Bears, wolves and eagles - a wildlife adventure in the Central Balkan National Park.

The Central Balkan National Park is among the largest and most valuable protected areas in Europe. Recently it become the fourth member of PAN Parks. It occupies a territory of 716 sq.km with a total length of 85 km and average width of 10 km. The park has been established to protect the unique complex of self-regulated ecosystems. The park provides home for 59 mammal species and 123 species of birds breeding there. The scenery is magnificent: century old forests of beach, spruce and fir, high mountain meadows, huge cliffs, deep gorges, canyons and waterfalls. The park is one of the last existing habitats of the Brown Bear and the Wolf in Europe. Here you can really feel the spirit of the WILD NATURE.
Our tour is designed in and around the park's territory and is focused on the Brown Bear, the Wolf, the Golden and the Imperial eagles. It also provides a very good opportunity to observe more than 100 species of birds and some other species of mammals. We will walk trough natural habitats of brown bear and wolf and will try to find and identify foot prints, signs of feeding activity, excrements, bears' tree marking and hair remains. We will even visit some small caves used by the bears during their winter hibernation. During the walks you will learn about current status of wolf and bear populations in the park, ecology and behavior of the two species. We are going to visit two state game reserves and will have the rare opportunity to observe bears from special wooden hides, placed 5-8 meters above the ground and absolutely safe. The bears are attracted to the area by delicious food stuffs, usually corn, marmalade and honey placed in advance at some 30-40 meters in front of the hides.

You might have seen dozens of bears in daylight in Alaska or Canada but the sight of a single bear coming out of the dark forest to feed just in front of you is very special.

From the safety of the hide you will have the rare chance to watch, hear and even smell the bears - a real wildlife experience that you will never forget.
The hides provide very good opportunity for you to take pictures and make video records. We have arranged 4 evening/morning observations during the tour. There are two options for our guests - to spend the whole night in the hide or to stay only for the evening observation from 17:00 to 00:00 h PM. Afterwards we will take you to a comfortable small hotel.

As you know, wolves are extremely difficult to be seen, unless you are really very lucky. To enrich your “wolf experience” apart from observation of their tracks and signs we will take you to the places where there is a high possibility to hear wolf howling .

To meet the other top species of the tour - the eagles, we are going to visit breading areas of 3 pairs of Golden Eagle and 2 pairs of Imperial Eagle. During the trip we will also have the chance to see Long-legged buzzard, Rock partridge, Hoopoe, Black-, Green- Grey headed-, White backed-, and Syrian woodpeckers, Sombre Tit, Nutcracker, Alpine Chough, Rock Thrush, Rock Bunting and many other typical mountain and other woodland birds.

The tour starts on 30 April

Itinerary


Day 1

Arrival at Sofia Airport and transfer to the town of Koprivshtitza - an architectural reserve. Short rest, walk and birding in and around the town. Dinner in a typical bulgarian style restaurant. Overnight.


Day 2

After the breakfast we will visit the hunting territory of local pair of Imperial eagles. Transfer to the village of Taja in the south foothills of Stara Planina - the Balkan. Short rest, walk and birding. In the afternoon we travel to the state game reserve Mazalat. After accommodation in the hotel, we meet local rangers, who will lead us through the bears habitat and who will reveal us the bears' secrets. In the evening they will drive us to the hides for our first evening observation of bears.


Day 3

We spend the day walking and discovering bears' and wolves' tracks and sings and watching birds as well. Visit to the region of first Golden eagle pair. Late in the afternoon we are going to our second night in the hides.


Day 4

Transfer to the town of Sopot from where we take a chair lift which will take us
to one of the most spectacular sites of the Central Balkan National Park at
1600 m.a.s.l.We walk and enjoy the magnificent scenery, we visit the breeding
area of the second pair of Golden Eagles and also a territory of flock of
Rock Partridges. The itinerary gives us the excellent opportunity to have
panorama view of typical bear and wolf habitats. We spend the night in the mountain hut of “Nezabravka“.


Day 5

We spend the morning in the area and visit one of the most spectacular reserves in the park, called Steneto. In the afternoon we go back down by the chair lift and make a transfer to the Beklemeto pass which is one of the tour's main birding sites. Here we meet our third pair of Golden eagles and also we watch Rock Partridges, Rock Thrush, Alpine Chough and many other species. In the afternoon we travel to the state game reserve Rusalka for our 3rd night of bear observation.


Day 6

During the day we continue our bear and wolf tracking and in the evening we go for the last observation night in the hide.


Day 7

This day we cross the mountain again trough the Beclemeto pass and travel to the South Bulgaria. Visit to the hunting areas of two different pairs of Imperial eagles and also watching many interesting birds like Sombre Tit, Rock Bunting, Isabelline Wheatear. Late in the afternoon we arrive in the town of Koprivshtitza - an architectural reserve, where we accommodate in an old Bulgarian stile hotel and enjoy the typical Bulgarian cuisine.

Day 8

Transfer from Koprivshtitza to -Sofia Airport and departure.



Group size: 2-8 persons + leader

Price: 950 EUR per person

Single supplement: 70 EUR

The price includes :

• all ground transportation,
• specialized vehicles /4x4/ jeeps at some places,
• all meals - full board with packed lunches ,
• accommodation in hotels

The price does not include:

• your travel to Sofia. You have to book your own flight.
• travel insurance.
• alcoholic beverages and all items of personal use.

Official language of the tour: English. German and French speaking guides are also available.

Additional information: necessary items include waterproof coat, good walking shoes, small backpack for your picnic lunch and drinks, hat & sunglasses.
Walking abilities - average. Great variety of opportunities according to desires and abilities of the participants.