The Mid-Rhodopes offer extreme experience to adventurous spirits



Getting to know the Mid-Rhodope Mountain Range in Southern Bulgaria can be unforgettable experience for anybody fond of wildlife and high adrenaline.



The valley of Arda River, for example, can offer horse trekking. The region abounds in horse-riding centres with well-trained horses. From the village of Gorna Arda you can ride horses to the spring of Arda River near Bulgaria’s border with Greece. The place is picturesque with a camping site where, should you arrange things in advance, you can enjoy home-made delicious meals prepared by the local people. Recreational off roading is another desired attraction in the region. The steep and hardly penetrable mountain slopes near the village of Smilyan called Garga Dere are also worth visiting. An alpine trolley, 145m in length, is stretched over the shoulders of the canyon of Garga Dere, with the icy waters of Essenska River meandering underneath. If you are afraid of heights, this is the perfect place where you can overcome your phobia and experience moments of



“The ride with the Alpine trolley lasts for some 20 minutes”, Alexander Inev from Moursalitsa Club of Extreme Tourism told Radio Bulgaria. You fly over at a height of 6 to 7 meters, being above water all the time. We haven’t had any accidents so far. Everybody screams with joy and has a lot of fun! We can guarantee that if you are scared before doing the trolley ride, you will have overcome your fear after that”.

On the right bank of Essenka River, near the Alpine trolley, one can find the impenetrable maw of the water cave Goulobovitsa 2. To enter the cave, tourists receive special equipment including rubber boots, life jacket, helmet, etc. Some 3 km away from the village of Mogilitsa one can go to the cave of Uhlovitsa, which is famous for its beautiful karst formations. To get there you will have to climb more than 180 steps, which is a small challenge in itself. “In the Mid-Rhodope Range tourists can be cave adventurers, climbers and explorers at the same time”, Alexander Inev said. He also recommended yet another extreme experience, the so-called Alpine pendulum, which is a long rope hanging down from a certain height. The pendulum in the Mid-Rhodopes hangs from the dome of the Kaleto Cave, which is not far away from the village of Koshnitsa. Those who dare to try out the attraction receive equipment, tie themselves around the rope and swing leftwards and rightwards, like the pendulum of a gigantic clock.



“People think this is bungee, when in fact it is a simple pendulum. You fly over the forest at a height of some 10-15 meters depending on how strong you can swing. The amplitude is about 25 meters, which creates the impression you are flying”, Alexander Inev concluded.

The valley of Arda River is also interspersed with magnificent rock formations. The local club of extreme tourism will most certainly suggest that you climb up along the so-called Via Ferrata. This is a 140-meter-long metal road carved into the rock, which is made from rope-supported iron steps. That and other attractions will turn your vacation in the Mid-Rhodope Range into a real, unforgettable adventure.

Thanks for this it just goes to show there is a lot more the beauty of Bulgaria than some of us may think! this has really opened my eyes quite a bit

sarah

Yes Sarah your right there is so much more to Bulgaria thank most people think if only they would get out of their cars and wonder around a little and then they would come across the real Bulgaria another bit of advice would be to wonder off the main roads and see where it takes you we often do this and we have seen some lovely places and people.

[size=55:6oj8i4xf]BNR

The New Thracian Gold – organic farming and ecotourism project in the Eastern Rhodopes



The New Thracian Gold is the name of a joint project between Bulgaria and the Netherlands in the field of organic farming, Eco-tourism and by-products aimed at boosting the economic growth in the Eastern Rhodope Mountain regions in Southern Bulgaria. The ancient Thracians who inhabited these lands were known as gold miners. Since then, the local mines for non-ferrous metals, including inert metals, have been then main source of earning one’s living for a larger part of locals. These mines however were closed several decades ago. Another traditional occupation here has also been slowing dying out in recent year, i.e. tobacco growing. However, the region has another precious source of “gold” – its unspoiled nature and the opportunities for organic farming, Eco-tourism and by-products. This is the alternative offered to local people by two Dutch nature preservation organizations, ARK and Avalon, who work in cooperation with their Bulgarian partners.



Associate professor Vladislav Popov from the Agriculture University in Plovdiv who is also head of the Centre for Agroecology at the university, tells us more:
“These are some of the regions with the poorest population and poorest soils in the country but they have unique natural landscape and well-preserved biodiversity. This is a pilot project for Bulgaria and we would like to see whether it will have expected positive social impact and how local people will respond to this idea. We would like to encourage people to have more initiative and help each other. If we fail to benefit from the current demand for organic products, we will lose valuable markets in Europe”.



The rural regions with a beautiful mountain scenery and rich biodiversity near the towns of Kardjali, Ivailovgrad, Madjarovo, Krumovgrad and Stambolovo offer really splendid conditions for developing the three components of the new project – organic farming, tourism and bioproducts. One of the local participants in the New Thracian Gold project has started breeding wild horses near Ivailovgrad. In many places, farmers have started breeding small herds of the Rhodope shorthorn cattle, a species that is currently faced with extinction, and also of the local Karakachan sheep species. The growing of valuable herbs and cereal crops such as wheat, rye, and sesame has also started. Vineyards for organic wine have appeared in the region of Stambolovo. Thus, a real mosaic of diverse products that could create the future prosperity in this region has come to life, experts from New Thracian Gold project think.

“First, we started with several people whose lands were biocertified”, associate professor Popov says. “Currently, some 35 producers have already applied for such certification. We are trying to help them by partially covering the procedural costs. We have conducted 8 courses for training in various fields of organic farming. Since last year, we have been conducting a visitors’ day in one of our two experimental farms near the town of Madjarovo. We would like to make organic farming a traditional occupations for people in the Eastern Rhodope Mountain”.

The owner of one of the experimental organic farms with 35 hectares of certified land is Krasimir Arabadjiev who has embraced the challenge of organic farming.



“It is true that organic farming is much more time-consuming and difficult than conventional farming, but I think that the future belongs to organic foods. After the growing of tobacco dies out in this region, our advice to farmers will be to switch to the organic production of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and cattle breeding. Organic products have good markets in Europe that will be constantly growing. I believe that if we could make an association of at least 5 or 6 organic farmers, we will be able to directly come out on the markets without intermediaries.”

More than 200 people have already attended the training course in organic farming in Krasimir Arabadjiev’s model farm. Farmers wish to see, with their own eyes, how the land is tilled, what is used for irrigation and sprinkling, how herbs should be picked and dried, etc. For the first time this year, the course has included a special training in marketing strategies because finding good markets is the biggest problem for the organic farming sector in Bulgaria, as Vladislav Popov, coordinator of the project says. So far, herbs and the organically grown wheat and rye that are in demand for the manufacturing of organic bread and other pastry products are in highest demand at foreign markets. Another local crop is also in high demand – sesame and its derivatives sesame seed and sesame oil. In the opinion of associate professor Popov, it has become a hit on the German and Dutch Markets in recent years. Bulgarian organic honey is also well known on European markets. However, Bulgarian farmers still need to seek ways of earning larger market shares on a global scale.

Lovely pictures and very informative, reading all the info with a cup of tea and a nice fruit scone.

[size=55:1z1i3c8a]Sofia echo

Wild horses come to Bulgaria's eastern Rhodopes



Tarpans – wild horses – will be introduced into Bulgaria for the first time in the region of the Eastern Rhodopes in early September.

Their introduction is part of the wilderness restoration activities of the Bulgarian-Dutch project for the sustainable development of the eastern Rhodopes known as the New Thracian Gold

Paleontologists have found tarpan bones in Bulgaria, proving that the horse once lived in the country. Tarpans became extinct in wild nature between 1875 and 1890, when the last known wild mare was accidentally killed in Russia during an attempt to capture it. The last captive tarpan died in 1909 in a Russian zoo.

A total of 12 tarpans will be introduced to the area of Sbor, municipality of Krumovgrad.

The horses will be imported from the Netherlands. In the first year of the Bulgarian experiment wildlife experts will keep the Tarpans fenced for appropriate habituation to the Rhodopian wilderness. When the horses are accustomed to Bulgarian nature, they shall be released into the wild.

Wild tarpans are robust horses with very well developed social behaviour, easily adaptable to the harsh conditions of semi-open wilderness landscapes.

There are currently about 4000 tarpans, almost half of which are in the Netherlands. In 2010, 21 Dutch tarpans were reintroduced to Latvian nature. In previous years tarpans from Holland also re-colonised English, French, Belgian and German nature areas.

Before introducing the tarpans, the New Thracian Gold team has conducted research in the Eastern Rhodopes about the Bulgarian legislation and official requirements. The team also organised meetings with local authorities and local people, because local cooperation is necessary in such unique experiment.

Tarpan wild horses to be reintroduced to Bulgaria


SOFIA — Tarpan horses, a breed that disappeared from the wild in Europe two centuries ago, will soon be reintroduced in south-east Bulgaria, organisers said Wednesday.

The prehistoric horses will be brought to the Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria, a region they are believed to have inhabited in the past, as part of a joint Dutch-Bulgarian project.

"
Twelve tarpans will be transported Sunday to the south-eastern region of Krumovgrad from their breeding ground in the Netherlands,"
Stefan Avramov, a biodiversity expert with the New Thracian Gold project told AFP.

Once in Bulgaria, the horses will be raised in enclosures until they adapt to the mountainous conditions here, he added.

The enclosures will be gradually enlarged until the animals get used to the surroundings and are ready to be released into the wild, Johan Bekhauis from the Dutch ARK foundation added.

The experts were however unable to say how long the adaptation might take.

"
In the Netherlands they have never seen a rock, a mountain. They have to be used to the landscape: rocks, valleys, different vegetation, to find water, to protect themselves,"
Bekhauis said.

Ordinary horses will be used to "
teach"
the newcomers how to protect themselves from wolves, for example, he added.

The tarpans died out in the wild between 1875 and 1890, but Polish peasants continued to raise them together with ordinary horses up until the 1930s.

They were then introduced in the Netherlands and from there to some regions in western France, northern Germany, Britain, Belgium and Lithuania, Avramov explained.

The New Thracian Gold project received funding from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery in 2009 and has since worked to develop natural grazing, organic agriculture and eco tourism in the eastern Rhodope mountains.