Explore the Natural Beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Welcome to 2026, a new year. I thought to share some of my experience and reflections on the various places I have been to. I hope that it will help inspire you to experience nature yourselves wherever you can.

I begin this year with a post on Bosnia. I had the pleasure of visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, though mainly on the Bosnia side last September. The beauty of its land, especially its natural environment, really struck me. It reminds me of Scotland except that the mountains are covered in trees and rather dry. It is partly due to the similar flora that I managed to identify. For example, their pine tree has similar needles as the Scottish pine. And like the Scottish pine, their mature shapes can be really dramatic.

To contextualise this post in the framework of the four principles, it is based on the second principle of observation. I leave you with some videos and photos I took of the various experiences I had there.

Jajce

One of the places I visited was Jajce where they had a waterfall in the middle of the town centre. In fact, the waterfall is where two rivers that flows through Jajce meet. It is a reminder to me that human settlements are often located beside or near rivers. The main reason is that the river is a source of water which is essential for all living being. The second reason is that the rivers were the main transport network for much of human civilisation till very recently.

In Jajce, a quaint little town, the river runs right through it and culminates into a waterfall. Here is a video I took of the waterfall.

Lukomir

I joined a 5 day hiking tour where we explored Lukomir, the highest village in Bosnia, and its surrounding area on the first day.

It was a two hour drive over dry, rocky terrain. Below is a video of the last part of the ride into Lukomir. It was taken just outside of the village.

I was on a tour and we drove up to Lukomir, the highest village in Bosnia, from where we stayed. The rocky terrain was emblematic of the mountains in this part of Bosnia. The video shows the five of us on top of the jeep, enjoying the breeze.

While Lukomir is quite well-known, it is actually not very touristy. Most of the people living there are the elderly. Our tour guide mentioned that the villagers refuse to abandon the village and so live there during the non-winter months. Given the harsh conditions, I admire the tenacity of the villagers. We met an elderly couple who used to be shepherds in the surrounding mountains. Even though they are over 90 years old, they are still sprightly and cheerful. Simple life, content with what they have and in touch with nature. That’s their recipe for a healthy happy life.

Village of Lukomir from the mountain behind the village

A bathtub converted to catch rainwater, overlooking the mountain range

A traditional house behind our guide

Mountain range behind the village

The green roof at the centre of the photo (but at the periphery of the village) is the local mosque.

Nature

On various occasions on the tour, I have encountered so many different animal. Below are some of the ones I managed to take a photo of. From left to right,

an orange kitten
a hawk sitting on a grave
a black dog
pigeons behind the water fountain

It was also such a joy to see an eagle when we hiked in the Prenj mountain range. But no encounter so special as the wild horses, as shown in the video below. It was a chance encounter as we descended from Lukomir. The two most friendly horses are a white horse without his/her right ear and a brown horse with black mane. Seeing them peacefully grazing in the wild makes me realise how much our world have lost its natural beauty. There are very few places where our fellow creations can roam in their natural setting.

On the way back from Lukomir, we had a chance encounter with the wild horses. The horses, even though they were wild, were very friendly and allowed us to approach them. That was magical, being up close with these beautiful ones.

My fascination with mushrooms infected my fellow travellers who helped me keep a look out for different types of fungi. I don’t know their names but there were several unique fungi that we discovered as per the video below.

Ah, I love fungi and here are some interesting fungi in Bosnia.

Neretva River And Prenj Mountain Range

Rafting down the Neretva, I was awed by the pristine waters and almost untouched flora and fauna there. The power of the water was to be respected as our guide expertly sailed us safely through the rapids.

I did my first river rafting down the Neretva and it was fun. The Neretva river ran through a canyon so we were basically walled in on both sides. It was spectacular. The water was crystal clear and cold. I could feel it when I went for a dip at one of the stops.

We did some wild camping, enjoying the Prenj mountain range. While hiking to one of its peaks, I spotted an eagle as mentioned above. Unfortunately, it was too far away for my camera. Heading into the valley, we set up camp and had a short stroll to one of the best viewing points in the valley.

Being able to camp out in the Prenj mountains away from all the light pollution is amazing. My camera is rubbish at night but a fellow camper shared her photos with me. Below are the amazing photos she took of the milky way. We spent hours trying to identify the various constellations.

The milky way

Thousands of stars shining down on us

Such vibrant colours

Mostar

And it is always lovely when cities grow around rivers and that the human architecture reflects its natural beauty. Those who first designed Mostar understood this need for balance and harmony with nature.

It was therefore quite concerning when I was told of the extensive timber harvest. It had been going on for years and no plans to replace them. Such exploitation of nature is not sustainable. I hope that the government of Bosnia will enact laws to stop such exploitation.

on This Earth