The guide books generally agree that there are four distinct seasons here and up to now I’ve experienced late spring, summer and autumn. May was sunny during the day but cold in the shade and when the sun went down. Summer was hot – it was actually about 40 degrees celsius when I arrived in mid August 2006 – this was melting weather but apparently very unusual. There are occasional dramatic thunder storms during the summer months – don’t worry – they’re not very often and we’ll provide shelter for campers.
I haven’t experienced winter here yet – it requires a lot of preparation and, I imagine, carefully selected company! Its hard to think of the place freezing, with snow on the ground for a couple of months but I’m curious to see how life goes on in those circumstances so some time I will stay here over the winter.
As I write this at the end of October – the sky is blue with a few wispy clouds, there is a slight breeze and its about 25 degrees. This is now my favourite season here and its made me think about autumn in Britain, which of course has its own beauty but not exactly T-shirt and shorts weather.
The wind, or lack of it, also makes a huge difference. The trees all around are a glorious mix of yellows with patches of red and because there is no real wind and certainly no gales, all of the leaves have stayed on the trees for ages so their full beauty can be really appreciated. I’ve just been for a walk in one of the nearby forests – mostly young oak but lots of other trees that I don’t know. The floor of the forest was yellow and brown with a carpet of leaves, the sun was shining through the leaves and the gentle breeze made the leaves fall in light showers – without sounding trite, I could have been in Lothlorien.
So if you want to escape the extremes of autumn in the British Isles or you just want to walk in peaceful, silent, beautiful woods, autumn is the time to come here. There are also loads of fungi –many of them edible. I will have more precise information on this for next autumn.
I’m excited now to see early spring – I wonder what the Bulgarian equivalent of a sea of bluebells is?
I haven’t actually seen much of the wild life here although I have heard some strange noises. There are deer in the woods and they can often be heard near the village at night. There are bears and wolves in Bulgaria and I really hope I get to see a wolf sometime. There appear to be jackal around too and of course there are wild boar but hopefully you won’t encounter one in the woods – they are mostly afraid of people and will run away, I have been reliably informed.
There were loads of woodpeckers and cuckoos here in May and during the summer I saw a variety of small birds – finches etc – I can never remember the names of birds! and some big birds of prey. There are storks nests all over the place – this is really exciting and I would love to entice a pair of storks to nest around here – I’ve got no idea how!
Great selection of butterflies and moths including something that is a cross between a butterfly and a humming bird. I hope we have visitors who are entomologists and ornithologists so I get to know what these things are. I have asked local people but they don’t have names for them and when the butterfly has flown off, its hard to describe it in another language.
There are a few snakes too – only two kinds are poisonous. I will get pictures of them soon but they are not very commonly seen.
There are also beautiful and diverse wildflowers – many of them grow in the camping field and I have to find a way to keep them there but also have room for tents.
My experience of all of these things is very limited up to now and I hope that visitors here will help in the exploration of the flora and fauna of this area and share it with others via this site.