će te zaustaviti kad zategne konopac jer ne- ma kočnice na sajli. To mi je bilo veoma čud- no, nikad se nisam tako spuštao, uzdaš se u konopac da će izdržati, a ako se oklizneš ili pustiš ruke, zavisiš od čoveka dole. Malo je strašno, ali je sve dobro prošlo. A kad zastaneš i pogledaš oko sebe, obuz- mu te strahopoštovanje i divljenje prema pri- rodi, pitomoj i zastrašujućoj u isti mah. Oko tebe su visoki bedemi od stena i krša i osetiš se tako mali i nemoćan pred tom lepotom i čudom. A onda pobediš prirodu, nađeš svoj put. To je kao ozbiljan trening, kada si 100 odsto fokusiran na jednu stvar, kad uključiš mod za preživljavanje. Krene da šiklja adre-
nalin, a za njim stiže endorfin. Meni taj adrenalin prija, taj momenat kad savlađuješ strah. Nije poenta u tome da se ne plašiš, nego da strah pobediš, jer je to borba sa samim sobom. A ako u tome uspeš u toj divljoj, netaknutoj priro- di, da pobediš i sebe i nju, sve ti druge životne stvari i di- leme dobiju drugu boju i više ih se ne plašiš. Ako mogu ovo, pa mogu još 100 drugih stvari, ko kaže gde je granica. Na kraju ove priče izašli smo u jedan prelepi prirodni bazen. Vrištali smo i skakali od sreće, kupali se u toj mir- noj vodi, srećni što smo odneli jednu malu, ali za nas veli- ku pobedu. Što se mene tiče, ja sam zauvek inficiran, zalju- bljen u kanjoning i jedva čekam da sa prijateljima ponovo dođem. Neka se spreme taj strašni Nevidio i čudesno Me- đurečje jer nameravam da ih osvojim.
Mirna luka na kraju avanture
We can only go forward and for the next three hours we’re in the can- yon”. I look at the faces around me and we all gulp hard. But here we are, as the man says – there’s no going back. The canyon isn’t imme- diately terrifying, as it’s two or three metres wide. I’m fairly t and didn’t nd it exhausting, but walking over those slippery rocks is a real challenge. One careless step can see break your leg, and then it’s bye-bye; after you have to wait for the mountain rescue service to pull you out. And it’s also a bit weird to tread through that murky water without knowing what’s underneath. I mean, the water is clear and clean, but the person in front of you unsettles mud from the bot- tom, so things get even more complicated. Guides are situated at the head and the end of the column, communicating between them- selves constantly via walkie-talkie. You feel safe because of them, and yet your brain is still working feverishly. Otherwise, I have to emphasise in particular that you would have no chance in the canyon alone. It didn’t end well for some people who set o without a guide, so don’t go without them in any madness. In some places they literally represent physical aids, as they wedge themselves between the rocks, so you jump from their legs and move on. Apart from that, we descended a good portion of the canyon by rope, at a 90 degree angle to the smooth and slippery rock. You are tethered to that little cable, but the point is in the guide below, who awaits you and controls the descent. If you slip and lose your grip, he is the one who will stop you by tightening the rope, because there’s no brake on the cable. That was very strange to me, as I’d never de- scended like that before, relying on a rope to endure, and if you slip or release your hands, you’re dependent on a man below. That’s a little scary, but everything went well. And when you stop and look around yourself, you are over- whelmed by awe and admiration for nature that is both gentle and terrifying at the same time. Around you are high rock walls and rub- ble, and you feel so small and powerless in the face of that beauty and wonder. And then you conquer nature, nding your own way. It’s like serious training, when you’re focused a hundred per cent on one thing, when you switch on survival mode. Adrenaline starts to ow, and is followed by endorphins. I like that adrenaline rush, that moment when you overcome fear. The point isn’t to avoid being afraid, but to beat that fear, because that’s a battle with yourself. And if you succeed in doing that in this wild, untouched nature – in over- coming yourself and her – all those other issues and dilemmas in life get a di erent colour and you’re no longer afraid of them. If I can do this, I can do a hundred other things. Who says where the limit is? At the end of this story, we headed to a beautiful natural pool. We screamed and jumped with joy, bathing in that calm water, hap- py to have recorded a victory that may have been small but was great for us. As far as I’m concerned, I’m forever infected, in love with can- yoning, and I can’t wait to go again with my friends. Let that terri- ble Nevidio and wondrous Medjurje get ready, because I intend to conquer them.
A tranquil
Luka after his adventure
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