Birding & Mammals
Birding & Mammals 15 April – 15 October
1. Arrival at Sofia airport and transfer to the Central Balkan Range, accommodation for four nights at small family hotel, situated at the foots of the mighty Balkan . The hotel is outside the local small town and only a couple of minutes away from the first line of forest trees. A spectacular view of the majestic Balkan Range from there. Herds of horses, cattle, sheep and goats often come to graze in the meadows in front of the hotel. Sometimes, from the early evening hours until late into the night the Conrcrake's specific song can be heard from the meadows. We'll have an early dinner at about 6 o’clock p.m. because by 7 o'clock p.m. at the latest we have to be at specially secured observation hides. We'll get there on 4WD special vehicles (jeeps) driven by our local guides. Our company especially provides for this service to help most of the tourists get along with the difficulties a hike in high mountain areas pose. The first lucky tourists will have the chance to see the brown masters of the forests / Brown Bear / at twilight. We hope we will have a fair weather during our tour. There are other mammals like Brown Hare, Local race / quite dark one / of Red Squirrel, Weasel, Western polecat, Pine Marten, Beech Marten, Wildcat, Red Fox, Badger, Row Deer, Wild Boar and Red Deer that can be seen from the hides. With some luck we may even see wolves that use to come quite near but very rarely dare face man (and hardly ever come out into the open). Our guides will take us back to the hotel by 11 or 12 o’clock p.m. The bravest ones of us may, if they wish so, stay in the hides alone all the night through. In the morning guides will take them back to the hotel. The odds that all tourists will see a bear at some time in this short 3-day stay are less than 1:1. However the last group that visited these exiting observations was very lucky, for anyone who wished to see the bears did so and some of the group saw them more than once. We hope that in the future the 50% chances to see the bears will increase considerably.
2. On the following morning, after the breakfast we start our bird-watching in the surrounding area. The open areas in the foothills of the Balkan range and the closeness of the forest allows for spotting some very interesting birds like Syrian, Great Spotted, Lesser Spotted, Middle Spotted, Green, Grey-headed, Black and, with some more luck, the White-backed Woodpeckers, Hawfinch , Woodlark etc. Again an early dinner , and driving to the hides for evening observation. Night at our hotel. 3. The program is the same as on the 2nd day. 4. The program is the same as on the 2nd day. 5. Transfer to Pelican Birding Lodge / PBL /. During the transfer we’ll stop few times for birding. We expect to see Honey Buzzard, Goshawk, Crested lark, Roller, European Souslik, etc. Accommodation at the Lodge for 3 nights. 6. After breakfast we set off for Srebarna Reserve where we are going to spend the whole day in watching rare and interesting species of birds like: The Black, the Red-necked Grebes, the Dalmatian and the White Pelicans, the Pygmy Cormorant, the Little Bittern, the Squacco Heron, the Little and the Great Egrets, the Night Heron, the Purple Heron, the Glossy Ibis, the Spoonbill etc. On the evenings the calls of European Jackals are regularly heard in nearby areas . Night at PBL. 7. After a short driving (about 30 km in one direction) we are approaching the Garvan and Malak Preslavets marshes. Both these marshes are surrounded by small clumps of trees and bushes. Such a landscape contributes to the extraordinary diversity of bird species. We will be expecting to see the following species of birds: the Ruddy Shelduck, the Garganey, the Ferruginous Duck, the Whiskered tern, the Kingfisher, the Golden Oriole, the Wood lark, the Black-headed Yellow Wagtail, the Levant Sparrow Hawk, the Goshawk, the Honey Buzzard and many others. Night at PBL. 8. After the breakfast a transfer / 160 km / to Varna airport follows, where our tour is over. Prices in Euro Group of paying pers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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Dbl room occupancy
per person
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B&B 1885 1185 800 710 655 615 580 560
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HB /Packed lunch/ 1910 1100 825 735 680 635 605 585
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FB 1995 1080 910 820 760 720 690 670
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Sgl room + 95
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