The area around the River Marica is rich in dragonflies and birds.  We search for Club-tailed Dragonfly, Green-eyed Hooktail, Green Snaketail and Yellow-legged Clubtail. Four species of shrike are possible here - Masked, Lesser Grey, Woodchat and Red-backed, while Map Butterfly, Swallowtail and many others are also present.  After lunch we move on to Krumovgrad, with a couple of stops along the way, where we stay for the next three nights.

Whilst staying in Krumovgrad, we visit various ponds and streams in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains looking for the endemic Bulgarian Emerald, plus Eastern Spectre, Southern and Small Emerald Damselflies, Southern Migrant Hawker and Turkish Goldenring. Also, we visit the raptor-rich Arda Gorge and look for Epallage fatime, along with many interesting butterflies

On the way to Pamporova we will have time to explore a stream near Plazishte, where we should find Scarce Chaser, Keeled Skimmer, Banded Demoiselle, Green-eyed Hooktail and Western Willow Emerald. Both Balkan and Bulgarian Emeralds are also present. After a picnic lunch, we move to the pretty ski resort of Pamporovo, in the conifer-clad Rhodope Mountains, for one night.

This morning we shall explore the Smoylanski Lakes, with Northern Damselflies, Downy Emeralds, Common and Southern Hawkers and Four-spotted Chasers. Nutcracker, Ring Ouzel, Dipper and Alpine Newt are also possible here. Many of these lakes are threatened with development and Milen Marinov has campaigned to stop them being in-filled with spoil from the many new hotels springing up.

Later, we move to Trigrad where we are staying two nights. The area is also excellent for Wallcreeper and many butterflies, including Apollo.

Today we transfer to Dospat and have the chance (if we have missed any key species) to spend more time in the gorge. We will stop at a Roman bridge to search for more Dragons and Butterflies and hope to find Yellow-winged Darter and False Apollo. We should arrive at the Hotel in time to search the grounds for the many species of Orchid growing there and to admire the view into Greece

This morning we visit peat bogs in the Pirin Mountains to look for Two-toothed and Balkan Goldenrings. We also stop at a roadside stream; here we will search for Banded Darter and more butterflies. We move to a small hotel in Melnik, a picturesque town set in rolling hills, for a stay of two nights. This area has hot springs and many ponds, streams and rivers. We search for Eastern Willow Emerald, Green-eyed Hooktail, White-tailed and Southern Skimmers, and Southern Darter. Black Pennant has occasionally been recorded here, so we hope to catch up with this elusive beast again. The area is also good for reptiles and amphibians