Over the last eight days it has been difficult to write about anything in the Balkan region not connected with the devastating floods that have occurred in this part of Europe. But for now I have decided to take this opportunity write more about the rivers of Montenegro as national treasures and resources. In the last two decades, Montenegro’s rivers have been used not only for the peaceful enjoyment of the beautiful nature that surrounds them, but also for extreme sports such as rafting. One example is the event Limska Regatta, which was named after the Lim River.
The Lim is an international river. For 220 km it runs through Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (Serbian Republic) and flows into the Drina. It originates in Lake Plav in Montenegro, and empties into the Drina between Gorazde and Višegrad.
Although rafting in its original form — as a means of transport via wooden vessels — has been practiced for hundreds of years, Lim rafting as a sport has a relatively short tradition. We can say that in some ways it is a development of the 21st century. The Limska Regatta or “Lim Race” event was first organized on the 16th of June, 2000, when a group of enthusiasts from the Kolovrat Mountain Ski Club organized the first race and slowly began to write a new history of the Lim River. Since then, every last weekend in May or the first weekend in June, this event has been organized for a period of three days of rafting in three stages.
River Lim. Pic: Julian Nitzsche (Wikimedia commons)
The 15th Lim Regatta will be held from June 6-8, along a 130 kilometers stretch from Plav through Andrijevica, Berane and Bijelo Polje to Prijepolje. The route of the race was decided at a meeting in Kolasin organized by the Regional Tourism Organization “Bjelasica and Komovi”.The program of the event scheduled the race on 6 June at 10 am together with a cultural program. From Plav, the rafters will pass through Andrijevica to Berane where they will be welcomed by the citizens of Andrijevica and Berane. With a traditional lunch, participants will camp in Berane. From Bijelo Polje, rafters on June 7th will begin in the morning, going over the famous Tifran to the destinations of Lima and Bistrica in Bijelo Polje, where they will camp in this rich cultural atnisogere. A day later, rafters will go to Prijepolje where they will be welcomed by the local citizens. All of those participating will finish the 15th Lim Regatta in similar fashion.
The regatta itself is international in character due to the fact that it passes through two countries, and because of the large number of participants who come from all over the former Yugoslavia and even all the way from Japan, looking for friendship, fun and adrenaline, which is present more and more each year. This event is gaining a wider profile and becoming an increasingly notable contribution to the development of extreme sports like rafting. Given the fact that every year it becomes more important, as evidenced by the increasing number of participants, the race significantly leads to the promotion of the tourism potential of the municipalities through which it passes.
Lead image — Rafting in Montenegro. Pic: Otberg (Wikimedia Commons)
