Sailing on a Turtle’s Back in Belgrade
(No Turtles were harmed in the adventures of this story)
One goal I kept in mind while travelling was to make sure I didn’t miss an adventure. It meant keeping an eye out on billboards and posters, ears open in hostels listening for ideas, looking past the first list of things to do on google.
Of course finding the adventures was only half the challenge, I also sometimes had to convince myself to do it; sometimes it was because of fear, sometimes because it didn’t seem like it would be interesting, and sometimes a question of was the adventure worth the cost.
Most of the time I still did the adventure and as I write this I can’t recall a specific adventure that I skipped and now regret skipping, so I suppose I succeeded in this goal. And I think the memories speak for themselves; I’ve done the adrenaline fueled like paragliding and off-roading, deep dive to history at the Meteora Monasteries, I’ve gotten a tattoo, entered abandoned buildings, tried strange foods, fed sharks (okay they weren’t sharks but they were still aggressive fish and we were told to keep fingers away).
There were a few odd ones along the way, like todays story. In Belgrade, Serbia I spent a lovely September evening sailing on the Danube and the Sava rivers on a boat know as “The Turtle Boat” reasons obvious upon looking at it.
How I Found the Turtle Boat
I had spent a day or two in Belgrade at this point looking at the sights around the city such as Kalmegdan Fortress. While walking through the park around the fortress I was called over by a lady at a purple booth displaying some boats. She struck up a conversation asking; Where I was from? What I was doing in Belgrade? Was I interested in a boat ride?
The last question of course being most pivotal. She proceeded to give me the run down on the boats and tours available. I wasn’t to sure at that moment, so said I would think about it. Given a flyer with contact details and her name I went away.
The next day, I sent a message to check availability for that evening and booked myself for a two-hour Turtle Boat cruise. For a total cost of 2100 dinars, €18, or $30nzd. Not a bad price and it even included unlimited soft drink.
I spent the day exploring the Nikola Tesla Museum and a rather interesting museum about the Serbian Postal system.
The Turtle Boat Ride
At 5:30pm Kleo and I arrived to the meeting point in Kalmegdan park and eventually were taken across the park to where the boat was docked on the river. Boarding the boat we took a seat on the front deck in order to see all the views.
The boat set off gently sailing towards the Danube as the sun set on Belgrade. For the next hour and a half our little turtle boat took us on a journey along the river.
Passing the house of the fisherman built on the edge of the river. These house technically aren’t allowed to be there, the coastal area should only have temporary structures so many are built on stilts and with an appearance of being temporary.
As we head further down the river we slowly circle Great War Island that sits at the confluence of the Danube and Sava River. Currently uninhabited and now home to extensive wildlife and nature as a public park.
On the other side of the river we pass the suburbs of Belgrade, seeing decades of history as building grow and changes. Upon the river itself we weave through parked boats of the residents of Belgrade. Some were docked along the banks, while others floated in the middle of the river, accessible by small paddle boats.
As we continue along we leave the island behind and return to the Sava River sailing along passing the heart of Belgrade and under the six bridges that connect the two haves of the city.
The city changes before us as the sun sets further putting Belgrade into darkness, the lights of the city turning on and changing the view. The extensive new construction along the bank was a clear display of Belgrade’s changing landscape.
The gentle ride along the river gave plenty of time for reflection. The boat ride in fact was on the 7 month anniversary of the start of my travels so certainly a worthy day for thought. It was peaceful to sit and lookout on the changing landscape and think upon the adventures I had so far and the hopes for the future.
As the Turtle Boat gently glided back to shore, I realized this peaceful ride wasn’t just about seeing Belgrade—it was about taking a moment to appreciate how far I’d come.
This was a journey I never expected to take, places I never expected to see and each day they continued to amaze me. Even now sitting at work Australia I still think to myself how incredible my life has been this past year.
I hope to see these places again, to have some of these same adventures again, perhaps next time around with company. And yet there are still places I have not gone which I look forward to seeing excited for adventures to come.
Your river sailing writer,
Cohen
