This was an excellent day that almost didn't happen. They had said that there were a limited number of people who would be able to take the trip to an organic farm and a boat ride through some wetlands. I dashed from the briefing room, mid presentation and managed to secure the 7th and 8th last seats. Rebellion broke out and in the end two buses and 70+ people booked and with 24 hours notice, the hosts did an amazing job of catering. This was only the second group to visit the farm and therefore they are still getting their tourist act together.

Anyway, prior to the lunch time visit to the farm and wetlands, we had the usual tour of Vukovar and Osijek.

What do you see in the riverside town of Vukovar. Not a lot. It was pretty well destroyed in the war with Serbia in the 90's. 20 years on it had been rebuilt. After a short walking tour we were on a bus heading for Osijek. All the way out of town the road is lined with cottages and houses, mostly rebuilt after the war. Reparation money was provided, but in many cases, not enough to plaster the walls and so they are the red terracotta blocks. Apparently 1,000 tanks rolled down this road and the Croatians used bazookas and hunting rifles to try to stop them. They destoyed many tanks and the tanks destroyed many houses. I began to notice some houses that were built as a long thin building down the block with a veranda and doors and windows opening off the veranda held up by pillars. Throughout the day in Croatia, this was a common design. I asked the guide at the end of the day for an explanation. Three or more generations in the one building. When a son married, they added on a new section. In some respects it is similar to Scotland where my family in the early 1800's lived in one of 6 apartments that ran in a line from the street accessed through an archway. A "close", housed a number of families in very small rooms with a communal toilet and garden at the end.


We arrived at Osijek's Old Town, walked through town to Tvrd¯a (the 18th-century baroque citadel built by the Habsburgs when they retook the town from the Ottomans in 1687) and the Church of the Holy Cross, built by the Franciscans at the same time. Perhaps the most memorable things were the stacks of firewood out front of houses because they have no power for cooking and the cross in the courtyard of the church with Jesus on the cross and everthing made of shell casings and weapons from the Serb/Croatian war.

Not far away we arrived at "Orlov Put". As the owners describe it:
(Eagle Flyway) We used to live in the heart of the city of Osijek and decided to turn our lives upside down. We sold our flat and full of thrill, bought seven hectares of ploughfield covered with up to 6 m-high weed since nobody had cultivated it from 1985, which was its greatest value for us. For 12 years, the '' Orlov time (Eagle Flyway) 'eco family farm has been emerging from persistent and constant hard labor .

This area had been mined during the war, so it had laid dormant for 17 years and therefore qualified as being free of chemicals (pesticides or fertilisers) and therfore produce could be sold as "organic". Additionally, they built their house from scratch using local timber from the forest (willow).

Usually all the animals are allowed to roam the farm, however for our visit a number were penned in the barn so that we coul dget up close and personal. Piglets are always endearing whether penned or free range and they gained most peoples attention. They also breed goats to make their owwn cheese, rabbts and ....

We were shown through their house and the smoking room where the hams are stored before lunch and then another short bus ride to the wetlands.

The marshy ground in the middle is still mined and therefore all tavel is by boats. Later in spring there wll be more birds but for now it's largely Cormorants, Stork and the very occasional and rare White Tailed Eagle. Of the dozens of shots of the eagles, I managed two that are reasonable. Hopefuly I can have them enlarged without losing definition. I have to share them with others on the cruisem as I was the only one to get any reasonable shots. One that I didn't realise I had taken was of a stork that the Eagles had killed and then strung on a vine from a high branch. Apparently Eagles like their meat hung and aged!
We caught up with the boat furter up-river and continued on our way. Late afternoon tea (beer), followed by dinner followed by a local dancing troup and a cognac night cap.