Montenegro

Recently Education Director Ben Lawhon and I had to the opportunity to travel to Montenegro in Eastern Europe to teach a Master Educator Course and a Trainer Course. We were invited to teach these Leave No Trace courses by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Black Mountain Adventure Travel. It was an awesome experience and a wonderful opportunity to enlarge our community through international training efforts. I would like to thank Jack and Hayley Delf, owners of Black Mountain Adventure Travel for all of their organization, hard work, passion and hospitality. The two of you made our trip very easy!

We had 12 participants on the Master Course and 10 participants on the Trainer Course. Participants included members of mountaineering clubs, tourism agencies, university professors in tourism, the National Tourism Organization in Montenegro, the National Park Service, staff from the UNDP, mountain bike association members and guides. We spent three nights at three different campsites during the Master Course and had an opportunity to hike to a mountain hut run by one of the local mountain clubs on the last night of the course where we had a wonderful feast for the last nights dinner. See the pictures below.

Our time was spent in the Southwest corner of Montenegro in a town called Herceg Novi. The courses took place on Mt. Orjen. The landscape is beautiful. You can start your day on the water near tropical plants in Herceg Novi, on the Adriatic Sea and within a short 30 minute drive up a windy road you are in the mountains amongst all the fall foliage. We had amazing weather too, the entire trip, it was 70 degrees during the day and around 40 at night with clear skies and the full moon’s glow. Must be because Ben bought new rain gear for this trip, since he seems to always get rained on when he teaches course. Thanks Ben!

Many of the course participants stated that they would like to reach the youth of Montenegro with Leave No Trace information during their action plans as they are the future of the outdoor recreation movement. Participants hope to incorporate Leave No Trace into their existing programs and to take the information to the youth so that they can create a connection to the outdoors and so they can teach their families. We look forward to hearing from everyone involved in these courses and know that they will all be great advocates for Leave No Trace.
Congratulations to all who successfully completed this course. We appreciated your enthusiasm for Leave No Trace and for creating an outdoor ethic in Montenegro!