Where in the world is this
dolphin-shaped lake?
Do you know where in the world this stunning dolphin-shaped lake is located?
I had the pleasure of cruising this dolphin-shaped lake during a vacation in this region back in 1990. The huge lake provides part of the border between two countries which, at the time of my visit, were not particularly friendly with each other. The tour included a bus ride from our hotel followed by a boat trip across the lake and lovely lakeside picnic.
Unfortunately for us, the weather was not co-operating that day, so we did not see these spectacular views in quite the same way as pictured here. As well as fog, we had rain, so it was damp and miserable most of the time (in more ways than one).
Not only did we have to contend with wet weather, we had to deal with another wet situation. When our bus stopped at the restaurant by the lake for a bathroom break before embarking on the boat cruise, the driver locked the door to the bus and disappeared. Due to a language barrier, we thought we were just stopping for a a break and lunch, and had left our belongings on the bus in front of our seat.
With a three-year-old and a 20-month-old baby in tow, you can imagine what was in the bags. Unable to locate the bus driver, we ended up on a 3 or 4 hour boat trip without coats for our children and no diapers for our toddler, resulting in a bit of a dilemma.
Fortunately for my baby who became rather damp and miserable himself on the boat ride, the tour guide was able to provide me with several paper napkins from the picnic baskets, which alleviated some of my his stress.
Despite our predicament, and the miserable weather, which cleared up long enough for us to enjoy our picnic, we had a lovely time and the views were gorgeous.
Want to know where in the world this dolphin-shaped lake is?
Find out here
This dolphin-shaped lake is Skadar Lake, also known as Lake Skutari, Lake Shkodër and Lake Shkodra, which is located in Skadar Lake National Park, in the Western Balkans. Skadar is the largest lake in southern Europe and lies between Montenegro (which at the time of my visit was part of the former Yugoslavia) and Albania. The lake gets its Albanian name, Shkodër, from the northern Albania city of the same name, although two-thirds of the lake is in Montenegro.
A karst lake, Skadar is located about 10 km from the Adriatic coast but roughly 42 km from Budva, which is where we were staying at the time of our boat trip on the lake. It is situated in a large valley (known as Zeta-Skadar Valley) and is surrounded by majestic mountains—in fact, the entire coastline, from Dubrovnik in Croatia, which we also visited, right through Montenegro to the Albanian border and beyond, has a stunning mountainous backdrop and is a fabulous journey. We took the bus to the Albanian border where the views are absolutely stunning.
If Montenegro is on your bucket list, you too can see this dolphin-shaped lake and the stunning Western Balkan mountains, as part of a 12-day adventure tour that winds its way through no less than five countries—Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Europe’s newest (official) country, Kosovo. Check out the tour details here, then contact Kaz Custom Travel to help you with all your travel arrangements, including booking your tour.