site.btaFinal Group of Bulgarian Antarctic Explorers Arrives on Livingston Island

The last group of the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition arrived on Livingston Island on Monday. Among them were the head of the 32nd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition, Prof Christo Pimpirev, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Argentina, Stoyan Mihaylov, Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy (NVNA) Rector Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov, Dr. Sevdalina Mihailova, Iglika Trifonova, Lyubov Kostova and journalist Maria Cherneva. Before that, they paid a short visit to the Spanish polar station Gabriel de Castilla, located on Deception Island.

The group was welcomed by their colleagues on the shore of Livingston island with a traditional spread of bread, salt and honey. Together they headed to the Bulgarian station.

Dr. Sevdalina Mihailova told BTA that her first impressions were very nice and warm. "The house [Bulgarian base] is amazing, just like a cabin. This is how I imagined it to be." The boat trip was unique, she added.

The last group of Bulgarian Antarctic explorers left for Antarctica from Sofia airport on January 25 of this year. The group split in two in Buenos Aires, one part went to King George island with a flight chartered by the Turkish Antarctic Programme, and the second went to the same destination via a flight chartered by the Portuguese Antarctic Programme.

The first group of the 32nd National Antarctic Expedition departed on December 27, 2023 and travelled from Sofia to  Ushuaia, Argentina. 

The second group of the Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition left on December 29, 2023 from Sofia airport on the route Sofia-Rome-Buenos Aires-Rio Gayegos-Punta Arenas. This group included geologist Kalin Naydenov, electrical engineer Krasimir Krastev, musicologist Marina Velikova , who will work on an acoustic project, logistician Alexander Nedyalkov and the two famous mountaineers who conquered Mount Everest, Kiril Doskov and Assoc. Dr. Doichin Boyanov.

The third group of participants in the 32nd National Antarctic Expedition left Sofia on January 7 on the route Sofia-Rome-Buenos Aires-Rio Gayegos-Punta Arenas-King George Island-Livingston Island.

The group consisted of Assoc. Prof. Boris Tzankov, a consultant on a new water and sewerage line in the area of the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, logistician Oleg Vassilev, BTA journalist Emil Granicharov, cook Ivaylo Yankov, mechanic Milcho Dundakov, geologist Ralitsa Sabeva, marine biologist Tihomir Stefanov and physicist Tsvetan Parov.

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During the 32nd Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica, which started on November 8, 2023, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is publishing interviews with Antarctic researchers. The Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log again provides coverage of the voyage of the Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii to Antarctica and back and its stay there, as it did during the 31st expedition between December 27, 2022 and May 2, 2023. Back then, only BTA had a correspondent, Daily News Editor Konstantin Karagyozov, who covered the 127-day expedition with text, video and photos during the entire voyage (including across the Atlantic in both directions) and throughout the stay in Antarctica. In June 2023, BTA published in Bulgarian and in English an issue of its LIK magazine "To Antarctica and Back under the Bulgarian Flag" dedicated to the historic expedition.

Again, all of BTA's information on the Bulgarian scientific research in Antarctica and the support provided by the Bulgarian naval research vessel, as well as on the other activities at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base, will be available to all media outlets in Bulgarian and in English on BTA's website in the Bulgaria - Antarctica: BTA's Log section.

BTA has a National Press Club on board the ship and is planning to open a National Press Club at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.