“Vulture man” is in fact named Goran Susic. The tourist board in London tipped me off about his work at a tiny eco centre on a hilltop in a village called Beli. From a crumbling old school house that was occupied by Italian forces under Mussolini, Susic runs an operation that helps conserve a surprisingly large local population of griffen vultures; which have become a tourist attraction since he set up his centre in 1993, bringing a trickle of visitors (and tourist visitor cash) to his out of the way operation.

A man with a greying beard, a t-shirt with a picture of a vulture on it and the slogan “WILDLIFE”, cargo trousers and sandals is sitting at a desk in the front room next to shelves full of National Geographics. It is Goran. “Ah you have arrived!” he exclaims. “You have come to see our biodiversity! I will show you the biodiversity of the vultures!”

Goran loves his vultures. “It is the poetry of their flight: the poetry!” he says, leading us past a group of Italian children who are visiting to help repair stone walls and clear pathways on a series of nature walks. We enter a room with a large stuffed griffen vulture hanging gruesomely from the ceiling.

We are informed that the vultures can weigh 8-15kg and have wingspans of 240-280cm. “They can starve for up to three weeks and lose half their body weight, but then they must eat,” says Goran. They eat birds, sheep and the odd donkey – and there are 75 pairs on the island. This is up from 25 pairs in 1993. Vulture couples stay together for 60/70 years.

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Displays in this “vulture room” explain how the Parsee people believe in leaving dead bodies out in the open to be devoured by nature, often by vultures. “Yes, vultures are still eating dead humans,” he says. “The Parsee people are still using this. They are not allowed to bury or burn or put bodies in the river. The only way is to give to nature. Then the soul goes to heaven, they believe.” Another display shows that griffen vultures were the symbol of Upper Egypt in the days of the pharaohs.

Outside, two large black vultures with shiny pink heads are lurking in a green cage. They have injured their wings and are doomed to life in captivity. They hop from one perch to another with great swoops of black feathers as Goran explains how his eco centre works. “You see, I decided to protect this island, to protect this species, to protect the ecosystem.”

There are about 20,000 sheep on Cres, but Goran has convinced shepherds to allow the sheep to live “organically”. This means they are not treated with medicines, resulting in 10 per cent dying naturally in the open each year.

He says: “The vultures eat these to survive and the farmers are able to sell top quality organic lamb at a good price. There are 375 plant species on the island. So the sheep have plenty to munch on. And the farmers are happy.”

Do the vultures get on with humans? “Yes, yes, on the whole,” Goran says. “But a man on the other side of the island said that one of the vultures tried to take his sandwich once. I’m not so sure about this.”

Goran believes that nature tourism is the way forward. “There are not many people on this island. So the villages are small. I know the people in the villages. They live in a traditional way. But they can also benefit from tourism. And they see people coming to visit our centre, so they are happy.” About 14,000 people come to help at his centre each year, staying in dorms at the old yellow school house.

“This is why we are not going for the Coca-Cola and the McDonald’s way of living. The local politicians can see that we are attracting people without that. Anyway tourists like that are not tourists at all. They are destroyers. You see it on the Spanish and the Greek islands. You see it everywhere: planes coming every 30 minutes; ‘damen’ and ‘heren’ written on the toilet doors; German music in all these huge hotels. The traditional way of life is destroyed.”

Past fig and olive trees and along a small pathway, there are sweeping views across a bay. In the distance we can see Rijeka; the tower blocks just visible. On the pathway there are abstract sculptures by a local artist. These are dotted around 80 kilometres of trails throughout Cres.

Apparently, it takes about three days to do the full loop. The sun is bearing down and not far away two enormous black birds are swooping on thermals near the shore – vultures looking for a sheep lunch, no doubt. “Yes aren’t they just wonderful,” says Goran, staring at them dreamingly. “Poetry, I tell you, simply poetry.”

How Low Can You Go? Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) by Tom Chesshyre (£10.99, Hodder & Stoughton, or buy it from BooksFirst for £9.89 including delivery).

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