The final location is close to a well-maintained walking trail that leads you around the island. It is almost a walk-in cache. So there is no need for you to search in the bushes or trample down any flowers or plants. After all, you are in a national park.
You can get to the island of St. Mary by a little ferry boat (e.g. from Pristanište). It leaves quite often during high season. Information on departure times and places where you can board the ferry can be obtained online or from the national park administration. Just ask the people who sell the entrance tickets or the staff in the infomation office in Pristanište.
Or use your own boat (kayak / kanu) like I did when I placed the box. Or take a swim. The water in the salt lakes is very clean and always a few degrees warmer than the open sea. Very pleasant, even in late spring or early autumn. The shortest distance is from the south shore (opposite of Pristanište). Look on a map and you will figure out where to set sails or jump in the water.
For the final coords just answer the questions below and enter the correct numbers in the following formula:
N42 46. ABC
E017 21. DEF
All answers can be found online. Here are your questions:
A. Until the First World War Mljet was swarmed by lots of venomous snakes (vipers). Many inhabitants died of snake bites because there was no antiserum available on Mljet. Snakes also often killed domestic animals such as goats and sheep. In order to get rid of the vipers the community of Mljet (with the help of the Austrian baron Shilling, who was the manager of the Forestry Office at that time) acquired a few pairs of a small predator animal. Was it:
European wildcat = 2
Indian mongoose = 1
Island fox (from the Californian Channel Islands) = 0
By the way, the mission was a success. Nowadays there are no more vipers on Mljet. Unfortunately the ? had quite an appetite and disposed of pretty much all the birdlife as well. So, I would rather call this »mission accomplished with heavy collateral damage or bad side effects«.
B. Mljet National Park covers the entire north-western part of the island (the area around Veliko jezero, Malo jezero, and Soline Bay). It also includes a very large maritime sanctuary (by the way, the oldest in the Mediterranean See); a sea belt 500 m wide covering an area of 54 km2. The north-western part of Mljet (land and surrounding waters) was proclaimed a National Park in 196B. The administration for preserving the natural heritage was founded in the same year.
C. What is the Greek word for Mljet? Hint: It is a quite popular female first name as well. And what does it mean? Hint: It is something to eat and it is very sweet.
To obtain C add the number of letters in both words (the Greek and the English one) and substract 7 from the total.
D. Under the regime of Marshal of Yugoslavia and President for life Josip Broz Tito the monastery on the island of St. Mary was turned into a hotel where workers from a state company in Belgrade were supposed to relax from their hard labour. The hotel was closed in the nineties, during the ethnic conflicts of the Yugoslav Wars. What was the name of that hotel?
Hotel ?; by now, it should sound familiar to you…
D = number of letters of hotel name
E. The Benedectines, who founded the monastery on the islet in the middle of the Great Lake, came from Apulia in Italy. In what year did they become the feudal lords of the small island?
For the coordinate E substract the fourth number of the year from the third number.
F. The connection between the Great Lake and the Small Lake was established by dugging an artificial canal. You walk over it when you do the circle trail around both lakes. Maybe you have seen and photographed it already. The canal increased the tidal current and enabled smaller fishing boats to come to the Small Lake. This artificially dug canal is 30 metres long and approximately F,5 metres wide.
Congratulations! You are almost there. Well, at least virtually. Now you can enter the obtained set of coordinates into the provided geochecker (see link below). When you receive green light, you will also get some further instructions on how to get your hands on the actual physical treasure. You will probably need these additional hints because the box is hidden pretty well. Please hide it back the same way!
Have a great time on Mljet and happy hunting! I am looking forward to reading your logs.
