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Slovenia, Hrvatska - August, 2019

Warning, this is not really a herping report as I did travel there and I did look for some animals but this was a nice trip with friends with some herping inside ! I've made this nice trip with my girlfriend Hélène, my "who I could call a best friend" Mathilde and her boyfriend Samuel who also is a very close friend of mine. We left France on a friday, the 16th of August to spend the second half of the day travelling from Lyon to Venice surrounds where we managed to find a spot to enjoy our very small night (like 4 or 5 hours long, too short for every human). Saturday, the 17th of August

Our very first day enjoying some holiday time started early because of a night camping in an area where we didn't really expect it to be allowed so we wouldn't risk staying for too long. The plan was to go as fast as possible to Ljubljana but the idea that we were very close to Venice came through some minds and we spent the morning in the city visiting as almost any tourist will do.

That unplanned visit was very pleasant even if no reptile or amphibian has been seen.


Around 1PM, we took the road to Ljubljana and we pretty quickly reached the slovenian frontier where we had to buy the highway vignette to be allowed to roll. This obligatory stop led us to an area where we stayed for a few minutes, enough to walk around a find our first amphibian stucked in a hole, a Fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra). We took the first pictures of a wild animal during this trip and we already were on our way to Ljubljana where we arrived in the evening because we had to set up the camp in a campsite for the night before we visit the city. Then, we just enjoyed Ljubljana until we felt tired.


Salamandra salamandra
Ljubljana

Sunday, the 18th of August

We woke up not too early because we were very tired, but early enough to hope for some reptiles as we drove to Postojna to a place we may find vipers (thanks a lot to Gerrit and Frank who shared some places with us). After a pretty long time looking for reptiles, we found a dead Grass snake (Natrix natrix) on the road and a Slow worm (Anguis fragilis) under a wood but no viper to be seen. Green lizards (Lacerta viridis) and Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) were also to add on this list. We managed to find something to eat and then we drove to Planina. Around there, we were looking for a lizard but we had to eat first, close to the river. On the way to this river we did see two Yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata). Looking around, we finally managed to find it ! The Horvath's rock Lizard (Iberolacerta horvathi).


Iberolacerta horvathi

This success gave us the idea to go as soon as possible to a secret cave looking for some Olms. This cave is a few hours away from Planina so we arrived in the late afternoon. When I was there, I immediatly saw the Olm (Proteus anguinus) but these animals are very shy and sensitive to light so it was very hard to come close and almost impossible to hope for a photograph. We decided to come back the day after and I must thank my friends for their patience because the had to fight ticks, mosquitoes and a bit of my bad mood because I didn't really see the olm as I hoped to. We spent the night on a rest area to cook a meal and headed into the forest to find a place to camp. This area is known for having many bears so we were not very comfortable sleeping here. A few eyes in the dark didn't really help. Monday, the 19th of August

I woke up very early, mostly because I was not able to sleep anymore but also because I wanted to see how it was outside ans maybe look for bear tracks in the early morning. I left the tent but not for very long as I heard a car that stopped right in front of the tents. Guess what? Police ! Fortunately, the policeman only said this was not a place to camp and gave us one hour to leave, clearly enough for us. After that, we deserved a breakfast to start the day. The morning was dedicated to herping ! We found a few places where we met some reptiles such as the two lizards (green and common wall), a grass snake and finally, when I was not hoping for it anymore, I spotted two, then three Nose-horned vipers (Vipera ammodytes). We took pictures of one of them and spent a big part of the afternoon close to a lake where we swam. In the late afternoon, we came back to the secret cave where I managed to see more olms but wasn't more lucky to hope for any picture.


Vipera ammodytes

Then came the night. This one will stay in our minds for a very long time. I am very proud and happy that I shared this moment with my girlfriend and these two awesome friends I love so much. We went in the mountains close to the croatian border to look for a very special amphibian. On our way, we did meet a few mammals. Our plan was to sleep there but considering the experience we had the night before we decided to maybe look for an accommodation when we'll be done. The forest was very dry which is not very good for amphibians but we've been very lucky as I managed to find what we went for within five minutes after we stopped the car, an Alpine salamander (Salamandra atra prenjensis). That moment was awesome enough to make my night but what happenned next is just insane. We drove back to find a place to sleep and the GPS said we'll be out of the forest in 20 minutes and you know many things can happen in 20 minutes ! In a curve, we noticed a very big animal crossing the road, I drove faster to come close and we suddenly realized we were like 15 meters away from a very huge Brown bear (Ursus arctos) looking at us right in the eyes for a few seconds before it escapes in the dark forest. Now we were sure we will not be sleeping in the tents and we found a room in an hostel.


Salamandra atra prenjensis

Tuesday, the 20th of August

Time to leave Slovenia for a few days to visit Krk island and enjoy some time at sea ! We left early in the morning and that was not a bad idea as we clearly underestimated the time we had to wait before we can finally cross the frontier. But we did it without any problem and we joined our nice accommodation on Krk and spent the afternoon on a beach enjoying a swim. As the very hot sun finally disappeared, temperatures were slowly going down and it seemed to be the perfect time to go for a night drive. I was expecting some geckos but found none. We spent ways too much time on the road this night and only managed to find two Grass snakes (Natrix natrix), five dead European cat snake (Telescopus fallax) and many dead Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis).


Sunset on Krk island

Wednesday, the 21st of August

This day was dedicated to some tourism in Krk town and a cruise around some island hoping for vultures and dolphins. If we did see the first ones, the sea was so rough we had like no chance to spot any dolphin. But we enjoyed the cruise anyway.

Back on the land, we've been doing some shopping like any tourist. So all I'm telling you right now may not be very interesting if you came here for snakes right? Don't worry there'll be some.


Then slowly comes the night and I was still hoping for a snake so I decided to go back on a night drive with Samuel as the girls were tired. And we've been lucky enough to come across a very large European cat snake (Telescopus fallax) a few minutes only after we left the room. Later in the night, we met another one, a little bit smaller.

Thursday, the 22nd of August

Last morning on Krk and last opportunity to find reptiles so Samuel and I woke up very early to enjoy the first sunrays and hope for a snake or two. We went close to the place where we found a snake the night before. The sky was full of clouds so it was not that hot in the morning but the sun slowly came and we started to see our first reptiles : Dalmatian wall lizard (Podarcis melisellensis) that I missed and some Italian wall lizard (Podarcis siculus). After a few more minutes I saved a Balkan green lizard (Lacerta trilineata) for a certain death as it fell into a barrel. Right after I missed a snake, then two but I finally manage to see it as it was hiding under a rock. That was a very nice looking Balkan whip snake (Hierophis gemonensis). The last reptile we met was a very beautiful Blue-throated keeled lizard (Algyroides nigropunctatus) as it was already time to leave Krk and go back to Slovenia.


We left the island even if we wanted to stay longer to look for more reptiles but we were already pretty happy with what we met. The plan was to go in Ljubljana for some shopping time and we booked a tour to look for bears in the evening close to Postojna. So we spent the night waiting for a bear to come but nothing happened excepted for an Eagle owl (Bubo bubo) hunting around. We didn't really want to do some wild camping so we headed to a campsite. As I was not tired enough, I came back to Planina where we've been a few days before to see if I can find some more animals but I only met a few Common toads (Bufo bufo) and a Common frog (Rana temporaria).

Friday, the 23rd of August & Saturday, the 24th of August

Tourist day, we went to Bled to enjoy the lake but the weather was not very good but still good enough to have a swim. Time to take pictures and enjoy our accommodation for night : I just rented a bar. Wow ! The day after, last in Slovenia, we visited the Vintgar gorges and saw our last reptiles of the trip, some Viviparous lizards (Zootoca vivipara).


Bled lake

The long way back to France started right after with awesome memories in our minds and the feeling that we spent one of the best moment in our lives with our beloved friends. Thank you again to Mathilde and Samuel who shared this trip with us.

---SPECIES LIST---

Bufo bufo Hyla arborea (sound only) Pelophylax ridibundus Proteus anguinus

Rana temporaria Salamandra atra prenjensis Salamandra salamandra Algyroides nigropunctatus Anguis fragilis Elaphe quatuorlineata (shed) Hierophis gemonensis Iberolacerta horvathi Lacerta trilineata Lacerta viridis Natrix natrix Podarcis melisellensis Podarcis muralis Podarcis siculus Telescopus fallax Vipera ammodytes Zootoca vivipara

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