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The Carpathian
Mountains represent the largest area of pristine nature in Central and
Eastern Europe. More than one third of all wolves, bears, and lynx west
of Russia roam these impressive mountains.
At the foot of the Carpathians is the village of Sinca Noua, “New Shinca”,
a small and picturesque village of some 2,000 inhabitants. Time stands
still here, shepherds take their flocks in the mountains as they did for
centuries, in the evenings, cows and water buffaloes are brought back
from the pastures to the village and there is little noise except the
buzzing of insects and the twittering of sparrows and swallows. Hoopoes,
bee-eaters, black storks or lesser spotted eagles are commonly sighted
and the area has an incredible richness of flowers in all colours. The
village has read the signs of the times and wants to keep this treasure:
It declared itself the first “ecological village” of Romania.
The base of your ride is a newly build riding centre that combines local
traditions with Western standard. The centre has a new, tasteful and
modern guesthouse with private bathrooms and offers mainly organic food
from its own garden or from the surrounding farms.
 IT-ROSR04
Rates include lodging at the riding center and one night in tents,
all meals, 5 riding days and sightseeing trip to Viscri and Sighisoara
8 days/ 7 nights $ 1,325 Single: 110
-- based on € 850 / 70
HT
SPECIAL Dates $130
OFF (-€80)
2008 Dates:
05/03-05/10 05/17-05/24
05/24-05/31
05/31-06/07 06/14-06/21
06/21-06/28
07/05-07/12 07/12-07/19 08/09-08/16
08/23-08/30 08/30-09/06 09/13-09/20
10/04-10/11 10/18-10/25 10/25-11/01
availability & reservations
Meeting: Bucharest
Airport: Bucuresti Otopeni
Transfer: Included from
Bucharest
at set times
Tack: English
Horses: Shagya Arabs,
Arabs, Kisberi,
Gidran, Hungarian half breeds
The mixture of horses offers a suitable horse
for everybody from calm horses for the lesser experienced to fast and
fiery horses for the demanding rider. But all horses have stamina and
are used to the mountains.
Pace : 4-7 hours per day - not suitable for novice,
participants have to be competent at walk, trot and canter
Level:
Intermediate
Min/Max: 3-8 riders
Note:
The
two-day trip with overnight camping depends on the weather conditions.
In case of bad weather forecast we reserve the right to change the
two-day trip into two single day trips with overnight at the guesthouse.
Drinks are not included.
A donation to the Conservation Fund of the area (min
Euro 40) is expected from all riders.
Delta now flies direct from New York to Bucharest.
Your hosts:
The owners of the riding centre, Barbara and
Christoph Promberger, have been leading the Carpathian Large Carnivore
Project over the last ten years, the largest research and conservation
project on large carnivores in Central and Eastern Europe. During this
time, they have gained a great deal of experience about large carnivores
and are happy to tell their stories about wolves, bears, and lynx. They
are now again involved in a large conservation programme in and around
Sinca Noua, which intends to develop the area into a large conservation
area with certified organic agriculture around the village and unspoiled
and protected forests in the hills and mountains around Sinca.
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival
Arrival at the Bucharest airport, where we will be picked up and
transferred through the spectacular mountains to our guesthouse in Sinca
Noua (ca. 3 hours). You will receive a welcome drink, a local dinner and
will spend the evening with Barbara and Christoph to prepare the week.
Day 2 and 3: Trips into the mountains
After breakfast you will be shown around the farm and introduced
to the horses. Soon we take off for a first ride along the meadows at
the foot of the mountains. The hills offer a fantastic view over the
area and the meadows invite for some first trot or canter. You will be
stunned by the variety of wild flowers and we might already come across
the first tracks of bears or wild boar. We enter on a forest road into
the vast forests of the Carpthians and follow a long valley up into the
mountains. Parts of the forests have never been cut and huge beech and
fir trees hem our way. After lunch break on a mountain meadow with
spectacular view we return in the early evening back to the stable. In
the evening you will see a video presentation about the research and
conservation project, which the Prombergers carried out over the last 10
years.
The next day we will ride again through the hills and valleys of the
area, pass a more than 100 year old railway viaduct built during the
Austro-Hungarian empire, might come across shepherd camps, cow herds and
water buffaloes, and should find tracks of bears, boars, red deer,
wolves or lynx. There will be lots of possibilities for canters and even
gallops over the meadows.
Day 4: Rest for the horses and the history of Transylvania
Today we give the horses a rest and experience the true history
of Transylvania. We leave Sinca Noua and drive for about an hour and a
half through sleepy villages to the north, until we reach the village of
Viscri with its famous fortified church (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
from the times of the invasion of Turks. It is just a gravel road, which
gets us the last 10 kilometers to Viscri, which has been a settlement of
the Saxons, the German minority, for the last 900 years. In 1990, most
of the villagers have left to Germany, but a small number of people
stayed to continue their traditional life. Although by now a minority in
their own village, the people started to build themselves a future where
their ancestors lived for centuries. On personal invitation of Prince
Charles, who visited the village in 2002, representatives of the village
have even participated in a symposium in London. We visit the fortified
church, stroll through the village and will be served a traditional
Saxon meal with food from own production and home-made wine and plum
brandy. In the afternoon we continue to the city of Sighisoara, one of
the cultural centres of the Saxons. We visit the medieval centre of
Sighisoara and arrive back at our guesthouse in Sinca Noua in the late
evening.
Day 5 and 6: 50 km roundtrip through the Transylvanian forests
A 50 km roundtrip leads us through the endless forests of
Transylvania, home of the large carnivores. We pass through forests and
cross beautiful mountain meadows, will have the possibility for some
long canters and arrive in the afternoon in an area, where people’s life
has changed little since the middle ages. Their little mountain farms
are still being worked with oxen or horses, people lack even facilities
such as running water or electricity. Camp is being set for us at one of
these farms with a fantastic view around. We will enjoy a rustic dinner
cooked at the campfire and have a long evening around the fire to tell
stories. The next morning we pack our stuff and ride along forest trails
and roads through the wild forests of Transylvania. We can enjoy the
spectacular view over the Carpathian mountains and tracks of wolves or
bears are commonly found along the trails. In the afternoon, we arrive
back at the guesthouse.
Day 7: A ride through time
On our last ride for the week, we ride in a large loop around
Sinca Noua through wild forests, beautiful meadows, enjoy canters and
great scenery, and arrive back at our guesthouse after 6 hours.
Day 8: Time to say good-bye
After breakfast we pack our luggage and are being brought back to
Bucharest.
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Slide Show
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Right in the middle of
Romania, only 50 km west of Brasov, lays Sinca
Noua (New Shinca), a picturesque village between
the Persani Mountains in the Northeast and the
Fagaras Mountains in the West. The Sinca River
flows from Poiana Marului via Sinca Nou into the
Olt River, which reaches the Danube River after
its journey through the Carpathian Mountains.
The first inhabitants of Sinca Noua moved to the
area in 1762 from Sinca Veche (Old Shinca), some
10 km further North. It was about 80 families
who were hiding in the deep forests of the Sinca
valley to escape from forced Catholicism and
military service in Maria Theresia's army. They
settled near an old orthodox wooden chapel that
was build in 1572 and is still a very important
site for the community.
Today, Sinca Noua is inhabited by 1,800 people,
4 of which belong to the Hungarian minority, 2
are Saxons, and about 200 belong to the Roma.
Their main occupation still is agriculture and
livestock breeding, but in the recent past,
eco-tourism has also become an issue of
interest.
People in Sinca Noua are very friendly people
who are still deeply rooted in their traditions.
Especially in winter, during Christmas Eve and
St. John's Day (January 7th), this becomes
obvious: the whole village, young and old,
participates to the festivities of the two-week
long "Turco". Also, weddings are still
celebrated the old way by the people in Sinca
Noua, for three days and three nights with
little breaks - just as in the old days.
Sinca Noua gains its picturesque quality with
sheep, goats, horses, cows, and water buffaloes
jamming their way through the main road every
morning and evening to the communal pastures
outside the village. In the beautiful
surroundings you can also easily find tracks of
wolf, bear, lynx, wild boar, or red deer, and
with a little luck, you might even see one of
them.
The town hall has declared Sinca Noua to be the
first "ecological village" of Romania and the
local council has elaborated a sustainable
development strategy for the village over the
past years. This strategy includes measures to
strengthen the small-scale, traditional
agriculture by certifying as organic agriculture
and building a local processing food industry
(everything from organic bakery to organic
butchery), the development of eco-tourism, the
creation of protected areas, and the
implementation of an environmental education
plan for the local population.
This curved mountain range divides Romania
from Northeast to Southwest and lies on a
distance of more than 900 km. It ends at the
"Iron Gates", where the Danube crosses through
the mountains and separates Romania from Serbia.
The highest peaks reach over 2,500 m and are
mainly located in the Southern "Transylvanian
Alps". In the Eastern and Northern Carpathians
several high, rocky mountains also break through
the forested hills. In the East and Southeast,
the Carpathians border on the hills of Moldova
and Dobrogea, and in the South and the East they
border on their foothills. All these adjacent
hills range between 500 and 1,000 m.
Romania has a moderate,
continental climate with hot summers and cold
winters. In the southern plains around
Bucharest, summers often reach 40° C or more,
yet in the mountains, temperatures are cooler.
Winters can be cold and with lots of snow,
whereas the Southern Carpathians are usually
less extreme than the Northern Carpathians.
Along the border of Ukraine, the climate is much
more continental. CNN provides here a weather
forecast for Brasov.
We use mainly locally produced food in our
kitchen. People in Sinca Noua generally don't
use pesticides or artificial fertilisers, and
the livestock is still kept the old way, that
is, outside on the pastures. Our own vegetable
garden delivers fresh onions, salad, zucchini
etc. Other food such as milk, potatoes, lamb,
and veal is bought from the farmers in the
neighbourhood. We support the village on their
way certifying their whole agriculture as being
organic.
Conservation contribution
We ask all our visitors for a donation of 40+
Euro per week for our regional conservation and
development fund, which supports sustainable
projects in and around Sinca Noua. Furthermore,
we are personally involved in a number of
conservation projects.
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