Mon, 25^th April

The crossing from Korcula to the island of Lastovo takes three and a half hours. It is the most westerly inhabited island of all those in the area and was a base for Tito during World War II when he was the leader of the communist partisans. The land is little touched by any signs of cultivation and there are no abandoned terraces. We see a few goats roaming on the hillside but little other sign of life either human or animal. The sea is clean and clear and, where there is shade, colourful yellow sea anemones and brick-red algae bloom. The overcast, chilly day does not inspire us to film much although we admire the pristine maquis covered hillsides and the forests of Aleppo pine higher up the slopes.

Apparently the last recorded case of vampirism in Croatia happened on this island. In 1737 there was an outbreak of a deadly diarrhea that the locals blamed on vampires.

Tuesday, 26^th April

We woke to a dull and overcast day also cold with no sunshine to warm our bones.

There is little to see or film on this strange island of Lastovo. The guide book tells us that there are many raptors here but we have not seen any. The bay is surrounded by wooded hills with a few modern houses clustered around the quay.

We take off in the tender to explore a sinister looking bay with the remains of watchtowers and abandoned industrial buildings. It must have been a secret naval base under Tito; the island was closed to visitors until 1988. The caved-in roofs and the abandoned tunnels dug deep into the hillside are eerie and a bit scary. Inside the well-made tunnels are many long-legged cockroaches that look a bit like spiders. Captain Tim was rather scared by them but then he is a bit scared of the land but fearless at sea.

Viktor tells us that his grandfather, still alive aged 95, was imprisoned by Tito for seven years just for daring to express the mildest criticism of the regime. He spent the time breaking stones on some offshore island but still doesn’t know which one. He was blindfolded and just shipped away. The West’s view of Tito as a benign old communist at odds with the horrid Stalinists is far from the truth. His may have been a less stringent form of communism economically but it was just as cruel and ruthless a police state as any of them. His image was ameliorated by film of this avuncular gentleman entertaining gullible Heads of State and film stars such as Bob Hope on his luxury private islands of Brioni and Sveti Stefan.

Bruce is running out of food, so he is glad we are heading back to civilization tomorrow.