site.btaFifth Group of 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Arrives on Livingston Island

The fifth group of the 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition arrived at the St. Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island.

The beach of Emona Bay became the furthest "home" for the next group crossing from Bulgaria to the Bulgarian Antarctic. On shore, the newly arrived Antarctic explorers were welcomed by their colleagues with bread with honey and salt.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) welcomed the participants of the fifth group on King George Island and transported them to the Bulgarian base. 

The group includes Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Leader and Bulgarian Antarctic Institute President Christo Pimpirev, Sofia University Rector Georgi Valchev, Flotilla Admiral Boyan Mednikarov (Res.) of the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, Veliko Tarnovo University finance and tax law professor Yurii Kuchev, Kaufland retail chain executive Kremena Georgieva, Kiril Kandilarov of Kandilarov Laboratories, Lyubov Kostova of the Beautiful Science Foundation, Kalin Mutafchiev of the Ministry of Education and Science, a camera crew (Yuliana Chalakova, Fejmi Daut, Wolfgang Knopfler, Danail Vuchkov), Elena Georgieva, a longtime representative of French companies in Bulgaria, journalist Zhivko Konstantinov, logistics assistant Alexander Nedyalkov, and Kristian Vladov and Stefan Kyurkchiev of the Museum of Natural History in Plovdiv.

The group brought along a blessed icon of Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, which Prof. Pimpirev received on January 27 from the Head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Daniil, to deliver to the St John of Rila Chapel at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base.

A new cycle of projects begins with the arrival of the new group, among which are the first Antarctic FameLab science communication competition, the making of biographical, documentary, children's and VR films, the coverage of the presence of women in the history of Bulgarian Antarctic expeditions and the replenishment of the collection of live fish at the Plovdiv Museum of Natural Sciences.