Brown bear watching vacation in Bulgaria

Planet

Activity:
This exciting new bear tracking and conservation vacation takes you into the realm of the brown bear, and offers a unique insight into the behaviour and ecology of these most iconic yet secretive large carnivores. During the course of the week, we will make daily hikes through the heart of prime brown bear habitat, recording tracks, scats and other signs of bear activity as part of an on-going brown bear conservation project. Not only will this provide vital data about bear activity in the region for a local wildlife NGO, but it will also provide you with a privileged insight into the daily life of the bears. In the evenings, there will be the chance to visit a specially constructed bear watching hide, from where we will hopefully have an opportunity to see some of the bears whose activity signs we have been monitoring during our days in the field. In addition, we will also be collecting and collating images from several camera traps that will be set up in the surrounding forests. By the end of this vacation, you will hopefully not only have had the chance to see wild brown bears in their natural habitat, and know how to find and identify their tracks and signs, but also have a better understanding and appreciation of the fascinating way of life of these majestic, mysterious and often misunderstood animals.

Conservation:
The data that is collected during the week by the group will be used by the wildlife NGO ‘Wild Rodopi’. Which has recently been short listed by the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation for their annual award for conservation. Clients traveling on this trip will be directly involved in the conservation of this region and its local brown bear inhabitance.

Water:
Water is a really important issue with walking trips and whilst we must stay hydrated, it is also vital that we have a system for providing clean water without causing lots of waste with plastic bottles. We suggest that instead of repeatedly buying bottled water, guests should re-fill a singular bottle.

UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Group Size:
This small group tour has a maximum of 16 participants, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.

People

Local Craft & Culture:
This trip really aims to celebrate and share the rural, agricultural lifestyle of the people in the Rodopi Mountains, which in other places has been overtaken by modern life. There are plenty of products in Yagodina which have been made by the villagers that are totally unique to this area, such as food, wine and handicrafts. We aim to support these traditional processes of manufacturing with our commerce. During the trip we also arrange for the local folk dance group to perform for our clients and teach them traditional songs and dances. Again, we pay the folk group a fair wage and they often receive tips from this as well, so we are really making a positive impact on local people.

Accommodation and Meals:
You will spend most nights in Yagodina village, which is a traditional rural settlement, known for its self-sufficiency, hospitality and agricultural lifestyle. The hotel is family run and produces some of its own food. By using this smaller, yet characterful accommodation, we are improving the employment and income opportunities in this remote community. They endeavour to supply clients with fresh, locally grown produce and regional specialities, such as Yagodina yoghurt, thick pancakes called ‘katmi’, bean soup- ‘smilyanski fasul’ and ‘patanik’, which is a delicacy made from grated potatoes, onion, cheese and mint.