12. Montenegro Scientific Expedition (July 2024)
This was a superlative expedition organised by Taxon International B.V. (Netherlands) in search of known and new species in the largely unexplored river, caves and terrain along the 25km long 600m deep ravine known as the Komarnica River Canyon, before a dam is built for a new hydroelectric station:
EXPEDITION PRICE €2500pp
Included in the price:
Domestic travel from Fobra Hotel in Podgorica to Donja Brezna, and back to Podgirica airport
Tuition on sample collection, preparation and DNA analysis
Study instruments such as microscopes
Hands-on field research & lab work accompanied by expert scientists
All requisite research materials
Equipment such as caving helmets, kayaks and full wet suits
Lectures by experts in their fields
Comfortable beds in a Donja Brezna Etno Eco-village bungalow (double beds, two people sharing)
All meals at Donja Brezna and in the field
INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS
Austrian Airlines from London Heathrow (LHR) T2 via Vienna, £468.49pp
Flight Date from to Departure Arrival Class Hold Cabin
OS452 21 Jul 24 LHR T2 Vienna Intl T2 09:05 12:20 Economy 23kg 8kg
OS727 21 Jul 24 Vienna Intl T3 Podgorica Golubovci 12:50 14:10 Economy 23kg 8kg
OS728 30 Jul 24 Podgorica Golubovci Vienna Intl T3 14:55 16:15 Economy 23kg 8kg
OS455 30 Jul 24 Vienna Intl T3 LHR T2 17:15 18:40 Economy 23kg 8kg
WARNING
Austrian Airlines (AA) and Vienna airport (VNE) are the worst imaginable combination for connecting flights. AA offered flights with impossible times between connections: just 30 minutes outgoing and 1 hour on return, far too short given the vast distance between arrival and departure gates. It was my fault not to notice this disparity but AA should not have combined these flights in the first place.
The gates were at opposite ends of the airport and despite it being a connecting flight with the same airline, we again had to go through security, in my case necessitating removing my coat and bumbag, my watch, 2 belts from two pairs of trousers (no room in my hold rucksack), pulling the outer ones off together with my mountaineering boots, before reversing the procedure. Both times the gate printed on our AA boarding pass at the preceding airport was wrong, and the sparsity of boarding information displays at VNE did not help.
The majority of passengers arriving on our flights to VNE were for connecting flights and were it not for a quick escape through a side door to gates D & G, we would still have been in the huge queue long after our flights left. There is a shuttle, but no signs to it, and we ended up having to run a good quarter mile, only saved on the outgoing flight by the pilot waiting for us, which delayed the entire flight by another hour for a new take-off slot. If AA and VNE had their acts in order this could have been avoided.
Rule of thumb: allow at least TWO HOURS between connecting flights at VNE.
INSURANCE
For insurance I used Sports Cover Direct with the following options:
Abseiling, Caving, Climbing with ropes &/or guides bolted, Gorge walking, White watersledging, riverboating, river surfing grade 4/5 water; effectively all sports in insurance group 6 and below.
The cost of 10 day single trip insurance for 2 people was £215.
PODGORICA AERODROME TAXIS
Taxon recommended the following taxi companies for transport from the airport:
City Taxi +382 20 282 300 or Red Taxi montenegro +382 67 319 714.
However it was well over 30°C when we arrived and not wishing to hang around we took the first taxi we saw that quoted us €15, the limit we set ourselves after researching online before leaving the UK.
HOTEL FOBRA
Taxon said they picked up participants solely from Fobra Hotel at 9am the next day, so I reserved a
room for two with breakfast: €74.80 (~£64). Payment was taken on arrival. https://hotelfobra.com/
Address: Hotel Fobra, Pete Proleterske Brigade 19, Podgorica, 81000, Montenegro, Phone +382 206 87 710.
The receptionist went out of her way to help. There is a refrigerated drinks machine in the foyer!
ITINERARY
Montenegro time; British Summer Time (BST) is one hour behind Montenegro
Basic schedule for a day:
08:00 - 09:00 Breakfast
09:00 - 12:00 Morning workshop in the field
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch (in the field)
14:00 - 18:00 Afternoon workshop (lab or field)
19:00 - 20:30 Dinner with report of the day's activities and revised plan for the next day
20:30 onward Start of evening activity
Itinerary Summary (subsequently modified according to the previous day's work/discoveries):
Some activities were optional and distributed to groups of different people at their choice.
Separate groups were also offered for more and less physically challenging environments.
Monday 22 July (Day 1)
09:00 Pick up participants from front of Hotel Fobra in Podgorica.
11:00 Arrival at Etno Eco-Village in Donja Brezna
12:00 – 13:00 Setting up the lab
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch
14:30 – 15:30 Introductory lecture by Iva Njunjic and Jelena Popovic
17:00 – 19:00 Short walk in the area on foot from the accommodation,
Setting up mist nets for bats with Stanimira Deleva
19:00 - 20:30 Dinner
Evening activity: Capturing and identifying bats
Tuesday 23 July (Day 2)
09:00 – 17:30 Into the canyon on the main trail (everyone)
Setting up the traps (Iva Njunjic, Menno Schilthuizen) on different elevations
Dendrochronology workshop by Jelena Popovic (team divided into 3 groups)
Collecting deep soil traps from the scree
Evening lecture: How to be an invertebrate by Menno Schilthuizen
Wednesday 24 July (Day 3)
09:00 – 17:30 Visit to Ice Cave
Collecting deep soil traps from the scree
Setting up traps in Dragaljica cave
Collecting suitable beetles from the river
Evening lecture: Cave fauna by Iva Njunjic
Evening activity: Night 'hunting’ with UV light
Thursday 25 July (Day 4)
09:00 – 18:00 Komarnica kayaking with 8 stops to set baited pitfall traps in the canyon
09:00 – 13:00 Exploring and setting up the ropes in a vertical cave
Lab work sorting specimens from deep soil traps
Searching for new caves in the area
14:00 – 18:00 Same workshops as in the morning (groups switch)
Caving training
Evening activity: light trapping
Friday 26 July (Day 5)
09:00 – 18:00 Trekking from Donja Brezna to Mokro & searching for caves, whilst sampling and
documenting invertebrates en-route
Collecting traps in Durmitor and collecting snails in Dobri Do
Evening lecture: The ecology of bats by Stanimira Deleva
Evening activity: Night 'hunting’ with UV light
Saturday 27 July (Day 6)
09:00 – 18:00 Komarnica kayaking with 8 stops to collect traps laid on previous visit
09:00 – 14:00 Visit to Ice cave; cave photography
Collecting pitfall traps previously laid in the canyon
14:00 – 18:00 Lab work; caving & ropework training
Evening lecture: Freshwater beetles by Hendrik Freitag
Evening activity: Capturing and identifying bats
Sunday 28 July (Day 7)
09:00 – 18:00 DNA workshop (first group)
Lab work
Visit Dragaljica cave to pick up previoulsly laid traps
Searching for new caves or exploring previously found caves
Evening lecture: Isopods and millipedes by Maaike de Voogd
Evening activity: Light trapping and/or 'hunting’ with UV light
Monday 29 July (Day 8)
09:00 – 18:00 DNA workshop (second group)
09:00 – 14:00 Visit to the Ice cave,
Lab work
14:00 – 18:00 Finishing whatever is left
Farewell party: Team results and implications for the hydropower dam
Tuesday 30 July (Day 9)
Depart Donja Brezna at 10am, arrival at the airport in Podgorica around 12:00.
EXPEDITION TEAM
Prof. Menno Schilthuizen, co-organiser and leader:
Evolutionary biology, snails, beetles, general biodiversity, ecology; popular science author
Dr. Iva Njunjic, co-organiser and leader:
Evolutionary biology, cave fauna, beetles, conservation, biospeleology
Prof. Hendrik Freitag: systematics, freshwater taxonomy
Dr. Stanimira Deleva: bats, ecology, conservation, speleology
Dr. Angel Ivanov: speleology
Maaike de Voogd: arthropods
Jelena Popovic: botany, dendrochronology
Sotiris Kountouras: photography, general biology
Miljko 'Gigo' Bulajic: kayaking, trekking
LONDON - VIENNA - PODGORICA
Sunday 21 July
London Heathrow airport Terminal 2 gateside was an unexpectedly warm 26°C and distinctly humid 60% according to the RS mini hygrometer I carry on most trips (a habit formed in Borneo when I needed to check humidity before opening camera enclosures). Our flight left on time and we stepped out of the aircraft into baking 36°C Vienna where inaccurate information meant we barely made the onward flight.
Delayed by 1 hour, We finally arrived at Podgorica Aerodrome around 15:00 local time. The small airport is flanked by vineyards in the form of long rectangular green fields.
The Aerodrome is to the top of the centre photo:
To compound our earlier difficulties, my partner's hold luggage was absent which we reported; realising we had no address for Taxon in Donja Brezna, we could only leave their number. I measured 35°C in the airport and we quickly caught a taxi to Hotel Fobra. I don't have a mobile and my partner's battery had run out, the charger in her luggage and for a while we were unable to warn Taxon.
At the hotel we bumped into a couple of fellow Taxon explorers for a quick chat, but we were hungry and the hotel only does breakfast. The attentive receptionist gave us a street map with instructions to reach the restaurant area and we duly followed it, randomly settling on the 'Why Bistro' on 37 Njegoševa, a block from the water fountain plaza, only because we were tired. The waiter was very pleasant, prices were reasonable and the food was very generous albeit rather salty. The 14% Montenegrin Vranac red wine was amazingly good. On our return to the hotel the receptionist revealed she could charge my partner's Apple mobile and by 9:30pm we were able to message Taxon. Amazingly, her luggage arrived before we left the following day.
EXPEDITION LOG
Monday 22 July (Day 1)
The hotel A/C ignored its thermostat setting so it was a case of either sleeping in a refrigerator or an oven which we alternated through the night, disrupting our sleep. A filling breakfast appeared at 8am and it became apparent all 10 guests were for the Taxon expedition and we introduced ourselves. At 9am Menno and Iva appeared to take us to Etno Selo Eco-Village in Donja Brezna, accompanied by the cheerful driver of a minibus with a suspect clutch that rattled loudly, and a rear door that unlatched itself en-route but thankfully caused no grief. We arrived at 10:47 in gorgeous hot, bright, cloudless sun.
https://uk.hotels.com/ho1128877280/etno-selo-montenegro-donja-brezna-montenegro/
I would describe the Eco-village accomodation as a glamping cabin with a comfortable double bed and bathroom (shower) downstairs, and a sturdy ladder up to a very tasteful loft with an equally comfortable double and a further single bed.
I found a Gypsy (Spongy) moth, Lymantria dispar trapped in the loft along with an interesting fly (centre) and was amazed my new TG7 camera captured the underside of a fly through the glass:
We unpacked and at 13:00 headed to the restaurant at the top of the hill that defines the eco-village consisting of similar cabins and various small huts with dedicated exhibits such as a cheese museum and a sound museum. Lunch was roast chicken with potato, cabbage and bread.
We were introduced to the 'lab' which occupied a large room below the restaurant and consisted of tables with microscopes (left) and other equipment including the portable DNA/PCR setup (centre). Suspended secondary stage filters (right) were waiting for anything trapped in soil to fall into the pot of alc0hol at the bottom. Various trapping materials and chemicals were also dotted around,
In the lab at 14:30 accompanied by a small projector conveniently focused on what appeared to be a white tablecloth hanging from the ceiling rafters, Iva Njunjic and Jelena Popovic gave introductory lectures on the threat of the hydroelectric plant to the unique endemic wildlife of Komarnica canyon and Taxon's modus operandi to counter this, and how we could help. Taxon said their team members would be available at all times for any science related questions. Beetles feature largely in their interest and on being shown a photo of an irridescent type, I asked if they knew why the wing cases were dimpled, a feature I've often observed. Menno explained there are often hairs in the centre of the dimples that sense air currents or temperature. A question I'd long sought an answer to, delivered in almost an instant.
In the background I heard what sounded like distant thunder which became louder as time passed. When we emerged at the end I fully expected it to be raining hard but it was just cloudy and notably more humid.
Erratic thunder continued, still distant. Iva invited everyone for the planned introductory walk around the area but I declined as I was still tired by the faulty hotel A/C and retired to our cabin. My partner set out on the walk but after about an hour they were hit with a torrential downpour that left a large pile of hailstones on the grass around the cabin still visible several hours later, and my partner came back soaked (in all fairness we were warned the weather was unpredictable).
Dinner at 19:15 consisted of a mixed platter of chicken, sausage and large discs of unknown meat with skinned cucumber and tomato slices and bread. Others bought a lager from the bar to accompany their meal but I stuck to water as alcohol now severly degrades my sleep and I was cognisant of work the next day.
After dinner I emerged with Stanimira, the bat expert, to set up fine 'mist' nets to catch them. The trees were wet so I went back to the cabin for a waterproof coat. When I returned, the 20:20 sunset had passed and a dark cold mist began to hug the ground, making it difficult for insects to fly and hungry bats unable to feed on them. Stanimira showed us an ultrasonic transducer attached to her mobile, running an App that translated HF into visual bursts, and Angel had a similar attachment that down converted the HF to AF clicks. Both gadgets detected a few bats, but none landed in the nets. We did however find small ground beetles scurrying around. Menno explained they were feeding on ants, as the beetles' predators were absent at night.
Tuesday 23 July (Day 2)
07:15 Breakfast. Today was the first of many consisting of a generous omelette portion with thick pieces of salty smoked bacon and choriza? sausage, and three or more large dough balls tasting a little like fried bread accompanied by a communal dish of what I assume was feta cheese, large jugs of flowery tea and a large bowl of thickly sliced bread with small bowls of honey and what tasted like quince jam.
In the lab at 09:00 we learned two options were available to venture into the canyon: Eva would take those interested in a physically challenging route to collect insect traps laid before, and Menno would take the rest on a more gentle approach to lay new traps in the Komarnica canyon.
Left, a list describing lab items to collect to carry down for the traps.
I joined Hendrik's VW, following Menno's Nissan X-Trail to the canyon top.
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Our route started as a gentle stroll along a track, later reducing to a narrow path down ever steeper leaf and stone littered terrain. About two thirds down where tree cover was the most dense, I found myself perspiring excessively and measured 30°C with 62% humidity that soaked my shirt, although everyone else seemed fine. At 6'4" I find hills difficult and with poor balance, progress drops to a crawl.
After about 30 minutes we reached the ice-cold river at the bottom and took a breather. When we had all cooled down, Hendrik got to work collecting beetles from the river and Menno guided us up about 30m to a spot where he wanted the first traps placed.
Here he explained each trap in detail, and we set about laying them:
There were essentially three different types, each containing a small 1 to 2cm deep solution of convenient river water, a tablespoon of salt and a drop of liquid detergent to break the surface tension so any insect falling in would quickly drop to the bottom and drown.
The first was to trap insects travelling across the ground: a round plastic yoghourt pot about 120mm diameter and 100m deep, set into a hole we dug in the soil so its edges were flush with the ground. A metal mesh above held in place by skewers stopped larger creatures falling in, and a wooden lid secured at each corner by thin wooden stakes ensured rain would be kept out.
The second was a baited trap [no photos] consisting of a jam jar with holes in its metal lid below which a small piece of meat wrapped in pierced cling film hung, secured to the lid by thin wire. The jar was buried in the soil with the lid flush to the surface. A variant of this was buried in loose rock a foot or more below ground, with a string attached to indicate its presence.
The third trap consisted of wooden canes spaced at the back of three large rectangular plastic trays with cling film stretched across all canes so any flying insects hitting it would drop into the trays.
We also collected leaf litter in a 'litter shaker' that consisted of a long fabric tube with a coarse mesh halfway down and a sealed opening at the bottom. Once enough leaf litter, consisting of a 50/50 mix of top and lower litter, had been collected the operator vigorously shook the entire bag up and down to encourage any organisms to part from the litter and drop to the bottom of the bag. The empty litter above the mesh was then discarded and the process repeated. Finally the draw string at the bottom was released and the organisms dropped into a storage bag for secondary filtering in the lab.
Whilst all of this was going on, a curious 2cm slug landed on my hand from a tree above, and a small fly began to collect the salt that had built up on my other hand when I perspired on the walk down.
We laid multiple traps at three elevations, then returned to base and the lab, where Hendrik eagerly took to his microscope to identify and categorise tiny freshwater beetles he had collected. After dinner we again returned to the lab for the evening lecture by Menno, 'How to be an invertebrate', in which he described in detail insect types, the chronological tree of insect life, and their populations.
Wedneday 24 July (Day 3)
As with most days, there are options for us to assist the scientists. Today's options are to return to collecting deep soil traps previously left in the canyon scree; setting up new traps in Dragaljica cave which is more a big open hole than a cave; studying trees deep within the canyon, or helping Hendrik collect beetles from the river, which I chose. This option was also available yesterday, but I wasn't wearing the best choice of clothing should I have fallen into the freezing cold 10°C river. I particularly dislike cold wet feet!
I had however decided I wanted to do it, and this morning when I dressed I swapped underwear for Speedos and donned the knee length Sealskinz waterproof socks I had brought for kayaking.
We drove to a different spot above the canyon and made our way down as before. This time we parked the cars about 2km from the canyon top as rocks appeared on the track that we feared could damage the suspension and we emerged from the cars in 30°C sunlight with no shade. I had wrongly assumed we would follow the previous day's track that was shaded by trees and had left my Australian oilskin hat behind as I find it tedious to wear. Instead I borrowed a much lighter straw hat from Jelena, who drove the lead car with the tree team onboard. As we walked along the track we came across beautiful bright blue thistles and what I assume is a relative of the foxglove. The track rounded the first pinnacle and an opening appeared in the brush, through which we could see the valley and river below.
Once on the river bank, we rested as before and then the tree study group ascended slightly to take cylindrical core samples from nearby trees to study their physical history and Hendrik, myself and Aleks, a Taxon-sponsored student, waded across the river to search for beetles on the opposite bank.
Air temperature was a lovely 25°C and I had no qualms stripping off. Fully aware of my unsteady feet, I entered the water wearing just socks, Speedos and canvas trainers for grip, expecting to slip and end up in the river at any moment. Fortunately the riverbed was devoid of algae and the stones relatively stable. The crystal clear river was typically no more than a foot or two deep and the central current was less formidable than I feared, and I made it to the other side with unexpected rapturous applause from the tree team!
Earlier I got a little dig from another volunteer Rick who rightly pointed out the socks likely would not be long enough and I would still get wet feet (I did), but over time the trapped water warmed to my skin temperature and I was able to paddle around the river in relative comfort.
Another frustrating issue is my eyesight is not as good as it once was [see Health], as the beetles Hendrik was searching for typically measured no more than 1mm in length. He gave me a fine mesh net and explained the way to catch them was to disturb the riverbed, scoop up the resulting cloudy water and look for dots that moved. He demonstrated, popping them into a small plastic phial containing alcohol but if he had not identified the dots I still would not have known. I found this very annoying as up until a decade ago this would have been a trivial exercise. Now even with glasses, I could barely see them. Hendrik kindly added other life was of interest, so instead I set about searching for anything that moved that was as small as I could see, and I captured several beetles measuring around 2-4mm long that he later explained were diving beetles.
As we worked the river, the temperature slowly began to drop and by 2pm the sound of distant thunder became audible. By 3pm it had begun to spit with rain and Hendrik called off the river search partly because we thought it was going to pour down, but also because there were very few beetles to be found. He concluded this was due to the river being flooded up to 10m at times by the upstream existing dam.
The tree team wound up their measurements and coring (left), and we headed back to the cars.
On the way back Hendrik kindly stopped off at the only shop in the area, about 3km from the eco village. We were more curious than anything, as it was mentioned in the expedition description. It largely sold sweets, crisps, meat and booze. By then temperatures had again risen and its A/C was most welcome.
Dinner was 07:00; a dish called Kačamak, Turkish for 'Guilty pleasure':
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%C4%8Damak served with peeled cucumber and cold cabbage. I would describe the dish as resembling as a hot potato pie with a thin crispy outer shell, with a texture and flavour not that dissimilar to a Cornish pastie. A gooey pasta like bread dish accompanied it with a salty cheese and thick homemade bread.
Hendrick gave the evening lecture on beetles, which was very informative and went into great detail.
Thursday 25 July (Day 4)
Today we are due to kayak down the Komanica river and have been given packed breakfasts as our 07:00 start is before the restaurant opens. However the day started earlier than expected when at 02:30 my partner was violently sick. She went back to bed but at 04:30 was sick again. She had the same food as me and there was no sign of diarrhoea so we concluded it was likely some bug, but it was clear she would be unable to kayak, and we agreed she would spend the day in our cabin.
I left at 06:45 and joined the kayak group waiting outside the restaurant, informing them of her condition, and told a cool Menno I was crapping myself about the kayaking, as I'd never done it before and last night Iva had revealed it was going to be 25km. Unbeknown to me, it was a first for Menno too.
Again I joined Hendrik in his VW and he drove us to a spot above the canyon where we found kayak expert 'Gigo' Bulajic and companions, and a row of rolled up deflated kayaks, paddles and wet suits waiting for us on the grass.
I had brought a small 15L rucksack holding my water bottle but was told I could not carry it in the boat so reluctantly left it in the car. I retained my TG7 camera, to which I had fitted a lanyard.
The wetsuits consisted of an inner section with legs and a zip-up brace-like top, a separate outer zip-up top section, and neoprene boots with rugged outer soles.
We donned the suits, rolled the paddle up inside the kayak, and carried them in our arms as we set off down the same steep path we had followed on the first day.
I thought we looked a little like a medieval warriors dressed for battle.
It took a good hour to inflate the nine kayacs, starting with a small battery operated pump and finishing with a hand pump.
Whilst we waited I searched for bugs to photograph.
The young expert guide was first off in his kayak, followed by each of us in file, there being only a narrow section of rock from which to launch. Once we were all in the river the guides gave us a few words of wisdom before we were left to ourselves to survive the numerous small rapids along the river.
The river was quite low and on some of the smaller rapids were were forced to disembark and carry our kayak to deeper water. When this happened the amazing guides went out of their way to help. Concerned I might lose my camera if I capsized, the lead guide produced a carabiner hook to secure it to my kayak.
Above all, they kept a firm view of all of us the whole time and made sure we had fun, but were also safe. The leader also told me the route was actually only 12km, not that it made any difference.
Aware of my instability out of water, I learned to build up speed before shallow rapids and on most occasions this got me through them without having to leave the kayak. It was a while before I managed to hone my technique to face the bigger rapids head on but even then large rocks seemed to suck me in just as I thought I had safely set up a path to avoid them. I lost count of the number times I slammed into a large rock and then found myself going down the rapids in reverse, but I was not the only one.
By pure chance I managed to stay upright the entire time which we concluded was likly due to riding horses at the weekends, although I made a point of following the guides' advice to strap my knees into the harnesses provided at the side of the boat before each rapid approached (see video above left showing the guide doing exactly this before setting off). I was also given a more stable kayak to compensate for my long legs. Menno was less fortunate and had a heavy rucksack attached to the back of his kayak which destabilised it, accounting for his many wet transits. I thought this was a little unfair given it was also his first time in a kayak. Right: we were strongly warned not to lose our paddles, and Menno certainly kept a firm hold of his.
We stopped five times on our way, twice to place traps, stopping for lunch at the second, and three times for Hendrik to search for beetles (there were very few).
One of our stops was when we found a large wide stream of cold mountain water streaming into the left bank through dense vegetation. Understandably the water was very cold, but a welcome drink for me as we had been warned not to drink the main river water due to contamination from a village upstream.
Below: We passed one of Taxon's 'Malaise' flying insect traps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaise_trap
Close to the end we encountered a moss covered wall on the right bank with beautiful glistening diamond drops of falling water (top left in video).
Sadly this short video cannot do it credit, nor could my many photos capture the falling water.
Above right, The kayaking came to an end when were hailed by the skipper of a small boat with an outboard motor and a small ladder on its side, moored on the left bank. The guides paddled up to it, climbed the ladder, hauled up their kayaks and deflated them and we all followed.
The boat had brought the warm clothes we'd left in the return car, and everyone else now changed into them. I didn't because the only socks I had were Sealskinz which were wet through. A couple of days previously my mountain boots had scraped a lump of skin off my right foot and I didn't want to put on shoes without dry socks, so I stayed in my wetsuit and Sealskinz which due to the breeze from the boat was surprisingly chilly even at a measured 19°C.
We travelled downstream for about an hour until we came across the first road bridge which we passed below, then moored on the right bank. I quickly discarded the wetsuit and donned a warm shirt, and we all scrambled up to the road where a windowed van was waiting to return us to the eco village. I kept my Speedos and sealskinz on, and sat on my towel.
My partner had been in the cabin all day and had wisely refused food, but had lots of visits from people offering to help. It turned out five others had the same thing, including a kayaker, and the next day the lead guide caught it too.
Dinner was bell peppers stuffed with rice with potatoes, cabbage and bread as usual. There was no evening lecture as the kayaking took longer than expected and we got back later than planned.
Friday 26 July (Day 5)
Iva said there were two choices today: a 25km walk with her to look for insects and new caves, or a 1.5 hour drive with Menno to the remote katun-ljeljenak restaurant in Prirode near Piva-Trsa in Durmitor, where we would have lunch, and retrieve previously laid traps from three small caves.
https://www.booking.com/hotel/me/katun-ljeljenak-pluzine.hr.html
I liked the idea of looking for insects but my foot injury said otherwise so I took the road trip.
My partner was still a bit queasy and said she would try to work in the lab.
The route passed through Pluzine, a small picturesque town in the middle of an artifically flooded lake where we stopped for petrol and medicines for the ill, but the pharmacy was closed until the evening.
The lake is nestled between tall limestone peaks. Menno headed north along the long bridge on the E764 out of Pluzine and turned right onto the P14 that offers breathtaking glimpses of the town and the lake below as it traverses its tortuous route through scenic arches and curved tunnels with raw rock interiors.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pluzine,+Montenegro/@43.1705888,18.857866,687m/
After about 30 minutes we reached the homestead perched on a remote hill. It was too early for lunch so after greeting the owner we headed off for the first two traps. The first was about 500m away in a hollow in a rocky outcrop and had caught a large number of flies.
The second trap was a couple of hundred metres further on and was a deep trench behind a rock wall where a baited trap had been suspended. Unfortunately it was empty.
We walked back to the restaurant for lunch, which was a very tasty chicken soup followed by a local dish: minced meat in sour cabbage, chunks of meat on the bone, peeled potatoes and bread. A surprise discovery was wild blueberry syrup for mixing with water. I bought some for my partner, who loved it.
After lunch the final task was to visit a small cave at the back of the vast hill behind the restaurant, At the cave I changed into warmer clothes and donned my headtorch but it was tiny and looking at the sunlight poking through boulders on its roof, I would describe it more a fissure than a cave.
I found the richly diverse grassland around the cave teeming with insect life and captured the nearest.
We had taken butterfly nets and insect bags to scour the area for interesting life and now did this. The most rewarding was the insect bags which were brushed over the tips of the vegetation until they had collected a large number of wrigglies. We emptied them out onto a large white circular sheet so Menno and Nikola could search for anything of interest. When it came to my turn, by chance I scooped up a rare cicada that Nikola spotted with incredulity, but unfortunatly flew off before it could be captured.
I had found the approach to the hill around its flank taxing in the hot sun, but not as much as the return journey when Nikola decided he'd take a shortcut over its peak. We were rewarded by a beautiful panaroma that included Bobotov Kuk (it resembles a bean: Bobotov in Montenegrin; kuk means peak).
Below:
Freshwater pond Strange
Bobotov Kuk for Hendrik's succulent The best cake
mountain peak beetles? plants EVER!
Menno drove us back from the homestead along the same beautiful P14, again stopping at Pluzine for the pharmacy that was now open, buying re-hydrating powder for those that were sick, and I bought more plasters for my feet. Finally we headed back to Donja Brezna where I found my partner was feeling better, and had spent some of her day in the lab with Hendrik.
Dinner was a **very bland green soup, beef chunks, sliced tomato and cucumber, cooked peppers and thin crispy potatoes. There was also some sour cabbage mince left over from our lunch for the others to try.
**We have now begun to realise the soup is often intended to be used as a gravy for the meat.
Stanimira presented the evening lab lecture on the ecology of bats.
Saturday 27 July (Day 6)
Today started with another unwelcome event when my partner had an attack of diarrohea at 04:20. I gave her a couple of Immodium which seemed to do the trick because when I woke at 07:30 she was gone, off at last to join the kayaking, which she had long been looking forward to enjoying.
I had decided to spend today in the lab with Hendrik and when I arrived there after breakfast I found one of the other volunteers hard at work dissecting a beetle under a microscope. I tried sitting on the room periphery bench at the end of the table near a vacant microscope but the bench was too low for me.
I concluded I needed to be on a separate chair, the only one being in the centre of the long side of the table but there was no microscope there. My first faux pas was to reach for the nearest microscope that appeared to be unused, unwittingly picking up Hendrik's personal microscope, complete with a petri dish full of his precious hydrama beetles, which disastrously fell onto the floor. I watched horrified as Hendrik rushed over to rescue them, but managed to illicit a little chuckle from him when, apologising profusely, I offered him the headtorch and loupe I had in my pocket, adding 'I come with a repair kit'. Fortunately most beetles remained stuck to the dish and in his words, 'It could have been much worse'.
Henrik's first task for me was to empty a phial of collected beetles onto my own dish and sort them for him, which I did in tidy rows and which he seemed to appreciate. I found it hard work, as the alcohol the beetles were in caused them to be drawn towards each other much the same way the large rocks in the rapids had seemed to magnetically attract my kayak.
Persistence paid off as I began to learn new skills. Eventually Hendrik felt I had learned enough to dissect the genital tract from male beetles, which was the easiest way of identifying them. My partner said she had destroyed a beetle trying this and knowing how precious the beetles are to him, particularly after my first accident, I was reluctant to destroy another. I requested a large beetle to practise on, which he duly supplied, although at 3mm long it was a lot smaller than I expected. I need not have worried as the microscope made it very easy to work and all that was needed was a steady pair of hands and mine seemed ok, probably due to past experience of soldering tiny surface mount components onto circuit boards.
Hendrik explained the technique was to hold the beetle in tweezers perpendicular to the body, and prise off the last 1 or 2 body casing segments, whereupon the entire tract would fall out. My first attempt failed, but only because I took too long and the alcohol dried out. Forewarned, I was trusted to work on a real beetle and succeeded. I then learned how to glue the beetle, tail section and tract onto a piece of white cardboard measuring about 5mm x 12mm for presentation and storage in his collection.
By the end of the day I had sorted about 80 beetles, dissected four and mounted four or five. I know I was working at a crawl compared to Hendrik, but I hope my efforts were of some benefit, rather than just an activity to keep me occupied. Regardless, I enjoyed my day.
Dinner was a nice vegetable soup followed by mutton pieces with round crispy potato slices, sour cabbage, Feta cheese and bread. The soup was intended for the meat.
There was no lecture this evening. Instead around 20:00 Hendrik set up a multi-wavelength UV to IR light with a surrounding net beside a small pond about 100m outside the eco village.
Soon a huge number of flying insects were attracted to the net and he began to collect them in alcohol vials.
I also noticed a lot of flying ants.
Simultaneously Stanimira had set up bat mist nets and was capturing their signs on her mobile app. She later revealed five bats had been caught. but (left) first they had a little bit of fun.
I left approaching 21:00 as the kayak group and my partner were running even later than my group and were due back at 21:30, but I had our cabin key and was concerned she might need it before dinner, which had been kept warm for them.
She had no more problems and her kayaking was a much fun as ours.
Sunday 28 July (Day 8)
Breakfast was different today, perhaps because it is a Sunday. The table was laid with cereal bowls accompanied by a huge communal bowl of muesli, and what I assumed was porridge as an alternative. Having learned the hard way not to believe anything I saw on the table I took a very tiny morsel and discovered it wasn't porridge and it was very salty. In fact, it was white bread and salty cheese. I stuck with the muesli.
Today I attended the DNA course in the lab, which consisted of DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) sample isolation in the morning and in the afternoon, PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification of the DNA sample prior to the familiar DNA gel visualision on a MiniOne miniature electrophoresis unit:
https://theminione.com/electrophoresis-system/
Three of us attended the course which was directed by Menno. We each had a 10mm long sample taken from a large slug that had been collected from the canyon. My sample was numbered 195.
Slugs in ethahol
filled phials, from which samples were taken for DNA analysis:
The DNA processing table, from left to right, has:
a MiniOne PCR processor,
a MiniOne electrophoresis unit,
a liquid vortex inducer of the same name,
a centrifuge and
a selection of pipettes with thumbwheel precision to 1µL.
To the front is a selection of vial holders.
[I54] (below) lists the full procedure we followed to extract DNA. Briefly, the process was as follows:
First we had to crush our slug into fine powder. To do this we fabricated a tiny DIY pestle and mortar out of a small plastic vial (mortar) and a small plastic end tip (pestle) from a pipette. We melted the pipette tip in a flame and pushed it into the vial to seal its hole and create a good fit.
Next we dropped our slug sample into the mortar, added sterilised sand and precision quantities of 'RNase A' RNA release enzyme, neutral buffer solution and a little detergent to help break the tissue down, inserted the pestle into the mortar and rotated back and forth until a bubbly liquid was evident.
The tip of the vial was then placed in the Vortex to swirl and mix the liquid and then into the centrifuge to separate the solids. After this we used several chemicals, buffer solutions, heating and freezing and physical filters to isolate the DNA.
The cell count of our initial DNA sample was too low to register a result in the visualisation so it had to be increased using the PCR process, the same mechanism used to amplify infamous coronavirus samples before analysis.
This involved leaving our samples in their vials in a MiniOne PCR processor, which is essentially a small oven, exposing them to varying prolonged temperatures over a two hour period. Taken in sequence, each temperature illicits a chemical change that overall results in the amplification of DNA cells. Different sequences for different sample types are selectable under computer control, some of which are shown in the photo below left.
The process is entirely automatic; the five LEDS on the front of the unit starting from the left are: POWER, T1 to T3 intermediate temperature-based process indicators, and DONE. We left our samples in the PCR system over lunch and returned to collect them when the DONE lamp was lit.
Once the PCR was complete, a gel slice was prepared in its white plastic former, see instructions above far right, and Youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BIytMigOHc
The rectangular gel slice was placed into a plastic holder that fits into the electrophoresis unit. At each end of the former is a carbon rod. The gel on its holder was placed into the electrophoresis unit and the rods made contact with its voltage supply pins. A conductive liquid was poured into the unit to ensure an electrical connection was present across the gel between the two rods.
The MiniOne electrophoresis unit works by applying 40V dc across a gel into which a DNA sample has been placed. DNA is negatively charged and is attracted to the positive electrical terminal. If that terminal is at the opposite end to the samples, they are drawn through the gel towards it.
Our sample was chemically engineered to have 650 DNA base pairs which appear in the gel as a mass occuping the slot into which they are first placed.
A UV fluorescing dye added to the sample results in massed DNA base pairs becoming visible. In order to facilitate verification, a positive sample is added that should always appear at the same position as the samples, together with a negative sample that should never appear, and a marker sample.
The gel has 6 dips formed into it along the top, into which our three 3µL DNA + 2µL dye mixtures, positive, negative and marker samples were now placed. The electrophoresis unit includes a UV illuminator that excites the dye. An orange plastic cover filters the UV light from human eyes but has a hole at the top through which the gel may be observed or photographed.
The marker contained groups of DNA with pre-determined base pair lengths. There was one larger than our 650 base pair, one exactly with 650 base pairs, and three more of decreasing pair lengths.
The shorter the strand of DNA in the sample, the faster it travels through the gel. Thus as time passes for the marker, the shortest base pair sample will appear first and the increasingly larger groups of base pairs will appear in spaced groups thereafter. When fluoresced under UV light, they appear as bars (the shape of the dip in the gel where they were first placed). To prove our sample of 650 base pairs is legitimate, it must appear at the same point as the 650 base pair marker group appears in the gel.
The unit was switched on, placing 40V dc across the gel. We left the DNA to migrate through the gel and stopped it after about 10 minutes by which time 5 marker bars were visible, along with our samples.
See photos below right. The marker is the sequence of bars to the right. To the left are our sample bars 195 (mine), 196 and 197, followed by the positive sample which incorrectly is barely a dot but at least still present, all visibly aligned to the 4th marker bar (the bottom marker bar is the 1st). The negative sample was correctly absent. This combination validated our DNA samples.
An annotated description of the entire DNA/PCR process is given in [I50], below.
Dinner appeared to be ham hock with onions, spicy bell peppers and round sliced chipped potatoes. The bread was much better than usual, darker in colour with a nice flavour and crispy edges.
As the group chatted about their day in the restaurant area, I spotted Angel and Stanimira discussing a newly discovered cave that they had mapped out and was now displayed on a tablet. Angel explained he would port it to his PC where software could visualise it in 3D.
At 21:00 the evening lecture by Adrianna was about Montenegro turtles, lizards and snakes accompanied by detailed colourful photographs on the projection screen.
Left: as I returned to our cabin for the night, a pretty 2cm cockroach (Blattodea) scurried close to our door (the red bump at the end is apparently its egg sac).
Monday 29 July (Day 9)
This morning's breakfast was a little unusual. Cereal bowls were out but there was barely enough muesli to feed more than three people. Were they running out of food? Then a large plate appeared with what seemed to be rectangular slices of cake, which had us all excited until the inevitable happened: we discovered it was heavily salted. What is it with Montenegro and salt? We had to ask for a plate of ordinary bread to eat with the Feta cheese that also appeared, and I had to ask for tea as the usual communal jugs were missing, but a personal cup appeared instead.
At 09:00 we set off to visit the Dokova Ledenica ice cave:
https://www.google.com/maps/place//@43.1854791,23.5457078,12z?entry=ttu
In croatian, Dokova means 'Dock' and Ledenica ' means 'Icicle'.
I went in Adrianna's car followed by Sotiris in his. The route eventually lead onto a rough track but was well signposted. We left the cars at the end of the track and I measured 30°C with 27% humidity, another fine sunny day, but we were soon shaded by thick trees as we headed off the track into a hilly forest randomly strewn with the same white limestone rocks that envelope the cave.
Below left, Sotiris explains the dangers inside the ice cave and right, later launches a drone above it.
Below, flies outside the cave entrance Bull on road back Evening lecture
Dinner appeared to be wiener schnitzel with round sliced chips, tomatoes and cabbage.
Iva gave a talk on speleology, explaining how having first explored a cave as a teenager she became hooked and a fascination with cave life morphed her into the biospeleologist she is today.
Next, Maaika gave a lecture on her expert subject of millipedes, centipedes, woodlice and pseudo scorpions.
After the lecture, this being our last evening together, Menno gave an overall summry speech as a conclusion to the expedition, followed by separate speeches from Taxon members who revealed progress.
Winding down to a party atmosphere, Rick, who had been secretly collecting members' quotations over the course of the expedition, now revealed them to everyone's delight.
Tuesday 30 July
Breakfast was back to normal, although with fried eggs instead of an omlette, and the communal tea reappeared.
At 09:15 we said our final farewells and the bus ferried us back to Podgorica airport, arriving around 11:20, well in time. On arrival we saw many travellers outside in the baking heat. It was at least a little cooler inside and we waited there without mishap until our flight left at 14:55.
Overall, I would rate this as one of the best experiences I have ever encountered. Usually there is someone who doesn't get on, but everyone was really great, there was a tremendous team spirit, and we had a truly enjoyable time.
If anybody new reading this has finally made it this far, I wholeheartedly recommend you join a Taxon expedition!
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