Lika 2008.

Lika is an attractive region of Croatia, bordering with Bosnia and Herzegovina by river Una. This area has a mixed population of Croats, Serbs and Bosnians so everybody seems to have friends here, including me. Rafting has recently became popular on river Una, so I decided to give it a try.

Una Valley Panorama (VR)

River Una in the vicinity of the Užljebić border crossing between Croatia and Bosnia. The flow is calm here, sections that are more interesting for rafting are upstream.

Martin Brod Waterfalls (VR)

Martin Brod is an isolated village on river Una that belongs to the Bosnian Federation, although population is mostly Serbian. This place is famous for its limestone formations called the "sedra stone". These sediments are formed by precipitation from the waterflow, and they grow to become barriers that create cascades and waterfalls. Here at Martin Brod the river Una exits its canyon and slows down, so a large amount of sedra has formed. River flow branches wide into many streams that zig-zag between houses that people had built on the sedra rock islands. Almost every house here has it's own small waterfall, and in this photograph is the largest of them called Veliki Slap (The Great Fall).

The Bridge on River Una at Martin Brod (VR)

Sedra forming tends to make the river flow wide and shallow, until it transforms into pretty looking sight of pools at different heights that overflow from one to another.

The Canyon of River Unac (VR)

It's not a typing error, Unac is a short river that is a tributary to Una at Martin Brod. Unac spends most of its flow in a steep and inaccessible but very attractive canyon. This downstream portion of the canyon can be accessed by remnants of an old unfinished trail that military engineering units once tried to build.

River Una at Loskun (VR)

At this place a nice rafting portion of Una ends, as the stream becomes too calm onwards. Starting point of this rafting part is just after Štrbački Buk waterfall, some 6km upstream from here.

Cave Lake at Level 2 Panorama

An interesting cave can be found on the left side of Una canyon, some 500 meters upstream from Loskun. A stream is running out of a small lake that is inside the cave's entrance (Level 1 Lake). After crossing that lake with a boat, a passage leading upwards can take you to another smaller lake (Level 2 Lake). A second boat that we carried in here was needed as we tried to reach another even steeper tunnel that climbs above the lake 2. We succeeded, but this tunnel soon became too narrow and difficult to go through even with special equipment. Level 2 Lake is in complete darkness, and this panorama was shot by illuminating each frame by a flashlight. The whole range of Dinaric Alps is famous for its complex cave systems and magnificent karst springs. One example is Vrelo Une (the spring of river Una), formally the deepest spring in the world. Its depth could not be measured because of complex underwater passages (highest depth reached by French divers is 205m in 2009.)

Štrbački Buk Waterfall

Štrbački Buk can be called the most attractive single waterfall on river Una, with around 25 meters of height. One nice rafting portion of the river starts just below it.