Uvala Ul, Punta Kriza, Croatia, Surroundings, Environs.

Evergreen woods with mediterranean oak and pine, here and there separated by patches of thornbush and coniferous woods, the socalled maquis that conquered every square foot that once was cut for firewood and all neglected fields. This is the realm of numerous dear, muflons and wild sheep, but also the marten (kuna), porcupine and other rodents who share the woods with an abundance of birds, ranging from red robbins and nightingales to vultures and other birds of prey. Due to a broken fence in a reservation in the north of the island, there are digging signs of boar as far south as Punta Kriza. Reptiles are represented by frogs, toads, lizards, turtles and several non-poisonous snakes. From early spring to late autumn both common and elsewhere extinct butterflies enjoy life.

Around the village of Punta Kriza with 50 permanent residents, are several even smaller villages and remote family houses, most of which were deserted before 1950. Many of those have been rebuilt or renovated and are now in use as summer houses by both domestic and foreign owners. Some are even permanently inhabited now.
Two miles to the south the island ends in the large camping place Baldarin, divided in a large naturist area with a restaurant and a smaller conventional part with a well stocked supermarket in the tourist season.

In the other half of the mediterranean surroundings - the sea - fish are found, ranging from the smallest of sardines to the tuna family, the squid and octopussy that are on every restaurants menu, shellfish,sponges and corals. And who travels a little further seawards may encounter a family of playing dolphins.

Everywhere along the coast are small pebbles and sand beaches, only some of them can be reached by foot. The uninhabitated lighthouse island Trstenik, situated approx. 4 miles from the entrance of Uvala Ul, is also part of the surroundings. Already early in the season, it is a favourable destination for boat owners as the wild asparagus grows there abundantly. Another attraction for parents with young children are the two sheltered, silted up harbours that form an ideal playground.