Today, Sea Cloud entered the Kotorfjord, also known as “Black mountain.” This is a 17 mile indentation of the Dalmatian Coast of Montenegro (recently independent from the former “Serbia and Montenegro”). 

Even though this is commonly known as a fjord, technically it is not one since it was not carved by ice, but instead by rivers. The place is embraced by mountains, as high as 3,000 feet.  We passed by the beautiful church of “Our Lady of the Rocks” which is a small church manly dedicated to mariners and nearby villagers.

After a dry landing, we visited the town of Perast, home of the disproportionally wealthy but influential church of Saint Nikolas. After our visit to Perast, the local boats will take us to the ferry town of Lepetane to reboard the buses for a sightseeing adventure along the cliffs of the black mountains on a serpentine road towards a small village on the other side of the cliffs.  This little town is known as Njegusi, and is known for being a place where about 300 houses are located and each house follows their own tradition of smoking their own ham. We visited a local home where they are well known for smoked ham and had a detailed explanation and a small taste of the local product.

After lunch, we returned to the medieval town of Kotor for a short walking orientation of the fortified Venetian-style town that has been independent city-state for most modern history.  Some of us decided to have our own personal walking time around the city of Kotor and enjoy the local atmosphere.