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Throw them to the lions
We would not be so bold as to claim to have discovered or first identified a new species of human, but we think we can rightly claim naming rights, Homo Sapien Sealli. This species, and there are thousands in evidence, can be found right along the Croatian Coast, but we studied them only between Pula, on the southern tip of the Istrian Peninsula, to Valalta, just north of the ancient city of Rovinj.
Homo Sapien Sealli can be found colonising rocky ledges above the sea coast, usually they are bulky, allowing their gelatinous mass to fill small crevices and cushion them from the harshness of the rocky surface, some of them are adorned with small patches of textile covering parts their bodies, but as often as not there is no covering at all.
The likeness of this species with seals along New Zealand’s Kaikoura Coast is unmistakable. Having clambered onto a rocky outcrop or one of the few flattish surfaces available, they sprawl out without regard either to dignity or others of the species nearby and bask in the sun for hours on end, moving only occasionally, sometimes to cool off in the waters below. None returned to the rocks with fish between their teeth, this appears purely recreational.
Why this species heads to Croatia for holidays is easy to understand. It is charming with its old Roman towns nestled along a dramatically rugged coastline; there are clear blue skies and seas of aqua-marine, the vividness of which we have never previously seen. The country, war-torn just ten years ago, is becoming something of a playground of the rich; there are marinas everywhere with all sorts of floating real estate and all day long there are yachts and motor boats cruising the waters. Notwithstanding its natural beauty though it is hard to imagine why people go for the beach lifestyle. It is called a Karst landscape and looks like volcanic flows which have hit the water and solidified. The beaches are stony and, while spectacular, don’t make for pleasant swimming.
This was a first for us, a Roman Amphitheatre and it dominates the town of Pula. To describe it as huge is something of an understatement, and during the best of its days accommodated 23,000 spectators for matches of true gladiatorial proportion and rather uneven contests between convicts and lions. Record has it that such fun was brought to an end in the 5th century AD when gladiatorial bouts were stopped and from 681 when the contests between wild animals and mankind were forbidden. Political correctness was rampant then too it seems.
These days the amphitheatre is the only remaining one of its type in the world and the sixth largest surviving Roman arena, its glory confined these days to tourists like us and for opera concerts by the likes of Pavarotti, Carreras and Bocelli, and pop stars including Sinead O’Connor and Elton John.
It was for us quite a surprise to find that Pula and other towns up the coast are so completely Roman in origin. We wandered for hours around ancient ruins and through cobbled streets with such similarity to Venice it was breathtaking. So strong is the connection with Italy that day trips are run from there to Venice and the place crawls with Italian tourists.
We were of course lucky to be in Pula at all, we made two unpardonable mistakes travelling there from Heviz and at least one should have been predicted. We could not fathom just why the roads were so busy; it appeared that, as well as us, everyone in Europe seemed to be heading to Croatia. At the Hungary-Croatia border post and at toll booths further on along the way there were queues of cars resulting in lengthy delays. At several points as motorways merged, one around Zagreb and the other near Pula, traffic was snarled up and at a standstill and it dawned on us eventually that it was the first day of school holidays. Most of these cars were packed to the gunnels with holiday stuff and we should have known better as we had been discussing schedules with the Moodie children only days before.
The other mistake was over ruling Satnav Ken when he correctly attempted to direct us off the motorway two exits short of Rijeka which we thought we had to travel through. Ken knew best and instead of reaching Pula in a further hour and a bit, our decision resulted in us driving the narrow, winding coast road north up the Peninsula adding more than another hour to the journey. While it was quite nice to be exposed to such stunning scenery its charm diminished somewhat after seven and a half hours driving on a journey which should have taken four hours and a half, particularly in the heavy rain we had experienced.