Trip to Bulgaria in may 2015

[Rob Andriessen]

Hi all,

I am planning to go on a herp trip to Bulgaria with some friends next may. We'll fly to Sofia. Does anyone has any advice about good locations, especially in the Rhodopes mountains?
Aside from that: does anyone know where and how to watch bears? So far I can only find bear-watching trips lasting several days.

Thanks,

Rob

[André Van Hecke]

Dear Rob,
Perhaps this can help you!
http://www.freanonherping.be/bulkkaart.htm
Greetings
André

[Rob Andriessen]

Thank you Andre, that is very helpful. I understood the Kresna region is a good area for herping; has anyone experiences in this region?

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

I understood the Kresna region is a good area for herping; has anyone experiences in this region?

Yes.
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=9

Since you are new here, I thought I'd explain that perhaps you shouldn't expect to be handed out site details straight away after joining this forum. It takes some time to earn trust . Also, it is against the forum rules to discuss site details in public, as you probably already knew.

As far as bears go, I would imagine that in most parts of Europe you need to make the effort of more than a day to get to see them? A somewhat depressing but still cool exception is Brasov in Romania.
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=39

[Jeroen Speybroeck]

I understood the Kresna region is a good area for herping; has anyone experiences in this region?

Yes.
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=9

Since you are new here, I thought I'd explain that perhaps you shouldn't expect to be handed out site details straight away after joining this forum. It takes some time to earn trust . Also, it is against the forum rules to discuss site details in public, as you probably already knew.

As far as bears go, I would imagine that in most parts of Europe you need to make an effort of more than a day to get to see them? Not really knowledgeable on the subject, though, as I'm just a herper. A somewhat depressing but still cool exception is Brasov in Romania.
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=39

[Rob Andriessen]

Thanks for your response! I wasn't expecting exact site locations; I understand that this sensitive information that should be handled carefully. While this kind of information would of course be welcome, as of now it would be great to learn which regions of Bulgaria are the most interesting in the eyes of herpers with experience in the country. Your link was already very helpful with that. And, since our trip will include not only 100% reptile searching, we also want to include areas with great scenery, and, if possible, bears, though up until now I can only find bear tours lasting 4-5 days while we would like to spend at the most 2 days looking for bears; if the conclusion is that bears in 1 or 2 days isn't going to work out than that is too bad but fine (but maybe I'm going slightly off topic now).

Furthermore, to show you guys I'm taking things seriously (though I must admit I'm new to this forum thing and its etiquette), I posted a link to our Morocco trip we made 2 years ago. A report of our trip to northern Greece last year is underway.

[Ilian Velikov]

it would be great to learn which regions of Bulgaria are the most interesting in the eyes of herpers with experience in the country.

This depends on what are you most keen to see. All regions can offer nice findings - for berus, zootoca, coronella, anguis I'd try western and north-western parts of the country and high mountain regions like Vitosha, Rila or Pirin mountains (although the latter also has Platyceps, tortoises, P.erhardii, R.graeca and more). For more "southern/mediterranean" species (etc. Malpolon, Eryx, Typhlos, Ophisops, Pseudopus, Mauremys also Platyceps and tortoises) I'd stick to Kresna gorge, Eastern Rhodopi Mountains, Strandzha Mountains and the southern Black Sea coast. L. viridis, Natrix, Emys, Pelophylax and ammodytes are practiclly found throughout the country so you have a chance of seeing those wherever you are.

we also want to include areas with great scenery, and, if possible, bears

I think you won't have a problem with nice scenery I can't say the same for bears though. You can get them throughout the country but their stronghold is the Western Rhodopi Mountains. In any case it would be hard to find any.

[Rob Andriessen]

Thanks! I think we'll spend half the trip in the eastern Rhodopi mountains and half in the Kresna/Rila/Pirin area.

[Rémon ter Harmsel]

Crossbill guides has a nice guide about the Rhodopes as well.

[Maykel van Gent]

I understood the Kresna region is a good area for herping; has anyone experiences in this region?

As far as bears go, I would imagine that in most parts of Europe you need to make the effort of more than a day to get to see them? A somewhat depressing but still cool exception is Brasov in Romania.
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=39

I'll be going with Rob to Bulgaria too. I see you found quite a group of spadefoots as well. What is a good method to find them? We looked for them in Greece, but did not quite know what to look for.