An idyllic mountain retreat offers clues to Europe's future

By George Stone, TRAVEL Executive Editor

The rap on travel writing is that it’s more escapist fantasy than factual reporting. But when done well, an article of exploration not only transports you somewhere far away, it also brings something mysterious into the marrow of your bones.

Robert Draper’s article about rare goats in an idyllic mountain village in Slovenia might seem to be esoteric. A travel story about an endangered breed of shaggy, 180-pound quadrupeds who outnumber humans in a hamlet called Drežnica (pictured above)?

But, as the story suggests, what happens in Drežnica does not stay in Drežnica. “The hardy ruminant, once disparaged as a menace to forests, may prove indispensable as the Central European country’s farmers adapt to a changing climate,” writes Draper. Indeed, as the Alps endure record-high climate change, the durability of “these 600 or so dew-drinking, tree-nibbling, mountain-dwelling goats” could provide scientists with clues for how livestock can survive in a climate-challenged region. (Pictured below, goat cheese ages at a farm. Drežnica goats produce less milk than other breeds, but the dairy products made from it are light and delicious.)

A rush of rumination led to this story, driven by Draper, photographer Ciril Jazbec, and Nat Geo editor at large John Hoeffel. “I’ve lost track of how many times Draper has traveled to Slovenia and the nearby region of northeastern Italy known as Friuli Venezia Giulia,” Hoeffel says. “But he doesn’t often write about it. He just goes to go because the scenery is spectacular, the history fascinating, the people welcoming, and, well, the wine and the cuisine are heavenly.”

Such correspondence between editor and writer suggests that they might make perfect travel companions. Maybe not. “I visited Trieste once, for a day,” says Hoeffel. “The very notion, I think, wounded Robert. Just a day?”

About this story: “Robert is in Slovenia now, writing a book about a troubling subject far from his serene surroundings: American politics. I asked him whether he could spare the time to take us somewhere alluring. He suggested goats. I said sure, trustingly. And suddenly I’m in the fairytale village of Drežnica in the company of endangered goats whose milk makes for delicious cheese, whose fate features in a sweet Slovenian folk song, and whose mountain-bred toughness may make them one answer to climate change.”

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