Damselfly baths

Being in Podgorica, Montenegro, I was looking for a place to swim. The river Morača is flowing right through the city. Swimming in cold water under Millennium bridge is perfect. Especially now, when you constantly want to escape from the crazy heat. It feels like 40+ degrees all day long. There at the shore is plenty of space, a shade from the bridge and the water is deep enough. But this time I wanted to find some new place. So I searched in maps and found another possibility.

It was on the Zeta river, which flows into the Moraca river. Just above their meeting place there was seemingly a spot to swim and camp. It was called Vranske Njive. Someone attached nice pictures with water jumping platforms to the map location. We thought OK, it is not far away, yet looks unusual and must be deep enough to swim. So we went there.

We came to the place. And there were loads of people. Much more people than on the river in the centre of the city. There was a nice lawn and relatively calm waters. I could not stand the atmosphere of a rookery though. So we went further up the river right away to find a wilder spot. We found it just few meters away behind the bushes and the bridge.

The spot was very small, but since the water was not as high, there were big and flat stones coming out of water. Each could easily host a few people. And the best part it was just under the shade of the bridge and the trees. Cold water was flowing around. It felt really good and chilly. The stones were round and hairy. They were completely covered with dried long seaweed, and it felt unusual and soft to step on them.

We made our small camp on one of the hairy stones. Next to the stone was a small deepening in the river with a weak current, so we could take a dip easily. Blue damselflies were sitting and flying around in masses instead of people. The place was just around the corner of civilization yet intriguing and beautiful.