The traditional "Mljet Visit" (Pohod na Mljet) for numerous Croatian hikers is organized again this year. This will be the 14th time the trip is planned for hikers to visit the Dalmatian island with a long tradition of mountain hiking.
This year the theme of the Mljet Visit will be the celebration of the final extension of the hiking trail on Mljet, called the Mljet Thru-hiking Trail (Mljetska planinarska obilaznica). The trail was opened in 2012, and up until this year, it was 40 kilometres long, connecting Pomena at the western-most tip of the long Mljet island with Sobra, a village in the central part of the island. This year, another 22 kilometres were added to the trail, which now connects Sobra with Saplunara, located at the eastern-most tip of the island. So, while hiking is probably not the first thing that comes to most minds when Dalmatian islands are mentioned, the island of Mljet hopes to attract many hikers, interested in seeing a completely different side of a sunny island.
A detailed map of the trail, as well as the GPS trail and extensive photo documentation of the trail have been created, and you can get the trail journal and guide for the entire length of the island. There are over 20 controls on the trail, and the people who worked on it say that it took around 20 hours of hiking for the Pomena-Sobra trail, so probably a bit over 30 hours for the entire length of the island.
Mljet Hiking Club as well as several hiking clubs from Zagreb (Vihor, Željezničar, Zagreb-Matica), eco-associations from Mljet and local community worked together to finish the trail, so in late April and early May they're all celebrating with two group hiking visits to Mljet. The groups will be based in Pomena, in Odisej Hotel, and will be hiking and visiting as much of the island as possible during their 5 days on Mljet.
During that period another interesting activity will take place on Mljet: Lush, a global eco-friendly cosmetics giant, is taking their Croatian employees to Mljet, where they will team-build by cleaning the beaches of Saplunara and Velike and Male Blace. Lush has been supporting the great #PočistiDalje action by the Zelene Stope Association, which has been removing car wrecks from nature all over Croatia, and have removed over 15,000 of those in the past 10 years. You can even help by reporting a car wreck if you find one yourself here.
