This year, the Bulgarian flag will be hoisted on the South Pole for the first time. It will be done by the Bulgarian explorer Hristo Pimpirev on New Year’s Eve. “I am proud that the Bulgarian flag will be there just like on the Mount Everest and the North Pole”, says in an interview for RB the Bulgarian member of the expedition to Antarctica. As a member of the international expedition including US citizens, Canadians and Germans, Hristo Pimpirev will depart on December 29. He will fly onboard 2 planes, will sleep in a tent without a heating, just like the explorers did 100 years ago, and will ski on the icy plateau, thus making his dreams come true.

© Photo: BGNES

“This is the Earth’s southernmost continent and one of the 3 most extreme places on the planet. It is much easier to reach the North Pole or Mount Everest”, says Hristo Pimpirev. “Everyone dreams of reaching these extreme places. It will be an honor for me to hoist the Bulgarian flag on the place, where all meridians of the Earth meet.”

“One can survive temperatures of -40C to -50C if well equipped”, continues Hristo who worked on the icy continent under -35C. The lowest temperature on the Earth was registered in Antarctica – 89C. These temperatures are similar to the ones on Mars. This is why Antarctica is regarded as the road of mankind to the outer space, as the conditions on the Icy Continent are similar to the ones in space”, says Hristo Pimpirev.

The Bulgarian members of the Antarctic expedition which are already in the Bulgarian base there say that it has been snowing heavily for some time and the snow blanket has reached 3-4 meters so far. “People enter some of the houses there through shafts and they dig tunnels to reach the houses”. This is how Hristo describes the conditions on this continent. “The explorers have managed to find a lake under 3 meters of snow blanket, which is used as a water source. We are used to these harsh conditions. The Bulgarians are strong people and do not give up even on the Antarctic. In 2013, we will mark the 25 anniversary since the start of the Bulgarian researches in Antarctica”, Hristo Pimpirev says proudly. A month ago the researchers were told that a huge block of ice, as big as a quarter of Bulgaria, split from the mainland near the Bulgarian base. This leads to higher sea levels and changes the draught. “If there was no Gulf Stream around the shores of Northern Europe, we would face an ice age. People are weaker than nature and have to protect it”, says Hristo.

Now let us go back to the Holidays. Hristo Pimpirev celebrated Christmas and New Year’s Eve at least 10 times on the Icy Continent. Traditionally, the Bulgarian members of this expedition prepare 7 meatless meals and pita bread with a coin on Christmas Eve.

“The atmosphere in Antarctica is very romantic on this day”, says Hristo. “Of course our family, friends and relatives are 14 000 kilometers away from us. However, we are one family there as well. We live in our isolated world, but we feel good, because we feel as we are in Bulgaria. We bring with us for Christmas Eve traditional Bulgarian spices as well as dried fruits and walnuts. On Christmas we visit the Bulgarian chapel Saint Ivan Rilski in Antarctica, where we light candles. We always cook fish or a suckling for Christmas Day. We decorate the base with an artificial Christmas tree and everyone places something dear on it.”

The Bulgarian explorers have already bought 2 tons of food and 5 tons of fuel for the power generators. Thus, they will enjoy the holidays in a warm and pleasant atmosphere. How they will celebrate the New Year’s Eve on the Icy Continent? Hristo Pimpirev tells us more:

“We celebrate New Year twice-according to the Bulgarian and the local time. The time difference with Bulgaria is 5 hours. When it is midnight in Bulgaria, everyone makes toast with a glass of champagne. We all go to a mount some 2 kilometers away from the Bulgarian base. We call it Krumov Vrah( Mount Krumov) . There we dink a glass of champagne in the same time with our relatives and friends who are 14 000 kilometers away from us. I wish everyone to be more optimistic in 2013”, Hristo Pimpirev concludes.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov