Walking with wolves

by Milica Ilic (Serbia)

A leap into the unknown Serbia

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Let me tell you from the start that this is no ordinary travel story. No exotic places to see, no people to meet and definitely no expensive dinners to eat. For me this day was one of the best in my life. My heart was beating like it wanted to grow it‘s own legs and run faster than me. Actually it was kind of scary for a city girls like me and my sister, who made me company. Our story begins in a little state of South Eastern Europe, Serbia, which is mostly known for it‘s food, people and night life, rather than nature. But, nature in Serbia is something I can‘t describe. You can live a whole life without crossing the border and there would be plenty of mountains, rivers, lakes and forests to see. That is how the two of us decided to meet more of our beautiful country. We agreed to visit Suva planina mountain. Being somewhat experienced in mountain hiking, I made a whole plan of our trip. First we took a night bus to nearby town, Nis, followed by eating sweets for breakfast while waiting for the morning bus to Gornja studena village. Here was the starting point of our tracking tour towards highest peak of Suva planina, Trem (1810 m). Sun was just coming up and the only thing you could see were mountain peaks breaking the clouds. Nothing else but silence. Just when we actually entered the forest after only 5 km of walking, we were already tired but still rocking. Suddenly I realized that there are many dogs-like tracks. The more we walked, more I started paying attention to them. They were everywhere. And they were organized in a way which suggested animals running down from higher grounds. That couldn’t be the dogs, right? Ok. It could be dogs. Everything is fine, you’re just tripping. So we kept on walking. Each with the same worries, not saying a word. I was so aware of my surroundings I started imagining wolves’ from the fallen tree trunks. But, fear have made me think very fast and rationally. If those are wolf traces, how can we protect ourselves? They attack as a pack, would it be the best to stand back to back if they approach? Maybe I use my deodorant and spray it in their eyes? Will that hurt them badly? We found long wooden sticks and carried them with us as the first aid. My stick was so helpful on icy cliffs when our shoes were slippery, I can’t imagine climbing on a mountain again without one. But, back to the story. Finally, we’re out of the forest. In the open field we can actually breathe. As we walked, talked, enjoyed the journey, slowly we forgot all the fears. Six hours later there it is. The highest peak. You wish for it so much, you keep on going against everything, even your own body and just like that, when you become dull, you’re there. My sister sat right there to rest while I took my time to absorb every detail. And details, there were. Strait beneath us I heard a haul. Following it’s direction I spot two wolves running towards it, very fast, down the cliff. My heart probably stopped a little. Yes, there are wolves and no, you weren’t hallucinating all this time without a reason. The panic that overtook us was huge. She wanted to call mountain rescuers, how stressed she was. But, I new that it would take them hours to come here, if they would actually acknowledge our reasons. So I persuaded her to continue as we did until now. You are unable to think about anything else but survival. Every sense is sharpened, every sound is an alarm, every shadow is a potential enemy. I never felt this alive and more aware of nature, selection, life and death. We managed to come back to the village just after the sunset. Hauls of wolves accompanied us till the very end. As we realized how lucky we were, how beautiful life is, how this experience showed us the true face of nature, neither good or evil, we slept like babies.