Dear friends,
The “Plamnina” Foundation and “Science for Nature” Foundation are happy to announce our joint summer tent camp for children and students in the city of Madzharovo! An exciting adventure awaits us in the wild Eastern Rhodopes, which will reveal to us the secrets of camping under the open sky, the beauty of the Rhodopes, the world of bats and vultures and the magical power of water! Get ready for vultures feeding and bats watching, biodiversity and mountaineering training, hiking, fishing and kayaking, creativity and lots of new friends!
You can see the full program below 🙂
Who? Children and young people – 11 to 17 years
When? From 07.06.2022 to 07.10.2022.
How long? Registration deadline – 06.05.2022.
How? Sign up by filling out the survey: https://forms.gle/gzZG5ZhGAk9jJ5p46
How much? The price for one participant is BGN 550 and is valid for 15 participants. The foundation also provides half-fee and full-fee scholarships. Apply for a scholarship by completing the survey: https://forms.gle/gTdCYKZMUeT3nGrV6
What is included in the price:
- 5 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, two intermediate meals)
- 4 nights in a tent
- Transportation from, to, and during camp
- Tourist insurance
- Qualified guides, trainers and instructors
- Trainings, workshops and activities
- Kayaking fee and equipment
- Training materials
- Specialized equipment
The price does not include:
- Personal equipment
- Expenses of a personal nature
All mountains tracks and activities are tailored to the physical capabilities of children between 11 and 17 years old. The foundations reserve the right to make changes to the program in circumstances beyond their control or according to the characteristics of the group. If you have any questions, write to us on Facebook, at info@plamnina.com or at info@sciencefornature.org
More information on the Plamnina Foundation website: https://www.plamnina.com/leten-lager-rodopski-predaniya-2021
The program
On our first day together, we head to the heart of the Eastern Rhodopes – the town of Madjarovo. As soon as we arrive, we start to feel like real adventurers because we pitch our tents and prepare our bivouac for the evening. Here are some dating games to discover more about our new tent buddies in the coming days. In the evening, we start by preparing the fire, on which we will cook a delicious dinner ourselves. The evening is a time for stories around the campfire and sharing the day’s experiences.
On the second day, we will get to know bats and bat researchers. Both species are mammals, but while the former spend their nights hunting insects, the latter are humans who spend their time studying bats. We will be able to find out more about both firsthand. During the day we will visit an example “housing” and gain knowledge about:
– where do bats live?
– what do they do in their free time
– what makes them better flyers than birds?
– why even though they carry dozens of viruses do they not get sick from them?
– what we should be grateful to them for
– what we are doing and what we can do for the protection of bats in Bulgaria.
After the sun goes down, we’ll go on a real bat hunt and step, albeit briefly, into the shoes of a bat researcher. You will see with your own eyes how a bat is caught (for scientific purposes) and why someone would do it.
On the third day of our adventure, we will immerse ourselves in ornithology and get acquainted with one of the most interesting and at the same time least known birds in Bulgaria – the vultures.
Madjarovo is located in the crater of the largest volcano in the Balkans, which erupted more than 35 million years ago. The magma, although long since cooled, has now become home to hundreds of birds. But the ones that ornithologists from all over Europe travel to observe are the Egyptian vulture and the griffon vulture.
We will follow the trail of these two species and find out:
How people managed to drive them away
– How, again with the help of people, the birds have returned
– How people feed vultures and why they do it
– In what other ways can we help the vultures and other birds in Madjarovo
– And last but not least – what kind of animal is the ornithologist and where does he (it) meet
In the afternoon we will indulge in creativity dedicated to birds, and later we will have a camping Masterchef class in which we will prepare a delicious dinner.
No less exciting activities await us on the fourth day through the wild Rhodopes. We get up early, have breakfast and go on a water adventure! We are about to discover the beauty of the Arda River and its surrounding rocks by going down its course in kayaks. Tired but satisfied, we will have a picnic on the river bank. We will dedicate the afternoon to the beach and sunbathing, and whoever wants can learn how to make a fishing rod out of wood and try to catch something with it. Before dinner, we grab the maps and compasses to figure out how to navigate the mountains with them and of course – to find some treasures. The evening will be exciting for everyone, because in addition to the campfire, the talent show awaits us, in which each of us will reveal what we are capable of.
On the last fifth day, we pack up the tents, the bivouac and the luggage. When all this is done, we will look back and make sense of the adventure we have experienced, we will share our excitement and emotions together, we will test our knowledge, we will collect and seal our memories. At noon we head back home, full of experiences, memories, emotions, new friendships and wider horizons.
