ZalaZ » individual – tailored tour

True hiking paradise

Vlatko — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:23:02 +0000

In Oct/Nov 2019, Barteld Schutyser with his lovely family made a hiking tour in south of Montenegro, tailored by their preference:

Vlatko and all people in his network are professional, kind, reliable and discreet.
They are very proud about their country and rightfully so, it is a true hiking paradise but on a human scale.

Recommendation from Nancy, Ron and Gillian

Vlatko — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 22:04:41 +0000

In early Spring 2018, Nancy, Ron and Gillian had a tailored guiding tour in Mediterranean part of Montenegro. Here are Nancy’s impressions:

My family of three has just returned from a hiking/driving journey in Montenegro, organized by Vlatko Bulatović of ZalaZ and his colleague Dare. We explored the areas around Stari Bar, Skadar Lake and Kotor Bay. If you would like to experience a country of extreme natural and unspoiled beauty, I cannot make a higher recommendation. Vlatko navigates his native country well, with expertise and grace – the trails, the history and culture, and the food. He is extremely fit and he is certainly not old in the literal sense, but he is an old soul with a profound appreciation of the spirit of the place. Further, he is thoughtful and perceptive. He will tailor your itinerary to suit your needs and provide many rich experiences along the way. Montenegro is a fascinating and enchanting place and Vlatko provides a perfect introduction.

Track the Roots /Durmitor-Tara extended/ tour

Vlatko — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 00:49:54 +0000

Gesa and Matthias from Germany did the self-guided trek in south&north of Montenegro, September 2017. Here is their feedback:

Dear Vlatko,

our Montenegrin adventure was great fun. We enjoyed the hiking very much. All the sections had a proper distance and were very scenic. So we did never get bored. Some ascents were quite demanding, but it was always worth the effort. And we enjoyed the hard parts just as much as the easy ones. We liked best the great variety of landscapes along the track: Leading us from the Bay of Kotor up to Jezerski Vrh an then down to Lake Skadar within only 6 days was really amazing. And you did also pick very cozy accomodations. Each of them was a surprise to us. Because they were all special in their very own way. And all of our hosts did a great job as well. To sum up, we have to say that we liked EVERYTHING!

Nevertheless, we would like to point out some things that were our top favourites:
Best hiking section: Kotor-Njegusi
Best accomodation: Mr. Tatar at Ceklin (see attachment)
Best food: Restaurant at Karuc
Best transfer: our boat trip on Lake Skadar (our captain did a very good job)

And it was also good to go to Durmitor after doing Track the Roots. That way we did experience a totally different part of Montenegro. And the rafting at Tara was a highlight of our trip. There happened to be a kayak festival at Camp Grab at that time. That was very entertaining.

I believe you prefer an accurate feedback, so appart from all the positive things I would like to tell you some minor drawbacks that we did not like so much: Our accomodation at Njegusi was comfortable and beautifully located. We liked them very much, but our mattrasses were a disaster. You could feel every single spring.
The second thing I have to mention is our room at Camp Grab: We did not stay in one of the wooden cabins, but in a double room. Unfortunately there was no heating. We were told that electricity was too weak for heating. And it did get freezing cold at night. Our room was at a shady spot so it did not heat up during the daytime as well. Our window did not close properly, so it was almost like camping. Unfortunately we were not prepared for camping. So our last two nights were a bit extreme.

But nevertheless our trip was very, very good. And we are very happy that we entrusted you with the arrangements. You did a great job. Thank you!

Best regards
Gesa & Matthias

We had fun!

Vlatko — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 00:33:45 +0000

Frode and Lori did a tailored hiking tour in north of Montenegro, accompanied with our guide. Their feedback is below:

My wife and I used Zalaz, specifically its founder Vlatko Bulatovic, to help us organize a guided 5-day hiking trip in the mountains in the northern part of Montenegro in August 2017.

They provided us with a perfect trip for us. They chose our guide – he spoke perfect English and was an experienced mountain guide. The trip was arranged based on our wishes and the great suggestions they had, so we got a tailor-made trip. They arranged everything: the overnight stays in mountain cabins, the places to visit, where to walk and they listened to check our fitness level and general experience in mountain hiking.

Their suggestion took us to interesting parts of a beautiful landscape, with very little (or no) mass-tourism, most days we were all by ourselves on the paths and only saw other people in the evenings when we stayed in mountain cabins. The cabins were great (with one uninteresting exception) and the food was very tasty and definitely plentiful!

We will be back and use their services again!

Best regards from Austria

Vlatko — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 17:45:27 +0000

Christa and Marcus from Austria asked for a guided hiking tour in Montenegro. In September 2015 they had experienced it:

Wer fast unberührte Natur und Bademöglichkeiten sucht, viele verschiedene Landschaftstypen auf kleinstem Raum schätzt, ist in Montenegro richtig.

Wer einsame Wanderungen liebt und wer genießen will, ohne sich um Taxitransfers und Wegverlauf kümmern zu müssen, dem sei ein Guide empfohlen.

Wer dies alles ohne organisatorischen Aufwand und ohne Sprachprobleme genießen will, und einen guten Einblick in die Kultur des Landes gewinnen will, sollte bei Zalaz buchen!

Ein Traumurlaub!

Christa und Markus, Österreich

c.meliss@tsn.at

Hiking tour in Kotor area

Vlatko — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 12:55:36 +0000

After trekking with his wife and 2 friends in April 2015,
Rodolphe Sepulchre from Belgium wrote:

Dear Vlatko,

Our stay in Kotor was a unique experience, not just because of the stunning nature around but above us because of a guide who proved to be much more than a guide. Thank you for taking such good care of us and our best wishes for the continuation of your great project; The movie /www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx44n3cQjWc/ is very nice and I will forward the link as much as I can.

Best regards, Rodolphe

r.sepulchre@eng.cam.ac.uk

We will be back!

Vlatko — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 03:52:00 +0000

In August 2013, Mieke and Roland Straetmans hiked in Montenegro:

Thanks to the program Vlatko made for us, we discovered 4 different faces of beautiful, intriguing Montenegro.

Our journey started at Skadar Lake. We spent a day on the lake with Sasja and his fantastic wooden boat. At noon we had a fine lunch at Karuc, where we met the Macedonian ambassador in Paris and had a refreshing swim (the water of the lake is very surprising: warm on the surface, cool at the feet!).

Our next stop was the little village Ceklin, in the wine and honey region where we stayed three days in the holiday house of Balsa. Balsa is the perfect host: together we discovered the village and the region (even the nightlife!), he told us what to visit in the old capital Cetinje, we talked a lot about politics and the complicated history of Montenegro, had fun, and on top of that he’s a very good cook, he prepared several typical dishes.

With pain in the heart we said goodbye to Balsa and Ceklin, our next basecamp was Ivanova Korita, a mountain resort in the Lovcen national park. Here our hiking program started. After filling our water bottles at the thermal source of Ivanova, we discovered the Lovcen region. One of the walks was to the mausoleum of Njegos, high on a mountaintop. After a nice walk the view from the top on the Kotor Bay was amazing.

Kotor Bay was the last stop in our Montenegro trip. We had a very impressive walk along an old mule road from Krstac-pass to the city of Kotor, that we entered through a hole in the old city walls. Kotor is a busy city, with a nice traffic free center. After checking in in hotel Conte (fantastic, with airco!) in peaceful Perast, we admired the Venetian buildings, the view over the Kotor Bay and enjoyed the tasteful seafood.

It was very hot in Perast, so we left early in the morning for our hiking tours. We will always remember the Austro-Hungarian military footpaths (since 1880) through the wilderness and extraordinary karst formations, the most beautiful trail we ever walked! (And the hottest, afterwards they told us it was over 40 degrees)

Montenegro was a perfect experience: a fantastic tailormade program, very punctual transfers (we never had to wait a minute, on the contrary we made some drivers/boatmen wait for us), very nice and interesting people who like to talk about politics, history and nature just like we do, good food and drinks (niksicko, wine: white Krstac and red Vranac pro corde, Rakija and refreshning lemonade) and so on.

Once again many thanks to everyone we met and who made our stay unforgettable.

WE WILL BE BACK!

Roland and Mieke – Mechelen – Belgium