Dinosaur remains in Istria

We’ve been enjoying the wonderful spring weather in Istria, relaxing, visiting the stunning Limski Kanal/Lim Fjord. But after our outing to Dinopark, the Featherless Fossils appear to have got their teeth into the dinosaur theme. After hearing that fossils and footprints had been found in Istria, they decided to set off on a further search of dinosaurs.

First stop was the quaint, ancient town of Bale. Built around what looked to me at first like the remains of an ancient Roman amphitheatre, this huge dip in the ground is actually a dolje/doline, basically a big sinkhole in the karst terrain.

The Bale tourist office and exhibition centre, Ulika Multimedia Centre, had a wonderful exhibition of old photos and postcards from the area. It looks like nothing much has changed in the past 100 years or so – apart from the fashions.

And upstairs, the Oldies hit the jackpot – a fascinating display of dinosaur remains with plenty of information on the various species and where in Istria the remains were found. 130 million years old, but still scary!

I felt more at home in the exhibition of birds native to the Bale area, put together about 100 years ago by an enthusiastic local ornithologist. I spotted a familiar face or two there…

Spurred on, the Dynamic Duo then decided to set off in search of locations where dinosaur remains were found. Apparently there’s a ‘Paleo Park’ near Bale and not far from where dinosaur fossils had been found underwater. His Lordship screeched around a corner at one point, claiming it was signposted that way. Herself concurred, saying she hadn’t seen the name on the sign but there definitely were a couple of drawings of dinosaurs on it. And so we followed a seemingly endless, narrow and barely passable gravel road until we arrived at the… ‘Palud Wildbird Reserve’.

His Lordship sheepishly admitted that he had only been able to make out the first three letters of the sign, so had assumed it read ‘Paleo Park’. And – I should have known, sure she’s as blind as a bat – Her Ladyship’s ‘dinosaurs’ turned out to be a couple of flying geese. A wild goose chase indeed!

It seemed that, unless the Loch Ness Monster’s Croatian cousin were to emerge from the lake, we’d been seeing no more ancient giants that day. I didn’t mind one bit. I thoroughly enjoyed our walk in this fascinating natural setting. Apparently, the originally freshwater lake and swamp is now fed through channels from the sea. The mix of fresh and sea water makes for an interesting mix of wildlife, especially as the lake grows and shrinks with the seasons from 18 hectares at its largest to only 1-2 hectares at the height of summer. Well over two hundred different bird species have been spotted here. In keeping with our luck that day, we spotted only one. But supposedly quite a rare one: the black-winged stilt. There were quite a large number of them noisily going about their business.

His Lordship managed to get a couple of good snaps of the stilts at the observation point. Her stubby Ladyship … well, she could have done with a pair of stilts herself to reach the viewing slits in the first place!

Over the next couple of days, when most normal tourists were enjoying themselves, relaxing on the beaches or sipping cool drinks, the Oldies set out again in search of traces of dinosaurs. And believe it or not, they eventually found that infamous Paleo Park.

This, however, turned out to be a new dinosaur-themed pool complex within the Mon Perin campsite. It certainly looked like a fun, educational and relaxing place to spend the day, but, alas, not quite what the Oldies had in mind.

Undeterred, the Dynamic Duo covered several more kilometres on foot under the scorching sun, clambering over rocks along the coast near Barbariga in search of the spots where dinosaur bones had been discovered.

It must have been a combination of wishful thinking and an overactive imagination and that had Herself declaring that this indentation in the rock might have been a dinosaur print. Right. I knew her eyesight was bad but this was the last straw! But then, in the crystal clear water, my beady bird’s eye spotted what could easily be taken for a dinosaur bone…

Oh dear, this dinomania must be contagious. Even I’m starting to see things now!