Adventures That Count. Sublime Slovakia. Your Taste of Volunteering Project: Environmental Conservation

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1 Sublime Slovakia Your Taste of Volunteering Project: Environmental Conservation You can help play a role in the conservation of wild bears in Europe. The Tatras Mountains are the most westerly that these wonderful animals call home, and you can assist with the vital monitoring work being performed, including a groundbreaking census of the bears. Furthermore, you can help provide conservation education about bears in local schools. Finally, the chamois (mountain goat) are also endangered, and you can help conduct a census of their population as well. Trip Highlights:. Help conserve endangered bears and chamois (mountain goats). Aqua City Resort; Europe's leading eco-hotel. Stunning mountain hikes. Fascinating historic villages Trip Description: Day 1: Arrival in Poprad, Slovakia Upon arrival in Poprad airport, you are transferred by car to Aqua City Eco-Resort. AquaCity is a luxury water park and spa that is virtually self-powered by the solar energy and geothermal energy from vast underground lakes beneath the plains of northern Slovakia. It was the first winner of World's Leading Green Resort in 2007 and won the award again in 2008, in the World Travel Awards, voted for by info@hnadsupholidays.com1

2 international travel agents. Now it is a globally recognized example of how to create sustainable tourism. Aquacity offers an amazing array of indoor and outdoor geothermal swimming pools, saunas, solariums, Cryotherapy centre (a freezing therapeutic treatment), and even a spectacular laser show each evening. Prior to your welcome dinner at Aquacity, you have a tour briefing which sets out exactly what the next ten days shall entail; from where you stay each night, to a brief background about each excursion and safari. This forum provides a chance for you to ask any questions about the trip itinerary. Day 2: Tour of Historic Spis town to Levoca After breakfast, we head towards the pretty and historical Spis town of Levoca which dates from the late Stone Age and is first recorded in In the centre of the Main Square, the Church of St Jacob has 11 Gothic and Renaissance altars and boasts the tallest Gothic wooden altar in the world which stands at metres high and 6.2 metres wide. A museum in the town hall presents a rich history of the town. In the Main Square almost all of the houses are well preserved examples dating from the Middle Ages. Overnight at the Aqua City hotel (B,D). Day 3: Your volunteering begins After an early breakfast, we set out to the Western Tatras mountains. Your accommodation is in one of the special cottages usually only available to rangers or national park staff. These cottages are in fantastic remote areas at the heart of the best wildlife viewing. Some have electric lighting powered by water info@hnadsupholidays.com2

3 turbine in the streams, some do not. Some have internal cold water showers supplemented by buckets of hot water. Some have toilets inside, some outside (the most remote and best positioned ones tend to have the least facilities). That said, staying in these cottages is one of the most wonderful parts of taking this tour. They are situated in breath-taking positions and provide an experience that will live long in your memory. You are to be with one of the researchers from the ongoing bear project and have plenty of opportunity to learn about the bears of the area. This includes having an idea of how many bears there are and what is their demographic make-up as well as specific information about bear biology found from our collared animals and from our specially placed camera traps. In the afternoon we drive and walk the valley floors out of reach of tourists in search of bears, wolves, chamois, red and roe deer and birds of prey. In the evening we take a look at our project bears (with data sent to the computer from collars). We discuss what the bears have been doing. Overnight in rangers cottage (L,D) Day 4: Volunteering We leave the cottage early in the morning and try to get close to one of the project bears in order to study their behaviour. This may also be a day when we go to the home range of one of the Tatra marmot colonies. These endearing and endangered mammals make for fascinating viewing but we have to be very stealthy in our approach as their security cordon will alert the group with specialised whistles that enemies are approaching from land (they have different whistles for airborne threats). info@hnadsupholidays.com3

4 Also as we move around, we collect pictures from the camera traps and you may have the chance to be involved in a session trying to identify these bears and place them in our database. This data is important because, as yet there has never been a census of the Tatra bear population. After lunch we drive to the medieval square of Spisska Sabota with its thirteenth century church and beautifully preserved Burgher houses. Your accommodation is in the lovely boutique pension, Alzbetka, situated on the edge of the square. (B,L) Day 5 The Tatra Foundation Today we visit the Tatra Foundation an organization set up to provide conservation education in schools, and help nature conservation projects. You can get involved in collecting information on attitudes to bears, through questionnaires for farmers and other villagers. This is a very important part of the research process. Overnight Pension Alzbetka (B) Day 6 Volunteering with Chamois The Tatra Chamois is on the World Wildlife Fund s red list of endangered animals species. There are only 500 of these animals left in the world and they are concentrated in the High Tatras mountains with a few over the valley in the Low Tatras. They live a fragile existence perched precariously on rocky ridges, often moving into caves slightly lower down in the winter. They are extremely vulnerable to avalanches in the late winter and early spring; 2009 has been a bad year for avalanches and as much as 5% of this population may have been lost. info@hnadsupholidays.com4

5 The best place to see the Tatra Chamois is in Belianske Tatry which is our destination for the next two days. We try to find one of the main herds and do an actual census of the animals to compare with previous data to see if any have been lost. The Belianske area is also renowned for its birds and we have a good chance of seeing Golden Eagles. The flowers in spring here are extremely beautiful and include many rare species such as the Ladies Slipper Orchid and there are several stunning side valleys inaccessible to tourists where we can explore for bears, wolves and other animals in glorious, peaceful setting. Overnight Mountain Cottage (B,L,D) Day 7 Scenic mountain walk and further census work Once again, we will leave the cottage early in the morning to explore the valleys and hills at the Northern end of the Belianske Tatras hopefully enjoying the superb morning light whilst looking for wildlife. In 2009 we have no bears collared in this area but this will change in 2010, and a proposed wolf study will probably commence with one of the packs in Belianske. We have camera traps in the area so will certainly take the chance to continue with our census work whilst here. After lunch, we drive back to Spisska Sabota. Overnight Pension Alzbetka (B,L) Day 8 Free Day This day gives the chance to rest weary limbs after all of the previous days mountain exploration. There is an opportunity in the morning (weather permitting) for you to info@hnadsupholidays.com5

6 take a panoramic flight by plane or even by balloon over the beautiful mountains we have traversed. The plane has 3 passenger seats; the balloon is provided by the Kosice balloon club and is only really viable for a minimum of 4 people for a flight of hours. In the afternoon, we drive around the Western Tatras mountains to the small town of Liptovsky Hradock and the beautiful Grand Castle Hotel. This is without doubt one of the nicest and most atmospheric hotels in Slovakia full of antique heir looms and grand historical features. Every room is unique and there are Spa and Wellness facilities and tranquil gardens to relax in. (B) Day 9 Village museum at Prybilina You have the morning to relax in the beautiful surroundings of the hotel, and in the afternoon visit the village museum at Prybilina. This is an entire village, preserved in a full working state, including blacksmiths, cobblers, and various other traditional trades. Often there are folk festivals held at the site, and it may be possible to witness one. Overnight Grand Castle Hotel (B) Day 10 Transfer to airport or train station We transfer you to the airport in time for your flight, or to the train station if you are travelling elsewhere in Europe. (B) B= Breakfast, L= Lunch, D= Dinner Comfort Level: 4/5 (apart from basic huts whilst volunteering on Days 3 & 6) Activity Level: 4/5 Min. Travellers per Group: 2 Max. Travellers per Group: 12 Police Check Required? No info@hnadsupholidays.com6