November 27, 2020 – Vis islanders are these days not surprised to receive guests who come from all over the world, but the mysterious arrival of a crocodile has raised eyebrows and caused big-teethed smiles

For thousands of years, the inhabitants of Vis island have led a comparatively unharassed existence. They fished in the richly stocked waters that surround them and planted vines and other crops in the island's soils, such day-today activities unaffected by whichever empire decided to lay claim to the rock. Being the inhabited island which lies furthest from the Croatian mainland might have contributed to so many carefree days. That's not to say that nobody ever goes there.

Today a popular tourist destination, over the last few decades Vis island has welcomed visitors from all over the world. Although, the latest exotic arrival doesn't look to have come by budget airline. Found on a boat near the village of Brgujac, a young crocodile has caused bewilderment among island residents over recent days.


Brgujac. The epicentre of Vis island's punk-croc scene? © Tourist Board island Vis

Snapped on the waterfront of Brgujac and posted to the Facebook group 'Moj otok Vis (My island Vis)', the uncommon visitor has raised both eyebrows and merriment. Nobody is quite sure how the crocodile got here, not least the sailor on whose boat the crocodile was found.

Nobody knows of anyone keeping a crocodile as a pet on the island. The sailor and his boat haven't travelled anywhere that far over recent weeks. Vis island's long distance from the Croatian coast does theoretically place it closer to the African continent, where a crocodile might be more naturally found. But it's only relatively nearer. Africa is still over 1500 kilometres away. This youngster doesn't look to be capable of making such a swim. And, besides, although some do live in saltwater - most crocodiles prefer to spend their time in freshwater.

While the mystery of where the young crocodile came from is being solved, he's been taken off the sailor's boat. The crocodile was initially placed in the care of workers from the municipal company Gradina.

If you've ever visited, you know that most of life on Dalmatian islands revolves around the ferries and their schedule. This week, Lučki taught us that the same is true even for the island cats.

Last week the news of a lost cat found its way to the Croatian media. That probably happened because it was absolutely not your usual story of a lost cat: this one involved a cat name Lučki, known to everyone on the island of Vis, especially in the town of Vis itself.

Lučki is a street cat, apparently living the good life on the island, with an unusual hobby: from time to time, he boards the ferry to Split, gets a lift there, walks around the ferry port in Split for a bit and then comes back home to Vis by sea. It all goes without any problems or issues, or at least it did until this week when Lučki made a mistake: he got on the wrong ferry. Instead of his favourite (and well-known) Petar Hektorović ferry, he boarded the ferry that takes the gas cylinders to and from the island, but which goes to Kaštela Port, and not to Split.

The people of Vis realised what happened to their favourite cat, and on Wednesday social media (and the more traditional media in Croatia) was filled with stories of a lost cat, with a plea from Vis for the people of Kaštela to help them find their beloved Lučki. They knew where he probably disembarked the ferry, and the Kaštela Facebook page shared the story:

For a few days, there was no news, but the best of news made the rounds in the media today: Lučki has been found, he is alive and well, and he's on his way back to Vis! While there are no details currently available about what exactly happened, the same Facebook page posted a video showing Lučki being transported back to his island on a ferry in a transporter, nice and clean and perfectly white. And he also got a nice big meal on the ferry - I mean, if you become a celebrity, at least you can get a nice meal out of that, right?

There's talk of buying him a GPS collar on the Facebook post, so he can be found more easily next time if his adventures in nature takes him on similar trips in the future. Hopefully, he just decides that once was enough, and lives the rest of his long life in the safety of Vis harbour, with occasional (brief) excursions to Split.