Brestovac - Omoljica through the river Ponjavica

As we have already visited rivers in our close neighborhood, we got the idea to get out of Belgrade and visit a river or a lake near enough for a half day trip and far enough to have a feeling that we have actually traveled somewhere. Also, we thought it would be interesting to find a river that connects two places and try to link them by paddling from one place to another. We have started to look through the map and after a while we have found exactly what we wanted. Omoljica-Banatski Brestovac through the river Ponjavica. 



Omoljica is a village in Banat, about 30 km away from Belgrade. The way to Omoljica leads through Pancevo. If you turn right as soon as you enter Pancevo, you can not miss the right way. As soon as we arrived to Omoljica we looked for the river in order to find a zero point to start from. We asked the villagers for the most accessible place to approach the river and start to paddle toward Brestovac. Here we run into our first disappointment! Kind locals explained us that our idea was slightly impractical! Actually, Ponjavica river is divided into two sections, in order the road can pass, so we realized that our tour would look like this- paddle, exit from water, bring the kayak out, carry it across the road, put it back into the water and repeat all this twice. OK, at the first sight, this did not seem completely impossible. However, if first information wounded our enthusiasm the second one killed it. Since the river in this area is so overgrown with reeds that are hard to break through, to the previous procedure we would have to add this: break through reed, fall into the water, pull the kayak through the thicket, and then repeat all of this twice!

We decided to listen well-intentioned locals and, at their suggestion, go to a place around some factory complex where the river is more passable. We said goodbye to the locals and went toward our new possible starting point. We were there in a minute, but the river coast was so overgrown by reeds that we decided to change our plan from the roots. Instead of going from Omoljica to Brestovac we decided to paddle from Brestovac to Omoljica until we reach the river's end. So, we came to Banatski Brestovac, found the perfect place to start and in a minute we were already on the Ponjavica river heading towards Omoljica.

How would I describe Ponjavica river in only three words ? Calm, clean, quiet. If I had to use the fourth, I would probably say muddy. The river is around 60 meters wide and incredibly calm, so you could easily think that you're on a lake instead of a river. There are almost no grooves and waves.

Paddling goes incredibly smoothly and since we couldn't feel the river stream, we couldn't help it wonder if there was any stream after all. While paddling you can freely take a break without thinking if the stream will take you a few hundred meters back. The water is very clean, at least it's surface leaves that impression. No cans, bags, plastic bottles and other garbage, which is interesting phenomena if you take into account that there are houses on the river coast. Well, why is this so? Perhaps because Ponjavica doesn't flow into the Danube, which would mean that if you throw a can into it it wouldn't go away to Romania, but would stay right there where you threw it and that, we assume, could be irritating. If all roads lead to Rome, we would say that all the garbage goes into the Black Sea. So, if you would look every day at a can that refuses to go away but defiantly stands right there where you left it, it would feel like a piece of sheet metal is making a fool of you, and since you want to be smarter than a can, you throw it into the container and show it who' the boss. Somehow I imagine that this is why it happened that the garbage mistakenly finish at the right place. Although there is a possibility that people who live close to Ponjavica are little more conscientious towards the river ...

Anyway, we continued to paddle. Various kinds of vegetation were taking turns along the river banks. From a variety of shrubs, to cane and jungle until a sunflower field. There is also an interesting contrast between the two coasts. One is steep and high and the other one is low. A lot of houses on the right side have small docks so if you get tired and agree to take a rest and stretch your legs, I do not think anyone would object you. This is just an assumption, we didn't try it, so we wouldn't not accept any responsibility if someone expels you with a gun or let the dogs on you. Docks were mostly empty, but there were those with the fishermen or children playing.

Regarding the animals, we saw mostly birds, lot of them. They were flying over us, moving from coast to coast, or in one word - posing. They weren't too upset because we had spoiled their idyll, they would simply change the place whenever we approached too close and continue to mind their own business.

Although we arrived quite late and the sun was already quite low, mosquitoes have not yet occurred. All the time we were disturbed only by a pesky fly, but I guess that after some time of paddling we could have smelled like something delicious to them. I was somehow hoping that, even if the smell attracted them, after they had come closer to us they would have seen that we weren't what they hoped for and left. But nothing. Damn were their million eyes when they cannot see that we are not a traveling feces!

Finally we came to the end...or the beginning, to that place where we decided not to disembark. We took a little rest and tuned the kayak back. Although paddling towards Omoljica seemed easy, the return was even easier. Does Ponjavica have a flow that is not visible? Or is it just a typical impression that returning from a trip passes faster than traveling to that place? Along the way we made a short break under the crown of a tree and then continued since we wanted to arrive before dark.

Soon we came back to Brestovac, the place from where we started. We heard that kilometer away there was a beach where people swim, but the sun had gone down and the mosquitoes began to fly over us in swarms, so we decided to leave that for another time.

Ponjavica was a real pleasure for paddling. All coincided perfectly. Calm water, quiet, not crowded, the right atmosphere for recreation in nature. On the one hand it was a pity that we did not come earlier, because we could have paddled longer, but on the other hand we would have probably collapsed halfway, since the temperature was over 30 degrees. Time served us well enough to pass the route we imagined and still be on the water when the sun starts to set in order to take a few photos.

In the end we didn't manage to connect Brestovac and Omoljica by river but it did not diminish our enjoyment. Until yesterday we did not even know about the existence of this river, and now we would be very happy to come back again. Whether to paddle the same section, or to visit the other party which we could not reach. We will be back here and it's for sure, since it's only 45 minutes away from Belgrade and the Avala Tower, seen from the river, constantly reminded us of that.

Categories: Rivers