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the Degree Confluence Project
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Bosnia and Herzegovina

0.3 km (0.2 miles) W of Medovci, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Approx. altitude: 638 m (2093 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 44°S 162°W

Accuracy: 4 m (13 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: GPS, exactly 44N 18E #3: View to the East: a few houses, probably the village Medovci #4: View to the South #5: Luka and Darija at the confluence #6: Luka and Peter at the confluence #7: View to the North #8: View to the West #9: View south from the car: the confluence 180 m down the hill. Snow capped Mount Bjelašnica on the horizon.

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  44°N 18°E (visit #1)  

#1: General view

(visited by Peter Wolf, Darija Wolf and Luka Wolf)

03-Apr-2004 -- Only recently I discovered that Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the few remaining countries in Europe without any confluence point visit. When I noticed that the closest confluence is only some 35 km away from my apartment in Sarajevo, I decided to give it a try as soon as I would get hold of a GPS receiver.

Fortunately finding the GPS was easier than I thought. A colleague of mine had one in his office and gave it to me for a few days (Thanks Ermin!).

So there were only two problems remaining: The confluence seemed to be about 2 to 3 km away from the nearest main roads and only 200 m away from the closest village Medovci. But I could not find maps that showed the village or any roads or tracks in that area. While I assumed that this problem can eventually be solved by GPS another one was more serious: like many other areas in Bosnia the surroundings of the confluence are marked as potentially mined on the maps of minefields in this country. So there was a chance that the confluence is located in the middle of a minefield and cannot be reached at all. Even worse, as many minefields are not marked it might not be possible to tell if it is safe to leave the last piece of paved road close to the confluence.

I decided to try in any case and so my wife Darija and our eight month old son Luka left Sarajevo towards the town of Kiseljak. The weather was perfect, sunny and about 25 degrees Celsius - quite warm for this time of the year.

After Kiseljak we were only about 8 km away from our destination. At a junction we had to decide whether to start our search on the road to Fojnica or on the road to Vitez. According to the map the confluence appeared to be equally close to both of them. The GPS pointed more towards Vitez so we took this direction. In Brestovsko, a village about 2 km from the confluence, the GPS indicated a left turn rather than staying on the main road. I took the first left, a paved one lane road, and it looked like we were heading exactly in the right direction. At the following small junctions I continued trusting the GPS directions and we were lucky. We had less than 1 km to go and our road went exactly the right direction. After about 500 m the paved road turned into a gravel track. The track was obviously used on a regular basis and safe to drive on. The track came as close as 150 m to the confluence but I parked the car about 180 m away at a spot where there was enough space to let any other vehicles pass.

The fields around the car seemed reasonably safe. Farmland that looked like it was ploughed regularly. Still, when a local farmer passed by on his tractor I asked him about mines. He confirmed that there was no danger and now we could easily walk across the field and reach the precise location of the confluence point.

Note that the information of the confluence being located about 200 m north of Medovci does not appear to be correct. South of the confluence are only fields and woods. There are a few houses - probably the village Medovci - some 300 m east of the point.

Coordinator's Note: We have changed the description of the confluence to accurately describe the location relative to Medovci.


 All pictures
#1: General view
#2: GPS, exactly 44N 18E
#3: View to the East: a few houses, probably the village Medovci
#4: View to the South
#5: Luka and Darija at the confluence
#6: Luka and Peter at the confluence
#7: View to the North
#8: View to the West
#9: View south from the car: the confluence 180 m down the hill. Snow capped Mount Bjelašnica on the horizon.
ALL: All pictures on one page