Rafting on the Tara River

I'll start this post out by saying.....I'm still not over yesterday.  That hike was crazy.  Definitely the most nerve-wracking hike I've ever done.  The hike was very physically challenging, but even more, I found it quite mentally challenging.  Thank goodness for trekking poles.  I'm not sure I would have got up or down otherwise.  I'll also say that NONE of the pictures remotely portray the scale, steepness and vertigo of that hike.

I was pretty proud I got as far as I did, to be honest. :)

For today, I knew that 3/4 family members wouldn't be up to any great amount of wandering, so I thought it might be fun for us to go on a rafting trip. 

Gorgeous clear blue water of the Tara River

As we mentioned in our post about zip-lining, the Tara River canyon is the second deepest canyon in the world.  The river is a beautiful crystal clear shade of turquoise carved into the deep canyon.  The best time of year for rafting it is obviously Spring, when the water is high from all the melting snow. But there is enough water for a fun trip even this year, when I'm told there was very little snowpack to melt, so water levels are quite low.

This is definitely a trip where you are rafting for the spectacular scenery, more so than a shot of adrenaline (we've got the Ottawa River practically in our backyard for that).

We set off this morning around 8am to make our way to the Waterfall Rafting Centre. Montenegro is a deceptive country when it comes to distances.  As the crow flies, the rafting centre is only about 35km away.  But we are in mountainous Montenegro.  Which meant we got to pick one of two routes....

Choices, choices....the short scenic scary route? Or the longer, still scenic, less scary route?

1) The first route being P14, a spectacular panoramic route through Durmitor National Park.  Also featured on Dangerous Roads.  We got a brief taste of this road yesterday when we drove to Sedlo pass for our hike.  It's precisely one lane wide, with soaring switchbacks, steep cliffs and no guard rails.  This trip is about 66km and according to Google Maps would take 2 hours.

2) The second route was longer (about 110 km) but involved taking the P5 from where we are to Zabljak and then the E762 to the Rafting Centre, driving via Pluzine.  This route also takes about 2 hours.

We had been contemplating the scenic route.....but the reality is that virtually EVERY highway in Montenegro is incredibly scenic, and the P14 route sounded like it would be pretty stressful.....and frankly I'm not sure our rental car would have been up to it.  And there is always a chance that the driver maybe...just maybe....would have gotten annoyed at the passenger for freaking out. So to keep the family and marriage intact (I'm holding out for an epic 20th anniversary trip in 2026!)....

Still plenty of adventure on the 'safer' route

...we set off for the relatively calm route today.  Don't worry though....we still had dozens of switchbacks and, no joke, over 100 tunnels through the mountains (we counted 57 tunnels in the short stretch between Pluzine and the rafting centre).  Driving in Montenegro is definitely part of the adventure.  

Never a shortage of hairpin turns in Montenegro

Anyway, I digress....back to rafting.  After picking our way down a 1km switchbacked track to the Rafting Centre (again, shocked the rental car made it....), we were welcomed with a traditional breakfast of meats, cheeses, bread, coffee and vegetables.  Then we got our equipment (helmets, lifejackets, booties and wetsuits for those who wanted them) and were off on the 30-minute drive to the launch point.  This trip took us right to the border with Bosnia, and then on a crazy mountain road, eventually making our way down to the Tara River.

sigh.....Rosie....we tried 

In no time, we were in the raft and off.  I wish I had better photos, but our guide had us paddling a lot and wasn't too keen on me taking photos while we were on the water, so I got some stills from shore.

We went through about a 13km stretch of river, dropping about 89m along the way (thanks, Strava!).  The scenery was just insane.  Deep deep in a river valley, surrounded by mountains and forest and floating along the prettiest clear blue river you can imagine.  The rapids were fun - I'd say most were class 1-2 with maaaaaybe one of them edging briefly toward class 3.  Not anything to get freaked out about (which is good, because I absolutely got more than my share of adrenaline yesterday). And my whole body hurts.

apparently this water is so clean you can drink it.  The fun police is dubious....

At one point, our guide let us know it was the best time to jump out and swim.  The river temperature this time of year is about 12C so it's pretty chilly without a wetsuit.  Zoe was the first to hop in, and Brad quickly followed suit (he was the only one of us not wearing a wetsuit so it was pretty cold for him).  I jumped in, and then Rosie too, so all of us got a cold dunk.

There are quite a few rafting companies operating on the river, and the river itself is peppered with cute little forest bars that clearly have arrangements with the various companies. About half way through our trip, our group pulled up to one such bar and we all got out.  

The bartenders had drinks sitting in pools of river water to keep them cool. 12C water makes a pretty decent beer fridge!

We grabbed a couple of drinks and sat back to enjoy the scenery, and I took advantage to take a few pics.  This wasn't one of the most spectacular scenes of the trip, but it's still gorgeous.

Beer fridge!  With random tomatoes for....reasons?

paddling cuties

Antics with Rosie

Rosie continues to be Rosie...

We hopped back in the raft and paddled our way through several more sets of rapids, and ended the trip at the border crossing between Montenegro and Bosnia - our guide explained that the trip had to stop there because the Tara River then makes its way into Bosnian (and EU) territory.

Can I just live here?

I wish had been able to take good photos of how gorgeous this canyon was. You'll just have to trust me. And maybe visit Montenegro someday.

After carrying the raft back up to the vehicle (definitely a bit of a chaotic scene when you have an EU border crossing and tons of river company vans, and rambling tourists wielding rubber rafts), we hopped into the Land Rover and went back to the rafting centre for lunch.

The lunch was actually one of the tastiest meals we've had in Montenegro - salad, vegetable soup, and a choice of mains - Brad had grilled trout, which was delicious, and the girls and I had stewed beef with potatoes (also delicious), finishing with some cake.

Super tasty lunch

Waterfall Rafting is on the Piva River - gorgeous

Waterfall Rafting grounds - looks like it would be totally at home on the Ottawa River!

Then we had to hop back into the car for the long ride back to our AirBnB (just as scenic the second time....and yes, we took the same route back, eschewing the super scary road through Durmitor National Park.

Tunnels on tunnels on tunnels

It was a fun little family adventure - at this time of year, not the trip you do for the adrenaline rush, but a great trip for spectacular scenery, a little fun in the water and some yummy food.

Tomorrow, we leave the mountains and Zabljak and head off to Kotor, on a bay near the coast.  I'm expecting it to be both a little busier and a little warmer.   I've loved being in the mountains - I probably sound like a broken record, but the scenery is just jaw dropping at every corner.  You can see a lot of building and tourism growing in Zabljak - little tourist huts and cabins are being built as fast as families can get them built and there is so much outdoor enjoyment to be had in this region.