Crossing to border to Bosnia and Herzegovina to go rafting on the Tara River

When we were visiting Montenegro back in October last year, the touristic season in the country had already long passed. Everywhere they were preparing for winter and counting down the days until they’d have their holidays after a long and busy summer. While that meant a lot less tourists, that sadly also meant that we had fewer options to do some touristic activities.

But thanks to the internet, you’ll always be able to find someone who’s still available to take you places. And that’s one of the reasons we ended up in Bosnia and Herzegovina on our Montenegro trip to go rafting on the Tara River.

Actually we had never meant to cross the border for that. It sort of was a mistake. We were comparing a few rafting trips and that one was a whole lot cheaper. I’m always trying to keep everything as low-budget as possible without having to give up on a certain experience, so it was booked before we even checked the address of where we would depart. Well, across the border in Bosnia and Herzegovina apparently.

When we first noticed, a slight panic overtook us. How on earth were we going to do that? Our rental car wasn’t even allowed to cross the border. We contacted the tour company, Outdoor Resort TaraSport , and they quickly reassured us. We could leave our car at the border in Montenegro, and they’d pick us up on the other side. Their resort was only a few kilometers from the border. Phew! Problem solved. And a little bit of extra adventure added; sweet!

So early in the morning we left our B&B in Zabljak, drove along the southern part of the gorgeous Durmitor Ring and then through the Piva Canyon to the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. It took us about two hours with some stops for breakfast and taking in the stunning views along the way.

We made it to the border a bit earlier than expected, so we decided to just cross already and walk closer to our pick-up. It was a really odd experience to go through border control with just a backpack with next to nothing in it and our passports. The border police also had a little laugh about our situation. But after about ten minutes on Bosnian ground, we were picked-up by the staff of the resort to drive the last kilometer.

After a brief introduction to the staff and our fellow rafters, we got our suits and a room to get changed. Then we climbed into a beat up Land Rover Defender to bring us to the starting point of our rafting experience. The pick-up quickly went off road and what followed must have been the most bumpy ride of my life. Together with our British companions, we had a great laugh about it. We learned that they were there for the youngest girl her 18th birthday. The mom, the mom’s friend and that young girl had traveled to Montenegro to do some extreme activities to “toughen up the little princess’. Brilliant!

An hour later, we were parked along the banks of the Tara River, right on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina (on the right side) and Montenegro (on the left side). Our instructor gave us some tips and not much later we were all aboard and hitting the rapids. Fourteen kilometers to go, let’s do it!

As winter was approaching, the water wasn’t that wild anymore, so we didn’t have that many scary rapid moments. For that you have to go visit this time of the year (spring). But this gave us more time to enjoy the environment and the beautiful autumn colors all around us. I wouldn’t have minded a little bit more of a thrill but as it was my first time rafting, I’m glad I got eased into it.

Halfway through, we stopped to go check out a little waterfall. Nothing too impressive, but nice to just catch a break from all the paddling.

Little after 1pm our raft arrived back at the resort. Also thanks to our lovely company we truly had a blast. For the real adventure seekers, end of October might be a bit too lame, but I loved the experience. After a quick shower the staff brought us back to the border and we crossed back to Montenegro. We returned back to Zabljak via the north part of the Durmitor Ring, enjoying the sunset as we went.

While we didn’t have the full rapid rafting experience through the Tara Canyon, we had an amazing time and first taste of rafting on the Tara River. And that’s all that matters!

♥ Ellen

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