The employee at the charter agency sounds sceptical: "Where do you want to charter a motorboat?" "On Lake Skadar," I reply confidently. "In Africa?" "No, no. Lake Skadar is one of the largest lakes in Europe."
"In Europe? Never heard of it."
"Sometimes it's even bigger than Lake Constance, depending on the water level," I add.
"Bigger than Lake Constance? I don't know, I'm sorry ..."
This was the third charter agency I've tried to hire a motorboat from on Lake Skadar. I give up and instead buy a ticket directly to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. The lake lies in the south of the country, and I try to catch a glimpse of its surface as soon as I land. Instead, I see a green plain between high mountain peaks, in which the occasional winding watercourse reflects the sunlight. Is this supposed to be Lake Skadar? Is there even enough space to take a boat there? Now I'm getting sceptical myself.
The lake remains a mystery
According to the map, the lake is only 13 kilometres from the Adriatic Sea as the crow flies. Nestled in an impressive mountainous landscape, it forms the current border between Montenegro and Albania. Its name comes from the Albanian town of Shkodra (Montenegrin: Skadar), which lies in the south-east of the lake. The most interesting part, however, is said to be the north-west, where the lake fans out into many fjords. This sparsely populated area with its mysterious gorges could have been the setting for Karl May's book "Through the Land of the Skipetars".
In Podgorica, I ask in a tourist office where I can hire a boat on Lake Skadar. A young Montenegrin woman runs her dark brown eyes over a wall map of the lake and tells me to hire a car and drive to Rijeka Crnojevića. That's the old royal city of Montenegro, just under an hour from here. She takes the map from the wall and gives it to me.
From the airport, I drive about 30 kilometres west along an adventurous mountain road. The medieval town of Rijeka Crnojevića lies on a narrow canyon at the western tip of Lake Skadar. This is where the noble family of Crnojević originated, who ruled the principality and later kingdom of Montenegro from the Middle Ages until the 19th century in the political conflict between the overpowering neighbours Serbia and Austria-Hungary.
A sea of water lilies
The road winds in tight bends along the steep slope of a mountain range. About five kilometres before the finish, I stop at a hairpin bend. You should already be able to see Lake Skadar here. The view to the south-east shows a mountain panorama with green cones rising into the sky from an absolutely flat, green carpet. The plain stretches as far as the eye can see. Small trees and bushes grow in places. And a silver stripe flashes within the carpet. I take a photo and zoom into the picture on the display: unbelievable! The green carpet is a sea of water lilies!
The narrow silver band in between is the marked fairway. Only on closer inspection do I realise that small boats also sail there. The road follows the twists and turns of the fjord to the western end of Lake Skadar. Old stone houses by the water indicate that I have arrived at my destination: Rijeka Crnojevića - the former town of the Montenegrin rulers. Only a few people still live here between the mountains and the lake. But the stone buildings bear witness to a great past. The most impressive example and landmark of the town is the old cantilever stone arch bridge, which is one of the most beautiful in the Balkans alongside the famous bridge in Mostar. This is where the navigability of Lake Skadar begins and ends.
"Where can I hire a motorboat here?"
On the lake, which is now just a river, young people race on old narrow fishing boats. The small old town is lovingly maintained like a tourist resort and yet there is a worldly silence here. The arched bridge can only be crossed on foot. Sage, rosemary and small fig trees sprout from the stone cracks. I feel like I'm travelling back in time.
"Where can I hire a motorboat here?" I ask the owner of a pub next to the stone arch bridge. The man pours me a grappa: "Strangers shouldn't venture out onto Lake Skadar alone. Motorised tourist boats leave from Virpazar and head out onto the lake."
I drive south along the west coast, always enjoying the impressive views, until I reach Virpazar, the tourist centre on the lake. At the harbour office, I ask a man in a smart uniform where I can hire a motorboat and spread out my map. He puts his index finger on the reed forests marked on the north coast and says "Nationalni Park. Eco Resort Plavnica."
In the middle of the national park
As I have no alternative, I drive to the national park with doubts. I am all the more surprised to discover a very nice hotel with a small marina in the middle of reed forests. And then the surprise: you can charter motorboats here! Filip is the friendly junior manager of the resort: "We have fast Rinker day cruisers. You can stay overnight with us at the resort or in one of the small guesthouses around the lake." I book in at the resort.
Skipper Siegrun also arrives the next day. Filip fills the tank and then politely asks if he can join us on the first day - why not? He puts two chilled bottles of wine in the cockpit, opens one of them and pours in plastic cups: "Have a nice trip!"
Waterway cut into the reeds
We leave the eco resort on a waterway cut into the reeds. After a kilometre, the horizon opens up. No more thickets, no more water lilies, but a clear view as far as Albania. Our course then leads westwards to the dam that separates the north-western part of Lake Skadar from the southern part. It was built in socialist Yugoslavia to create a car and rail link from the Montenegrin capital to the Adriatic harbours. The old navigable connection via the River Bojana through Albania to the Adriatic was no longer used after the Second World War and is now silted up.
Via an intricate labyrinth of waterways, Filip navigates through an ancient cultural landscape where people have lived on and around Lake Skadar for generations, creating shipping canals and building houses and fortresses. One of the places worth visiting is Žabljak Crnojevića. Farmers and fishermen settle down by the canal, with the ruins of a fortress towering above the water. Here, too, everything is still very original.
Boats are the most important means of transport
The highlight of the day is the fishing village of Karuč. The fairway leads through a maze of water lilies and reeds that is difficult to navigate. I admit that we wouldn't have found our way here without a local guide.
The boat is also the most important means of transport within the village with its farmsteads scattered on headlands. Women work in the gardens, men mend the nets, no sign of tourists. Here we discover the first pub where you can moor. It consists of a small bar serving regional wine. It serves ham with olives. And there is a swimming pool between the water lily fields in front of the jetty. Everything looks so exotic that you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a river delta in faraway Asia.
To the old royal city of Rijeka Crnojevića
Our first trip without Filip is really exciting because we now have to find our own way through the roses without their metre-long stems paralysing our propulsion. We therefore choose the well-marked main fairway from Skadardamm in a north-westerly direction to the old royal town of Rijeka Crnojevića. It will be a beautiful day trip through a fascinating mountain landscape. We rarely encounter other boats. They are fishermen who greet us in a friendly manner and offer us their fresh catch. We reach Rijeka Crnojevića and moor on the northern shore in front of the "Stari Most" restaurant. The innkeeper gives us a friendly welcome and serves us grilled carp. The food is delicious and the view of the old bridge, the lake and the mountain panorama is breathtaking.
We now know the lake north of the Skadar dam. Now the southern, open part is our destination. It is the larger part in terms of area and its eastern shore already belongs to Albania. We want to clarify whether we are allowed to cross over to Albania with our charter boat, so we first head for Virpazar, where the harbour office is located. The picturesque little town is situated on two small islands in the lake, which are connected by a stone arch bridge. There are canals all around in all directions - a miniature Venice in Montenegrin solitude. Small boats are moored in the harbour, waiting for sun-seeking excursionists. We tie up our boat in front of the terrace of the "Badanj" tavern and walk the few steps to the harbour captain, who sends us next door to the police station.
"You are neighbours"
"Clearing out to Albania?" asks a friendly, elderly policeman in fluent German, scratching his white hair. "You're the first to ask." "Are we not allowed to go to Albania?" "Yes, you are. The borders are open. But nobody crosses the border. And certainly not by boat." "You're neighbours," I say. "Before 1990, when Albania was sealed off, several thousand Montenegrins lived in Skadar - that's the big Albanian town over there." He points to the south-east, even though you can't see the town of Skadar from here. "When the communists no longer dared to shoot at refugees, most of them fled across the lake to Montenegro - or Yugoslavia, as it was still called back then." "We would like to take a rented boat to Albania ..." "We're not prepared for that, I'm sorry. If you want to see the mosques over there, just take a taxi over." He sees our disappointment: "Or come back in a year or two. Then maybe there will be a regular crossing for pleasure craft."
Stone ruins that reach into the water
We leave Virpazar via the buoyed fairway and head south along the west coast. In front of us lies the island of Grmožur with stone ruins that reach right down to the water's edge. The former fortress was built by the Turks, but was later conquered by the Montenegrins. King Nikola turned the fort into a prison, where mainly non-swimmers were imprisoned.
The peaks of the Rumija Mountains, which separate the lake from the Adriatic Sea, tower up to 1600 metres high on the right. On the other side of the lake lies Albania, where the land initially rises gently. Further east, snow-capped peaks follow. We are travelling on one of Europe's largest lakes on a sunny Sunday in midsummer and are completely alone. Has time stood still here?
Gregorian chants from the monastery church
Three rocky islets come into view: Starčeva Gorica, Beška and Moračnik. In Montenegro, they are considered places of religious and national identity. Monasteries were built here in the 14th century and still exist today. In the seclusion of the monasteries, which can only be reached by boat, the monks copied holy scriptures.
We stop the engine between the two southern islands of Beška and Moračnik. The towers of the churches are reflected in the warm evening light on the water, and the silence is breathtaking. Only occasionally does a breeze carry musical sounds to us on the water. No, not disco droning like on Lake Balaton. It's Gregorian chant from one of the monastery churches. The liturgical chanting in the solitude of the lake is so moving that it gives me goose bumps. For a moment, we consider mooring up to experience the choir up close. But we don't want to disturb the monks and let ourselves drift slowly past the monastery - until the sounds fade away over the endless expanse of the lake.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE DISTRICT
Journey
The cheapest flight from Germany is with Air Serbia from Frankfurt or Berlin via Belgrade to Podgorica. On the internet from as little as 200 euros for a return flight. The airport of Montenegro's capital is located on the northern shore of the lake. From there it is 13 km by taxi or hire car to the Plavnica Eco Resort. By car and trailer, the distance from Munich to Podgorica is around 1,250 kilometres, including through the non-EU states of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia at the end of the route.
On site
The comfortable Eco Resort complex includes a marina with 80 berths, slipway, boat service and charter fleet. Thanks to its central location, the most beautiful destinations can be reached in day trips. You can spend the night either at the resort or in one of the small and mostly reasonably priced holiday homes.
hotels or guesthouses around the lake. At the Plavnica Eco Resort, a suite for 2 people costs 130 euros, including breakfast. Info: www.plavnica.me www.plavnica.me
Charter
The boats for hire are 40 km/h Rinker 192 Captiva (2x 88 kW/
120 hp, 4 persons). The day cruisers cost 280 euros per day or 1400 euros per week, plus fuel. An inland navigation licence is required. A skipper familiar with the area (50 euros/day) is recommended on the first day. Enquiries to: filippejovic@gmail.com
Literature
Bodo Müller/Jürgen Straßburger: "Küstenhandbuch Kroatien und Montenegro, Split - Ulcinj mit Skadar-See", Edition Maritim, Hamburg, 29.90 euros, ISBN 978-3-89225-632-8. www.delius www.delius-klasing.de
