Season: Summer months
Travel plan: Start in Yerevan. Transportation of groups to destination: to the camp side and back to the city after trips.
Conditions: Every participant of expedition must be in good health and fit. In addition to season clothes must have: rain- wind-protect jacket and pants, a pair of warm socks, hiking or sport shoes, hat, sunglasses, camping equipment and sleeping bag. Especial speleo-equipment.
Travel services: Vehicle for travelers and luggage: using 4WD vehicles (for 1-4 person and luggage is max for 1car). Camping equipment; kitchen equipment and food-boxes (dry ration). Ecological or park permits.
Staff: Specialist – assistant or instructor and cook services (if necessary).
Additionally: You can rent some equipment if you need it. Camping equipment: 2-person tents, personal sleeping pads; especial equipment.
Description: Historical and Archaeological exploring
Even if you are an amateur or a professional, you will discover a lot of new and interesting things in Armenia. Armenia is an ideal country for those, whom interest the history and archaeology. Numerous monuments and masterpieces of the ancient era and middle ages can be found throughout the country. You can find of historical and architectural monuments, which go back to the 3rd millennium B.C.: fortresses of the Urartu State era; ancient temple of the Hellenistic period, ruins of ancient towns and ets. The great interests for the explorers are the stone pictures or petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are expanded from Aragats Mountain and to the whole territory of Armenian mountains (180-200 km by the direct line). The paramount of the big groups of monuments are situated around the Lake Sevan and Gegham, Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Vardenis mountain regions. They are very valuable for studying the social and spiritual culture of ancient peoples. Many of these monuments are not fixed and deciphered yet. In Khndzoresk village (near Goris town) there are a very large number of ancient living caves. Many of these caves have been carved out by man. There are many signs of past settlement throughout the valley which are just waiting for discovery and explore: the ruins of an ancient village, very old tombstones, etc. We start our expedition in the canyon it has very interesting rock formations which resembling on huge fingers.
Biosphere exploring
Without doubt Armenian nature will be very interesting for the scientific explorers and the naturalists who prefer to study unique endemic plants, watching rare animals and birds in wild forests and reserves. Usually the naturalists gather together in interest groups and organize interesting routes for travel to lush forests, quiet trails, remote parts of nature not just for a rest, also for a science. The Armenian forests, canyons, rivers, mountains, alpine lakes and Lake Sevan are ideal places for the real explorers of nature and their new discoveries.
Birdwatching in natural conditions is one of the varieties for the observers of nature. In mountainous steppes and high mountains of Armenia one can find interesting, beautiful and rare birds: skylarks, hoopoes, eagles, lammergeyers, white-headed griffons, alpine brambling, etc.
Speleology is a science about caves and it is very interesting object for a study both for the professionals of those having experience and for the amateurs. The landscape of Armenia is rich of mountain ranges, plateaus, intermountain hollows. The discovered, but yet unexplored caves of incredible beauty present lots of opportunities to speleologists. It is especially worth mentioning the Arjeri cave (Bear Cave), which can become a serious speleological expedition object.
