaning. However, the anxiety that we experience during this

I can't believe that in a moment all these things and the three of us, namely Wiktor, Kuba and I, will get into a small car. (…) We have a 1,300 km way to the South before us. Direction: the caves of Bosnia.

perfectdiver No. 2/2018

crossing is compensated by the view at the bottom of the valley. The karst spring is located below a steep rock, at the beginning of a very deep valley through which flows the river. We set up a camp right next to it and get ready for diving. From the data obtained previously, it appears that the cave is 60 meters deep. Unfortunately, we do not have any plan of the corridors. The corridor with walls and floor of white, eluted rock quite steeply falls down from the cave opening. The old ropes are torn in some places so we put on our own ones. From the 30th meter the corridor becomes more leveled, rocks change color to brown and have very sharp edges carved by quickly rushing water. We try to find a passage to the deeper parts of the caves, but at the 40th meter we circle a rock pillar and come across our own ropes. This time we have to give up. The next day we dive once more. At some point I can only see Kuba's fins protruding from some tight hole. When he emerges from the hole I can read from his eyes that he's found a passage to the deeper parts of the cave. We explore the corridors for a while and manage to meet and photograph the proteus (Proteus anguinus), a blind salamander inhabiting flooded caves. After the dive we gather the equipment and move on.

We move south to the Sanica cave. When we get there the flow of water from karst springs is quite strong. Nevertheless we chose to do a reconnaissance. In order not to waste time preparing 3 sets of equipment, in the event that it will be impossible to dive, we draw lots. Destiny chooses me for this dive. For practical reasons we choose the sidemount configuration and two 4-litre cylinders. The maps show that the hole can be quite tight and a twinset can be of no use. We have to go some 500 meters down a path along the river, but the three of us carry everything quickly and efficiently. I get dressed, go to the hole and tie a reel with rope behaving as if it wanted to jump out of the cave. Not discouraged by this I try to immerse. The current pushes me out of the cave. Another attempt, this time I am more determined and holding to the rocks I push myself one meter under the water surface. That is a mistake. The current "catches" my fins and throws me out of the cave, onto the concrete threshold in front of it. I slide a few more meters I manage to stop. Despite me best efforts, nothing comes out of the dive. When we sit in front of the cave, two locals come up and adk what we are doing there. When we tell them about our attempt, they pat me on my shoulder, and soon this elderly couple leave with a slightly mocking smile. Time for another cave...

We arrive at the town of Drvar. Here we look for another karst spring called Bastasi. From the hotel the path leads us towards the old closed mill and straight to a cave of a unique beauty. While we are handling the equipment, an elderly man warns us that it is a drinking water intake and we are not allowed to dive there. But thanks to innate talent for diplomacy and my knowledge of five words in the local language, the elderly man, convinced of our good intentions, wishes us good luck and keeps his fingers crossed for our diving. Compared to other places, this one is exceptionally attractive for tourists and when we get into the cave, we are followed by the cheering of the Italian school excursion. The first part is a rather delicately bending, very wide tunnel with a white smooth rock walls. At about

the 30th meter starts a bottomless well and a chamber so spacious that we are not able to see its opposite wall. The well is 60 meters deep and then transforms into a horizontal corridor. When we go to the surface, the Italian excursion is gone, but the locals appear asking what we are doing there. As we realise that we begin to rise a little too much of unwanted attention, we collect our toys and head South.

We leave the north-east part of Bosnia and move south towards the city of Mostar. At the beginning we go through quite wild mountains travelling along gravel "roads" and passing one or two minefields and lots of vacant buildings. Leaving the mountains we get to a huge, uninhabited plateau whose, this time, straight roads lead us towards another chain of mountains sparkling on the horizon. In the town of Jablianica we enter in the Dinaric Alps and the landscape changes beyond recognition. We travel through a valley bottom down the Navrat river. We pass a huge hydro-electric power station, which is our signpost directing us towards the next cave.

We start diving in the waters of the river, in which, to put it gently, one can see nothing. But suddenly at a depth of about 3 meters water becomes much cooler and crystal clear.

Our main goal is Crno Vrelo. The cave, like the previous ones, feeds directly the Navrat river. We stop at a small parking bay on the main road. It is 40°C. We start transport from the twinsets. First a rocky path leads us down, then it turns left and steeply uphill over the entrance to the cave. Then only once more steeply down, a few steps over the stones and you can see the bay with a rocky arch that marks the existence of a cave. When we reach our destination we are worn out, the heat is unbearable, and it is only the beginning of the transport action. After some 30 minutes of going up and down over the rocks in the heat, our equipment is already in place. Preparation of the sets is interrupted by a close encounter with a snake, which fortunately ends up with just a little fear. We start diving in the waters of the river, in which, to put it gently, one can see nothing. But suddenly at a depth of about 3 meters water becomes much cooler and crystal clear. A wide, rapidly sloping corridor is created by white, eluted rock. At 40 meters the ramp changes into a well, or rather a large chamber, which leads 70 m down and at the same time it gest shallow reaching 10 meters. After such a good dive, carrying the stuff back is much more pleasant.

Our first expedition to Bosnia for cave diving was very satisfying. The caves are attractive and quite easily accessible, and with good visibility. Unfortunately, we were not able to dive in all of them. Bosnia is not prepared to receive tourists, especially in its northern part, where it is difficult to find a hotel or a restaurant. For some, for this very reason, Bosna can be very attractive, for others – discouraging. This wildness and inaccessibility really attracts us. The situation changes in the south of the country near Mostar, which is prepared to receive large numbers of tourists. Food is quite cheap and you can easily use the Euro as a currency. The locals are very friendly despite the traces of the recent war that we met at every step.