October 21, 2020 - From the wooden churches of Pokupsko to the source of the Gacka river, a great new perspective of continental Croatia through the lens of Dutch resident Rene Pronk.
The most talked-about foreigner in Croatia at the moment is a Dutchman, Jan de Jong. From his spearheading the introduction of the digital nomad visa to plans to introduce Dutch technology to revive agriculture in northern Croatia, Jan is spreading his brand of positivity all over the country. But he is not the only Dutch resident doing incredible things here. There are others working in different fields away from the spotlight.
Among them is a man who is high on my list to finally meet, but time has been the enemy. Rene Pronk is a Dutchman who has been living with his family for years in rural Croatia, and if his life is even 10% of his Facebook posts, then he must be a very contented man indeed.
I first came across him about three years ago, and one of the first things I learned about Rene was his incredible NGO, Proplan, which is raising money in the Netherlands to help the old, isolated people in Croatia, who live alone, often without basic utilities, where loneliness is an even bigger enemy than hunger and the cold. Rene, his family and volunteer team, do incredible work to bring some comfort and hope to these old people, and they are often the only human contact they encounter. Read more in the article I wrote a few years ago - Who Helps Croatia's Lonely, Isolated Old People? Meet Proplan from Holland.
One of the most striking things about that article were the fabulous photos that Rene took of some of the people he was helping. He is an outstanding photographer, and I always enjoy his early morning landscape shots in the mist from different parts of continental Croatia in my Facebook feed.
I was delighted to learn yesterday that Rene has started a new blog highlighting some of the lesser-known parts of continental Croatia, accompanied by some of his magnificent photography.
Although there are only a few articles up at the moment, I have already learned a lot about places I had never heard of, including the wooden churches of Pokupsko in Zagreb County, complete with day tour itinerary.
Continental Croatia needs a lot more promotion, and if the early blogs are anything to go by, Rene's eye is likely to take us in directions and locations other tourism promotion media overlook. So if you are interested in the beauty of the Croatian Road Less Travelled, I encourage you to have a look.
The blog is called Pure Croatia, and you can check it out here.
Slapnica Nature Reserve.
