Post-Congress botanical field trips
General information
Organizer of the post-congress field trips:
Explorer 2000 Travel and Tourist Company Ltd.,
Julia Stoyanova (Managing Director)
120, Evlogi Georgiev Blvd.,
1505 Sofia, Bulgaria
Tel.: +359 2 9440558 Tel./Fax: +359 2 8430852
GSM: +35988 8 716 775
E-mail: explorer@mail.bol.bg
Participants: min. number of participants 10 persons; max. number of participants 40 persons.
Accommodation for 28 and 29 June, 2006 is provided by the trip organizer: in case you need to stay overnight, please, fill in the on-line registration form; double room, 50 Euro, single room, 35 Euro per night.
Plant collection: Collection of herbarium specimens will be limited. The Organizers do not undertake either to provide facilities for plant collection (paper, presses, etc.), or for issuing the necessary certificates for the export of plant materials. However, limited plant collection is possible if the participants provide all necessary facilities on their own. Please, bear in mind that some of the trip itinerary passes through protected areas and many of the encountered plant species are protected under the Bulgarian law.
Registration: Please, use the on-line registration form of the Congress.
Payment: You can pay at the Registration Desk of the Congress or by a Bank transfer to the
trip organizer.
Those who register till 30 March, 2006, will receive by e-mail the sum which will be due for the respective field trip (depending on the number of registered participants).
Bank details:
Bank name: HVB Bank Biochim
SWIFT: BACXBGSF - Explorer 2000 LTD
Account number in Euro: 1486071006
Reference to be quoted on transactions: Post-Congress Field Trip of the IV Balkan Congress
Southeast Bulgaria, Mt Strandzha
Prices: for a group of 10–16 people, 230 Euro for accommodation in double rooms. For accommodation in a single room: an additional charge of 20 Euro. For a group of 16–40 people, 210 Euro for accommodation in double rooms. For accommodation in a single room: an additional charge of 20 Euro.
The price includes: transportation by bus, 3 nights full-board accommodation (including boxed lunches for the field trips) and an extra lunch for the return trip, a botanist trip guide.
The price does not include: flights to and from Sofia; accommodation for 29th June, 2006.
Duration: 4 days.
Departure: Monday morning, 26th June, 2006 from Vitosha Park Hotel.
Return to Sofia: late afternoon on 29th June, 2006.
Itinerary: The itinerary will cross Bulgaria in the east-southeast direction (about 410 km). It will pass through the fertile Thracian Lowland (near Plovdiv) and at the town of Sliven will turn parallel to the southern slopes of the Balkan Range. From Bourgas it will go southwards for 60 km and will reach the Primorsko town, a famous Black Sea resort. On the second and third day short trips (about 100 km) will be organized to the inner parts of Strandzha mountain. On the way back to Sofia the group will stop for a short visit at the Sinite Kamuni (Blue Rocks) Nature Park (the Balkan Range). The participants can see there high-mountain vegetation on a limestone base.
Description and aims of the field trip: Acquaintance with different plant communities and flora of the sand dunes at the South Black Sea Coast near Primorsko. South Euxinian flora and vegetation could be seen at Mt Strandzha.
Prevailing plants and plant communities:
Psamophytic vegetation: about 60 typical psamophytic and some halophytic plant species, including: Elymus elongatus, Leymus racemosus ssp. sabulosus, Linum tauricum ssp. bulgaricum, Eryngium maritimum, Ammophila arenaria, Aurinia uechtritziana, Cionura erecta, etc.
South Euxinian flora and vegetation: forests of Fagus orientalis and Quercus polycarpa, Quercus hartwissiana with Rododendron ponticum, Daphne pontica, Laurocerasus officinalis, Ilex colchica, and of the herbaceous plant species Fritillaria pontica, Primula acaulis ssp. rubra, Anemone blanda, Cyclamen coum, Scilla bithynica, Trachystemon orientalis.
Special attention: Mt Strandzha is a risk region for ticks. Please, be prepared with suitable clothes and repellents.
Trip organizer and field guide: Prof. Dimitar Peev, Institute of Botany, BAS; tel.: +359 2 9793777; fax: 359 2 8719032; e-mail: dpeev@bio.bas.bg
Southwest Bulgaria, river Strouma valley and Rila and Pirin mountains
Prices: for a group of 10–16 people, 145 Euro for accommodation in double rooms; for a group of 16–40 people, 140 Euro for accommodation in double rooms. For accommodation in a single room: an additional charge of 20 Euro.
The price includes: transportation by bus, 2 nights full-board accommodation (including boxed lunches for the field trips) and an extra lunch for the return trip, a botanist trip guide.
The price does not include: flights to and from Sofia; accommodation for 28th June, 2006.
Duration: 3 days.
Departure: Monday morning, 26th June, 2006 from Vitosha Park Hotel.
Return to Sofia: late afternoon on 28th June, 2006.
Itinerary: Sofia – Kresna – Breznitza – Bansko – peak Vichren – Bansko – Rila Monastery – lake Suhoto – Sofia.
Description and aims of the field trip: The field trip is aimed to present the varied flora and plant communities of the river Strouma valley, the hilly area of Southwest Bulgaria (alt. 300-400 m), up to the alpine vegetation in Rila and Pirin mountains (alt. 2700–2915 m).
Prevailing plants and plant communities:
Main landscapes and vegetation types are: the plantain (Platanus orientalis) woods in the Strouma valley; the Mediterranean communities of Juniperus excelsa, with the presence of Juniperus oxycedrus, Pistacia terrebinthus, Phillyrea latifolia, Colutea arborescens, Coronilla emerus, Hypericum olympicum, etc.; the altitudinal zonation of the vegetation on limestone and silicate base (mountain forests, the timberline and the alpine flora and vegetation in Rila and Pirin mountains is the richest in endemics area for Bulgaria). The botanical trip to the Pirin Mts passes through forests of endemic pines Pinus peuce and P. heldreichii and through subalpine formations of Pinus mugo and Juniperus sibirica. The following endemic species occur in the subalpine and alpine zones: Daphne kosaninii, Centaurea kellereri, Saxifraga ferdinandi-coburgi, S. spruneri, Oxytropis urumovii, Papaver degenii, Cyanus achtarovii, Erigeron vichrensis, Poa pirinica, etc. In the Rila Mts acidophilus Picea forests and subalpine and alpine flora complexes can be seen. Among the numerous endemic species are: Acer heldreichii, Lilium jankae, Geum bulgaricum, Rheum rhaponticum, Aubrieta gracilis, Cyanus orbelicus, etc.
Special attention: The lower parts of the terrain, i.e. the valley of river Strouma, pose the risk of snakes. For the Rila and Pirin Mts, please, be equipped for high-mountain tracking.
Trip organizer and field guide: Dr. Svetlana Bancheva, Institute of Botany, BAS; tel.: +359 2 9793764; fax: 359 2 8719032; e-mail: sbancheva@yahoo.com
South Bulgaria, Western Rhodopi Mountains
Prices: for a group of 10–16 people, 150 Euro for accommodation in double rooms; for a group of 16–40 people, 135 Euro for accommodation in double rooms. For accommodation in a single room: an additional charge of 20 Euro.
The price includes: transportation by bus, 2 nights full-board accommodation (including boxed lunches for the field trips) and an extra lunch for the return trip, a botanist trip guide.
The price does not include: flights to and from Sofia; accommodation for 28th June, 2006.
Duration: 3 days.
Departure: Monday morning, 26th June, 2006 from Vitosha Park Hotel.
Return to Sofia: late afternoon on 28th June, 2006.
Itinerary: Sofia – Pamporovo Resort – Trigrad – Devin – Beglika – Sofia.
Description and aims of the field trip: The feld trip presents an opportunity for having a glimpse of the magnificence of “the snow-clad mountain of the Thracians”, as Homer called the Rhodopes. The Rhodopes are part of the extensive Traco-Macedonian massif at the heart of the Balkan Peninsula. The mountain has a complicated geological history and constitutes of a host of ridges with different orientation, deep valleys and plateaus. The average altitude is 785 m and the highest peak is Perelik (2191 m).
Prevailing plants and plant communities:
The Rhodopes are the richest floristic region in Bulgaria. More then 2500 species grow here, among which many Balkan and Bulgarian endemics, including the relic endemics Haberlea rhodopensis and Lathraea rhodopea. Forests prevail as a vegetation type: Pinus silvestris, Picea abies and Abies borisii-regis are the dominant species, the latter in the southern parts of the mountain. Deciduous forests (mainly of beech and oak, but also mixed forests with a number of other deciduous species) dominate the northern slopes and eastern part of the mountain. Extensive pastures and meadows have existed since the Thracian times.
Along river Chepelarska (Chaya) one can visit the “locus classicus” of some species described by Josef Velenovsky (Verbascum decorum, Seseli rhodopeum, etc.). The itinerary reaches the Pamporovo Resort. It is situated among a splendid mosaic of coniferous forests and meadows (in full bloom at that season!). The second day is fully devoted to the carst area near Trigrad village, well known for the famous Trigrad gorge. The richness of the flora is amazing: Abies borisii-regis, Haberlea rhodopensis, Scabiosa rhodopensis, Arenaria rhodopaea, Saxifraga stribrnyi, Campanula orphanidea, Chondrilla urumoffii, Marrubium frivaldskyanum, Crataegus orientalis, Morina persica, and many others. During the last day the group will stop in the Beglika Nature Reserve with century-old spruce forests. Here boreal elements like Galium boreale, Potentilla palustris, Potentilla fruticosa, etc. grow together with the endemics Viola rhodopeia, Geum rhodopaeum. On the adjacent marble screes and slopes one can encounter Astragalus alopecurus, Saponaria bellidifolia, Saxifraga sempervivum.
Special attention: Please, be equipped for high-mountain tracking.
Trip organizer and field guide: Dr. Antoaneta Petrova, Botanic Garden of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; tel.: +359 2 9672823; e-mail: petrovabotgar1@abv.bg