The Brijuni islands
Time to go on an adventure with the entire family during your yacht charter in Croatia! Once the private Xanadu of the former Yugoslavian president Tito, the Brijuni islands hold a strange fascination and the fact that it was visited by the elite of Austrian, Hungarian and German aristocracy already speaks of its beauty and charm. An archipelago off Fažana, Brijuni is a stunning national park consisting of fourteen islands. The largest, Veliki Brijuni, contains rare treasures such as dinosaur footprints, Roman and Byzantine ruins and exotic botanical gardens. Tito later set up his own safari park on the island, filled with elephants and zebras provided as gifts by national leaders who visited him. Why don’t you visit the ones who are still there today during your luxury yacht charter in Croatia? The unique park is inhabited by a peculiar mix of autochthonous Istrian and exotic South American, African and Asian animals. Visit the friendly inhabitants of the park with the entire family and meet the Indian elephant Lanka, llama, zebras, Indian sacred cows, ostriches and some completely white albino peacocks! Your captain will drop the anchor in the crystal clear water surrounding the island and after a short trip by tender, it is just minutes to the park.
Safari Park in the Brijuni islands
Near the entrance you will be welcomed by the numerous llamas strolling around here, keeping an eye on who is coming to visit them! These South American camels differ from the camels we know by their smaller bodies and a relatively large head. Llamas have no hump and are covered with long, thick wooly fur and according to the native legend, were domesticated in the very beginning of human existence.
Next are the zebras and the sacred cow. The steppe and mountain zebra was received as a gift from the country of Guinea. In the wild, zebras inhabit the mountainous parts of southern and eastern Africa. The zebu or the sacred Indian cow was a gift from the Indian statesman and politician Nehru. This small sacred cow is in fact a dwarfish species of sacred Indian cows and shares all features of the animal, but is smaller in size and less heavy.
The ethno park is an area within the Safari Park presenting a typical Istrian homestead, and the staff has enriched it with local animal species – the Istrian ox, the Istrian sheep, donkeys and goats. These friendly inhabitants of the park will cheer everyone up, just like the favorite animal of the Safari Park, Lanka the elephant. Lanka arrived to Brijuni as a gift from Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1972. In nature, elephants live in the jungles of India, Sri Lanka, Borneo and Sumatra. Did you know that male elephants can weigh up to 6 tons which makes them the largest living mammals? Despite its huge size, elephants have a light and barely audible gait since each foot has a thick pad of elastic tissue that acts as a cushion. An elephant touches, smells and breathes with its trunk, and even uses it to make sounds.
Before you leave to discover the footprints of dinosaurs, check out the sea turtles that were found injured and brought to the park to get a chance to recover. The sea turtles are taken care of by the staff and when they are fully healed, will be released back into the sea.
The dinosaur footprints of the Brijuni islands
When you and your loved ones were sailing into the port of Veliki Brijun, the captain made sure to point out the three-toed print in the limestone rock, probably left there by a large dinosaur. The footprints of these gigantic animals are only preserved at a couple of places on earth. The prints could only have survived if the dinosaurs were moving over soft terrain, and left traces doing so, with the prints then quickly filling up with a sediment. The prints should then have had enough time for the sediment to turn into a consolidated rock, without being disturbed. We all know that walking on sandy beaches leaves traces which waves, tides, and rain destroy very quickly, so the likelihood of preserving traces is not very high. Therefore, dinosaur footprints are very rare and having these unique footprints on the islands is worth your visit, especially if you or your loved ones are into the world of dinosaurs!
More than two hundred dinosaur footprints have been discovered on Brijuni, at the islands of Veliki Brijun, Vanga, Galija and Vrsar. You can take a look at the footprints at Veliki Brijun, on Cape Ploče and on Cape Vrbanj and briefly return to the ancient past, encountering these Mesozoic creatures, or at least their traces! It is believed that these ancient reptiles walked Brijuni 130-100 million years ago. In order to illustrate the size of these enormous animals that once roamed around here, a dinosaur reconstruction has been put up on Cape Vrbanj – a scientific and artistic sculpture of a theropod, a predatory carnivore. Make sure you have your picture taken with it!
Before you make your way back to your yacht, ask your driver to stop at one of the oldest olive trees in the Mediterranean, located on the island! This famous olive tree is more than 1600 years old and its olives are still used for olive oil production. What a unique souvenir to take home with you, a bottle of olive oil made from olives from this tree!
Back onboard, the chief stewardess is waiting for you and your family with refreshments and the crew has made sure all your favorite water toys are in the water, ready for you to enjoy! Have a perfect afternoon in the crystal clear water, using the jet ski and the floaties, while your chef is bringing out all your favorite hors d’oeuvres to keep you fueled. During dinner in the beautiful seating area on the fly bridge, while watching the sunset, try to spot the dinosaur you just visited onshore!
