Brasov Tourism

Wildlife Tour & Bird Watching in the Carpathians and the Danube Delta – 8 days

Day 1:

Arrive at Henri Coanda Airport in Bucharest. Drive along the Prahova Valley to Moeciu de Sus – a village in the foothills of the Bucegi Mountains.  Overnight at a chalet-styled guesthouse in Moeciu de Sus.

Day 2:

From Moeciu de Sus, walk up through the forest of the Bucegi Mountain to emerge in a delightful landscape of high crags and alpine meadows.  Look for signs of wild animals.  Enjoy spectacular views over the mountains.  Return to the guesthouse in the evening to relax and enjoy a good dinner.

Day 3:

Drive to Zarnesti at the foot of Piatra Craiului Mountain – the heart of the Carpathian Large Carnivore Project study area. Meet with a wildlife guide.  Listen to a presentation about the project that operated in the area.  Here you will meet Crai and Poiana - the two hand-raised wolves of the project.

Note:  Visitors are asked to make a small donation (minimum 5 Euro per person) towards the upkeep of the wolf enclosure and food for the wolves.

Walk in the foothills of Piatra Craiului Mountain, formed largely of limestone and very rich in alpine flora – an area that offers spectacular scenery.  We will search for signs of wild animals and if time permits we will visit a shepherd’s log cabin to see how they make cheese.  Overnight at a guesthouse in Zarnesti at the foot of Piatra Craiului Mountain.

Day 4:

Head for the Danube Delta, leaving the Carpathian Mountains behind.  We then cross the Buzau Pass and descend through Nehoiu to Berca village to see “the Muddy Volcanoes” - a strange landscape in the Buzau Mountains.  These are formed by escaping natural methane gas, mixing with cold sub-surface water, producing pools of mud bubbling to the surface.  The overflowing mud gradually results in conical formations that look like small volcanoes - ranging from a few centimetres to several metres in diameter and anything up to 7 or 8 metres high.  The bubbling brown mud creates scenery that looks like a lunar landscape.  We continue to Buzau after which there is another hour and a half drive to the Moldavian region of Vrancea, famous for its vineyards.  Here we will sleep overnight in a wine village, in a beautiful old mansion restored in the traditional style with an impressive wine cellar.  In the evening there is time to enjoy a good Moldavian wine and an excellent meal cooked using only organic home produce.

Day 5:

Drive across the flat eastern plains into the Dobrogea region, heading to Tulcea town where we take the ferry to Crisan.  For about two and a half hours we can enjoy the sights of either completely wild wetlands alongside the Sulina Channel or of the beautiful, small fishing villages.  You can also get a first insight of the huge variety of birdlife here: Great-white and Little egrets, Pygmy cormorants, flights of Pelicans, Hoopoes, White-winged black terns and sometimes even the impressive White-tailed eagle.

We arrive at Crisan village where, after a short rest at our guesthouse, we can take a short walk along the country road between the villages of Crisan and Caraorman.  This road goes through typical Delta landscape - small lakes and large areas of reedbed.  It is a good area for different waders - Glossy ibis, Black-tailed godwit, Black-winged stilt, etc., as well as Rollers, Marsh harrier, Ferruginous duck and many more.  The dust on the road can also register wild-boar tracks.

Day 6:

We start by boat, entering the Magearu channel and heading towards Letea village.  These small channels are amongst the best places in the Delta for the birder, as they cross different types of habitat: small lakes, backwaters, floating and wooded islands etc.  Red-footed Falcon and Hobby are here as well as woodpeckers (Green or Black); Little Bittern; Grey, Purple,
Night and Squacco Heron; Spoonbill and Egrets; Grasshopper, Savi’s, River, Great Reed and many other warblers.

After about three hours we get to Letea, a charming small village with Ukrainian inhabitants and thatched-roofed houses.  We travel by tractor (really!) to Letea forest, one of the oldest natural reservations in Dobrogea, including an impresive virgin forest with trees more than 500 years old.  After walking through the best parts of this forest, we make our way back by tractor to Letea and from there, exploring some other channels, return to the guesthouse.

Day 7:

We take the ferry back to Tulcea, from where we drive to Enisala. This town is situated near to one of the old Turkish villages in the area, with an ancient hilltop fortress.  Here you can find many different habitats - forested slopes, bare limestone rock and bushy scrub, overlooking a vast area of reedbeds.

Just at the side of the road there is a large colony of Bee-eaters.  Exploring the areas around may give you some highlights like: Levant sparrowhawk, Honey and Long-legged buzzard, Boooted, Imperial or Lesser-spotted eagle; Calandra lark; Tawny pipit; Black-headed bunting plus, of course all the other birdlife typical of the Danube Delta.

Drive through Dobrogea and the flat plains of Wallachia towards Bucharest.  Overnight accommodation in a guesthouse in the Snagov area in the outskirts of Bucharest.

Day 8:

Drive to Henri Coanda Bucharest airport for flight home.

Explore the massifs of Bucegi and Piatra Craiului, part of the South-Eastern Carpathians meeting shepherds, farmers and foresters, and tracking bears, wolves, lynx, red deer, wild boar and exploring forest and mountain tracks.  The second part of the tour will be spent in the Danube Delta and will include a boat trip observing many rare species of birds.

DiscoveRomania

Offerings

DiscoverRomania was established to make your holiday in Romania an unforgettable experience.  Our goal is to offer quality travel experiences, at the same time ensuring a positive contribution to conservation, and economic benefits from tourism for the areas visited.

Our holidays are designed for the discerning traveller who is not happy with just “being there”, but with participating, learning and experiencing the “there” they visit.

We specialise in organising special interest itineraries for small groups and for individual travellers who want to travel independently.  We believe that small groups of travellers will allow us the flexibility to use a variety of local transport and stay in accommodation that otherwise would be impossible for larger groups.  In this way we can be more sensitive to the people and places visited, and can travel in a more personal way, like a group of friends and not like a tour group.

We also offer professional guiding for those who want to make their own arrangements and just need the added security of having a guide to accompany them.  We have experienced, licensed national tourism guides and mountain guides who will be more than happy to show you the wildlife, peoples and landscapes of Romania.

Accommodation will generally be in family homes, helping to support the rural economy.  We believe that staying with families introduces you to real life in rural Romania.  We also have selected lodges and small hotels which we think offer the best location, atmosphere, service and quality.

Travel is either by car, for individuals up to 3 people, or by minibus for groups of up to 15 people. However travel may also include walking, bike, horse or train (occasionally steam!).

Geographic focus:

We are based in the Transylvanian town of Brasov, in central Romania, and only half an hour away from the Piatra Craiului National Park – former base of the Large Carnivore project, a renowned research and conservation project concerned with wolves, bears and lynx.