Duga Resa
It must have been something like 20 years ago that we stayed at Camp Slapić for the first time. Then, we went with our own old van, and yes I already had Kurt Hielscher's Jugoslavien edition, but never tried to find the exact same place somewhere around Duga Resa till this summer.
The odd thing is that the river Sava does not stream somewhere near Duga Resa, but over 60 kilometers to the northeast following roughly the line Ljubljana, Zagreb to Slavonski Brod. I do see a connection at Sisak, but still, calling the river in Duga Resa the Sava river doesn't make sense to me. To me the river is known as the Mrežnica and it is a real gem. Over the years we swam, canoed and supped on it, but this time, me and my oldest took our bikes and cycled its shores to find the exact same place from where Kurt Hielscher made his photo.
View from the bridge over the Mrežnica at Mrežnički Brig in the early morning with the little waterfall, hence "Slapić". The campsite is in the woods and has a terrific restaurant with traditional food. With my oldest son, I climbed with the canoe up the waterfall at night and paddled to the next one upstream which was quite adventurous because of the dark. And it was really dark. The reward was ofcourse to paddle the waterfall down with our plastic Decathlon canoe. The canoe and we survived.
Over 23 kilometers later and all the way to Karlovac and back along the opposite side of the river, we didn't find it. It was a nice tour anyway, after a bad day, when my youngest had broke his wrist while swinging like Tarzan and diving into the Mrežnica. With painkillers he was doing fine, but for the rest of the holidays no swimming for him anymore. Now, almost half a year later he doesn't have any consequences left and doing great, but then he already said: "I wanna come back here and do it again!". And that's Camp Slapić for us, a place to ever be coming back to.
The route. On the right, one can also see the museum symbol referring to the Muzej Domovinskog Rata in Karlovac, also a place to stop by and learn more about the war and the vehicles and tanks used at the end of the war in the summer of '95.
When entering Karlovac one can see the sign that shows it is a childfriendly city according to UNICEF, my employer. By accident I worde my shirt that day.
Along Duga Resa's soccer stadium. Working out!
Camping at Autokamp Slapić, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2024.
My youngest jumping into the Mrežnica at Kamp Slapić in 2018.
More from 2018
It can be busy in the weekends when lots of people form Zagreb come to relax here. For me it is always a great opportunity to connect and practice my Croat language skills.
Kim with the boys paddling the Mrežnica in 2014.
Waiting for the taxi to be brought back to Kamp Slapić after my youngest got his arm plastered.
Below: View from Most Doktor Ivana Banjavčića in Duga Resa to the north.
