Mount Vitosha

25 July 2004

To break up their long summer holiday, we took seven of our eldest Dupnitza children on an excursion to Mount Vitosha.  Mount Vitosha is a peak that rises just to the south of capital Sofia.  In the hot summertime, it's a wonderful place to escape the heat and to spend a day hiking around the splendid landscape.

Our Day

We left Dupnitza at 9:30 in the morning, traveled 2 hours by bus to Sofia, and then another 20 minutes by taxi to Dragalevtsi village at the base of Mount Vitosha.  At Dragalevtsi there is a 30-minute chair-lift that goes part-way up the mountain.  We took this lift, and then a 30-minute hike on the mountainside to Aleko lodge.  From Aleko, we took another 20-minute chair-lift to the top of the mountain.  There, we ate a picnic lunch and spent a couple hours wandering around the mountain top, climbing rocks, and enjoying the cool air.  At 3:00 we took the lift back to Aleko, where we had a coffee/snack break.  From Aleko we took a 30-minute cabin-lift back down to the base of the mountain.  We arrived back in Dupnitza at 7:30pm.  The kids were quite tired, but had a GREAT day, and it was a great distraction for them from their boring summer days at the orphanage.

Acknowledgements

Our excursion to Mount Vitosha was made possible by funding from each of the children's individual sponsors:
Richard Gonzalez - Dimitar
Doug King - Sasho and Kotsi
Mary Curtis - Gergana
Laurie Saari - Kamelia
Shirley Miller - Krassy
Peter Gehrke - Vyara
Thanks to all of you for creating a great time and a wonderful memory for these deserving kids!
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