Bovec: the Wonder of the Soca

"Fill your life with adventure, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show." - Adventure store in Bovec

Some places are more beautiful than words and pictures could ever describe and leave you in awe of nature, the Soca river is one of them. The river is its’ own color, somewhere between a turquoise blue and an emerald green (Soca blue!), that boldly contrasts the white rocky shores and the rising rocky grey and lush green of the surrounding mountains. Starting in the Vrsic pass from a single aquifer that pumps crisp (5 degrees C!), clean water down the mountain, winding through beautiful rocks and gorges, creating a white water paradise, slowly warming as it travels and slows down to later create serene lake-like areas in other parts of the country. Its’ hard to describe both the chill and thrill of stepping into the water for the first time, or the instant that your head dips beneath it and is equally hard to capture its’ expansive beauty with anything but a memory. We spent 5 days camping in the area and visiting the river daily either to dip a toe, to swim, to raft, to hike or to simply bask in its’ beauty. I will forever remember our moments along the Soca and yearn to return and experience it again.

A huge thank you belongs to the owners and staff of the campsite. Matias, his wife, son and small team have built an amazing place that not only created the very welcoming and fun environment that you’ll hear about below, but also curates adventure experiences tailored to your desires, everything from extreme rafting and canyoning to family rafting that can be enjoyed by a 3-year-old. There are hundreds of companies providing these adventures and Matias and team have hand-picked only the best for the people that stay with them. We wouldn’t have been able to have such a great time without them.

Adventures

Camping: the Adrenalincek camp site was adventure, whether it be the crazy storms that had us running through rain, high winds and 40 degree temperatures the first night, the hail that it brought us the next morning, or the consistent games that the kids played every moment that they could (archery, climbing, volleyball, soccer, and of course the sandbox and swing for Zaylee)

Whitewater rafting on the Soca: what began as a cold (50 degrees) and early morning became one of the best experiences that we’ve had on the trip. Zane and Zaylee sat in the front of the raft as Sammar and I joined two friends from the camp and the guide in powering the raft. We splashed through rapids (shockingly with neither kid getting upset about water in their eyes!), jumped over a rock (Zane + Zaylee’s favorite moment), trampolined and slid off of an upside-down raft into the frigid waters, jumped off a 7 meter cliff, and coasted through calmer waters taking in all of the beauty around us, drinking the clean, crisp water directly from the river. It was the first experience rafting for me and the kids (Sammar is a veteran) and we all had a blast thanks to our incredible guide that made us, and the kids, both feel security and adventure at the same time.

Hiking: Boka Falls is the largest waterfall in Slovenia and began as a short hike to a nice viewpoint. We managed to turn that into an aggressive rock climb to a beautiful view of the valley and an even more impressive view of the falls thanks to Zane’s climbing confidence (Sammar and I thought we should turn back). The views were a wonderful surprise and well-worth the additional work to get there.

 

 

Little moments:

Football (soccer) continues to be the game that transcends geography, language, age, and gender. Zane played with Germans, French, Slovene, British and Italian boys and girls ranging from 6 years old (always the youngest!) to 16, often using only hand motions to identify who was on which team and yells to show that they were open, with the one common word always being GOALLLLLLL! He got roughed up and taken advantage of by some of the bigger kids but he always came back for more and didn’t back down from anyone.

A group of high school students from the States were also at the campsite. They played a nightly volleyball game and day 1, Zane looked us and looked at them – ran over and quickly jumped in. It was really amazing to see the students be so welcoming of him and take him under his wing. We even managed to find our next babysitter as we met a UNC student who was leading the group and will be back in Chapel Hill for her Senior year.

Zaylee became a boss on the climbing wall at the camp and gained so much more confidence. We both agreed that we’ll start doing daddy + daughter dates at the climbing gym when we get back to Durham.

With so much for the kids to do at all times, Sammar and I had moments of time for ourselves to read a book, relax with a glass of wine, or just site and do nothing – a rare and special part of camping that we’ve come to appreciate.