Swimming holidays be di best for slow travel – and since di pandemic, e don burst everywhere. Di pale-blue dome of di church of Our Lady of di Rock dey shine well well as we dey swim cross di Bay of Kotor from di fine fishing village of Dražin Vrt. Fish dey show plenty: sardines, mackerel, and sprats dey swim around, plus sea anemones and urchins. Di water clear like say na Caribbean, and when my head no dey inside di water, di mountain view dey fine well.
This sweet experience na di first day of my swimming holiday for di Montenegro fjords. E no be vacation wey just dey lie down for beach and dey dip small for ocean, but rather session wey we dey swim as group while boat dey carry our bags go different places. Swimming holiday dey be di best for slow travel, wey dey carry us from island to island and cove to cove, stopping for lunch for old town or small fishing village before we go back to di sea to waka around di coast.
For small time, e be like say no matter how far we swim, di church wey dey for di middle of di bay no dey near us. Di swim self dey sweet, surrounded by clear warm water and sharp mountains, but di aim be di islet wey dem say local fishermen find Madonna and Child icon for rock. Dem swear say after each safe trip, dem go add one rock until land come show from di sea, crowned with church wey dem dedicate to di Virgin Mary.
Suddenly e show for our front and few minutes later, we dey climb out di water, dey catch strange eye from wedding party wey dey outside. Di crew for our safety boat pass us towels and clothes, so we fit cover body and enter, come admire di well-painted inside.
Most pipo dey waka by boat go this popular tourist spot, but swim all the way give me small taste of how those fishermen dey feel when dem go back home safely. “Swiming dey give you unique eye-view for the world ’cause you dey see am from ground or sea level,” Ella Foote, editor of Outdoor Swimmer Magazine and author of How to Wild Swim talk. “Plus, plenty towns and cities develop around water body. Major towns grow up near rivers or next to the coast, especially when water be main transport. For modern times, we don lose that crucial connection with water and e sweet to rediscover am and dey approach new place from the water wey dey surround or run through am.” Our group (we dey wonder, e fit be ‘a goggle’?) get 15 swimmers, pipo from all over and age from 20 to 60-something. Wetin unite us na love for swimming, even though our skills dey differ from sharp pool swimmers to open water champs and seasoned triathletes.
We split into three groups with similar speed (we dey identify by different coloured swimming caps). Each group get small inflatable boat dey follow dem, while bigger boat dey carry us and our things go and come from each swim, plus e dey serve as base for lunch, change and for anypipo wey wan chill. On average we dey swim about 5km a day; e no dey easy but I fit decide to chill for the boat anytime and that one dey make am easier. Leisure swimming don dey popular for UK since long, from Britain’s “Lost King”, Prince Henry Frederick Stuart, the older brother of Charles I wey die after e catch typhoid swimming for Thames, to the Victorians wey make sea-bathing resorts pop. But maybe the biggest swimming “pioneer” na the romantic poet Lord Byron.
