
Somewhere on Earth: Croatia
Croatia's wilder corners get three separate guides in this nature-travel episode. Biologist and nature photographer Goran Safarek leads the way through Kopački rit, a wetland reserve where some of Europe's largest wild animals and thousands of birds gather at the confluence of the Danube and Drava rivers. Scuba diver and geologist Petra Kovac Konrad then descends into flooded Balkan caves hunting the proteus, a blind cave salamander so rarely seen that locals once took it for a baby dragon. Finally sailor and adventure-raid organizer Sebastien Dao takes the film into the Kornati archipelago, a scatter of bare limestone islands and channels that draws sailors from across the Adriatic. The camera spends most of its time underwater, in caves, and on the water rather than in cities, matching each segment's guide to their own specialty. Together the three stories build a portrait of Croatia defined by water, wetland, and coastline rather than the usual tourist landmarks.