Trek in Buzaului Mountains – in the land of the legends

• oxigen
• 17 iulie 2015

A n unusual trek for Oxygen Association … although we aimed mountain trails, objectives here have made it more special. We started Friday night with 9 cars, 42 people. We camped in the yard of our host from Buzau county, our local guide, Diana Gavrila. we have found here a vast courtyard composed of a hill and a valley, freshly cut grass and a few friendly cats.

We quickly mounted our tents and then we served a meal together. Some of us stayed up telling stories, some of them for the first time with us, others older, eager to recover while not seeing.Saturday morning we started at 9 towards Alunis complex where Diana told us the whole history of the place. We climbed up to the seat of God and the natural altar, after which we started the route itself.

The stories have made the trail to last from 6-7 hours up to 12 hours, but we enjoyed it in a relaxed pace. The mountain revealed us its mysteries and showed us a wonderful view on top Turtudui peak.

In the evening, after a well-deserved dinner we enjoyed guitar songs, fresh mountain air and campfire.

On Sunday, though difficult to wake, we raised tents and went to the area where we visited Bozioru Babele (trovantii – stones that have life and grow themselves) and then we went to Berca where we visited the Mud Volcanoes, both sides being totally unique.

The fact is that we liked Buzau Mountains so much that we are already thinking about when and what to approach next time here!

Oxygen in Buzau Mountains

• oxigen
• 24 iunie 2015

As summer is in full swing and we miss to camp on mountains, Oxygen Association invites you to a very special area – Buzau Mountains. Even if they do not have high altitudes, landscapes are special and local legends will certainly enchant you. The energy of the place is beautiful, with special people and unusual sights – settlements cave, stones coming to life (trove of various shapes) and breathtaking landscapes.

We will leave on Friday (July 10) in the evening, at 19:30 from Bucharest, by cars towards the village Alunis in Buzau county. In order to fully enjoy everything that this place is offering, we will sleep in tents and we will stay up late, listening to stories and local legends.

Saturday (11 July), we will trek all day long (estimated 6-7 hours), together with a local guide. We will walk on marked ans unmarked trails, honoring cave settlements hidden in these mountains, revealing the mysteries through historical, geographical and the beautiful energy of the place. In the twilight atmosphere on the way back to the tents, we will share our experience!

Sunday (July 12th), we have the opportunity to enjoy a new route, this time shorter – Bozioru area where we will see the rocks called Babele and other natural formations surrounded by mystery.

Depending on the time available, we will make a short stop at the Mud Volcanoes where we will see a very special natural phenomenon.

The expenses for this expedition reach 65 lei / person and include the local guide (2 days) and organization of the expedition .

* Extra, if time permits, we will visit Mud Volcanoes in Berca, Buzau county. (Ticket – estimated – 5 lei) Enrollment in this expedition is based on advance payment of 50% of the expenditure.
Please make the payment in your new account opened at BCR Association – RO26RNCB0075146024870001 and send the OP with your name or any other person submitted to: florina@asociatiaoxigen.ro. At registration, please mention if you have a tent, both personal car and tent.

For questions, you are welcomed to write to me on the email address specified above or phone 0726.31.57.34 – Florina.

* Seats are limited, so my request is to hurry with the registration! 🙂
** Those who do not have tents, please be informed that we can provide some extra tents.
*** Please take your food with you because there are not shops or restaurants in the area.
**** Recommended equipment – backpack, boots, raincoat, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, food, first aid kit, personal camera. Come with open soul to enjoy the grandeur of the place! 🙂

The 3rd expedition of Oxygen in Uganda – Margherita Peak (5.109 m)

• oxigen
• 7 ianuarie 2015

Being the 3^rd expedition of Oxigen Organization in Uganda and the 6^th expedition led by our Chairman of Honour, Romanian mountaineer David Neacșu, the objectives are already well-defined.

In 2013, five members of Oxygen Organization participated for the first time at this expedition led by David Neacșu. It had three main objectives and they all had been achieved: to measure the ice level of Stanley Mount (which decreased with 600 m in the last 10 years and thus, the old trail became impracticable); to map a new climbing trail of Rwenzori Mountains and to reach Margherita Peak (5109 m).

In 2014, five members of Oxygen Organization continued this project by measuring the ice level of Stanley Mount (the conclusion was that it had decreased with 50 m in only one year), by checking the practicability of the trail mapped in 2013 and by reaching Margherita Peak (5109 m).

In 2015, the Oxygen team of the expedition, formed of five members, aims at the following:

Main objective: raise awareness of youth regarding environmental pollution and its damaging effects.

Secondary objectives:

• To measure the melting degree of ice on Stanley Mount (as it is a fundamental part in the old climbing trail of Rwenzori Mountains);
• To check the practicability of the climbing trail of Rwenzori Mountains mapped by Oxygen team in 2013;
• To map new and less technical climbing trails in Rwenzori Mountains from Uganda;
• Ro reach Margherita Peak (5.109 m)
• To create an online campaign and present the pollution effects in Rwenzori Mountains;
• To organize two conferences in order to present the expedition results and the importance of being a team and of working as a team, to 200 youth in Bucharest. The aim is to create new projects on environmental protection and to work together.

The expedition took place from 10^th to 25^th of February 2015, accomplishing all the objectives and living a fundamental experience.

My Village is Green

• oxigen
• 21 noiembrie 2014

My Village is Green Project aims at engaging the schoolteachers of general secondary education and the students from Moara Vlăsiei village in an educational campaign of raising awareness among people regarding environment protection and the necessity of volunteerism in ecologic activities. It is intended that, due to their engagement, the activities that take place improve ecologic actions without the need of common administration or legislative provisions.

The project sets out to place litter bins of selective collection in school yards from Moara Vlăsiei, information boards regarding the benefits of garbage selective collection and sanitation actions on the village area.

The main objective of the project is to raise awareness among youth and Moara Vlăsiei inhabitants regarding the importance of ecologic activities, environmental education and enhancement of waste management infrastructure from Moara Vlăsiei.

Partners:

Moara Vlăsiei Hall/Mayor’s Office

Moara Vlăsiei General Secondary School

Objectives:

• Educational programme of students attending general secondary school from Moara Vlăsiei regarding environment protection and waste management;
• Raising awareness among 300 youth with ages between 12 and 15 years old and their initiation into ecologic activities;
• Greening the natural areas supported by 300 youth attending general secondary school from Moara Vlăsiei village;
• Placing 6 educational boards in Moara Vlăsiei
• Placing 36 bins for selective collection of garbage in Moara Vlăsiei schools;

Direct beneficiaries of the project are 300 youth with ages between 10 and 16 years old from Moara Vlăsiei village.

Indirect beneficiaries are represented by 5833 inhabitants of Moara Vlăsiei and the local authorities/public institutions as the project is meant to sensitize them regarding current environment conditions and to encourage for the solving of waste management problems in Moara Vlăsiei.

Skiathos Island

• oxigen
• 29 septembrie 2014

If you have spent so many holidays in Greece and you haven’t heard of Skiathos Island, it’s time to change this. Why? Because it’s one of the most intimate, seductive holiday destination from all over the world. Even Hollywood noticed that and came here in 2008 to film Mamma Mia Production. Let’s find out more about this Greek Island… The landscape is hilly, the highest altitude being 433 m over the sea level. The main town – Skiathos has 6.000 inhabitants, one airport and a beautiful lagoon. The greatest attractions here are the silence of the place, the traditions, the fabulous food, noble wines, beautiful landscapes, vintage beaches with golden sand.

60 hours – Bucharest – Croatia and return

• oxigen
• 29 septembrie 2014

We just came back from Greece and Oxygen Team has prepared its backpack for a short trip to Croatia. Neither the 2600 km road, neither the early 3 am wake up call didn’t stopped us to accomplish our plan – checking the route for our trip to Croatia.
Main actors: Andrei ( the driver), Diana ( the copilot), Grey Fury ( the car). It’s done – we woke up early, we got into the Grey Fury and we are on. The Romanian road were less crowded than usual and the few kilometers through Bulgaria would have gone unnoticed if we haven’t forgotten to buy the crossing license. I didn’t get it – way to we need it if we fly over those roads? Is is necessary for this also? 🙂
At the Serbian border, the same customs officer that we’ve met 2 months ago checked us without any enthusiasm at a speed of 10% of our Grey Fury. But we didn’t care…
After 14 hours of driving like crazy and after eating the best Parisian schnitzel& Cordon Bleu, we have accommodated at Korona Kamp, at less than 10 km from Plitvice.
Second day (we woke up at 6:30), full of kindness we take with us 2 Polonaise guys and we go towards the famous park.
Here we went by boat, by train which is actually a bus, we take photos in high speed, we run through the tourists, we smile and we salute everybody, we learn to say Hi in Japonese Kon’nichiwa, we jump over the old grandma teeth (wooden bridges) and in the end we were very proud that we did everything in 4 hours and we have left further towards Grabovac where we have entered the mountain trail.
We have encountered here a landscape that can hardly be described in words, where mountains with less than 1700 m look huge, on a road more adventurous than Transfagarasan, where for 10 minutes we forgot about our purpose and listening music out loudly we recorded and enjoyed everything.
The Dinaric alps are no lower in beauty than their brothers from Austria or Italy. Maybe the lower altitude is not their plus, but the landscape is beautiful. One thing is for sure – not water on the route, we can find marks on the trail, but not on the good direction and certainly these mountains are not friendly during storms.
At night, we stayed at Hotel Lucija in Posedarje, listening Italian music from the ’60. Our plan was to get some good sleep, although our wake up call was planned for 3 am and party of our new friends seemed longer than our patience.
The journey way back seemed longer…with fewer gas stations, with 1 good meal. We reached Bucharest, tired at around 20 and we both got towards 2 different directions – Andrei towards Covasna and me towards Popesti because the next day I have to go to Sacele.
That’s the spirit: 60 hours – 30 hours in the car, 12 hours mountains trail, 3 hours meals, 15 hours sleep. We shorten the distances and we distend time – the rest is the spirit!

Away from the city, discovering nature – Buzau county

• oxigen
• 7 septembrie 2014

At least from 2000 years we feel the presence of the greater power in all civilizations, no matter the location on the map. Sometimes we have also the courage to look deeper and ask questions, looking for answers based on the rations. We notice that the fingerprints left by humans from all times until now are connected to beliefs and to the hope of greater entities that take care of our lives and survival.
During all the changes of humanity, taking into account all the elements, it stood still…determining our concrete truth. Maybe this is the reason for which the greatest people stayed in the nature; maybe this is the reason through which people charge there batteries in the mountains, at the seaside or maybe here we can reach heaven.
Definitely each trip represents a search – that you are aware of or not – to the truth that leads to a higher purpose. Thinking of a new adventure, our steps led us towards Buzaului Mountains. Here we’ve discovered a great variety of touristic sights:
– religious places and monasteries all around the county (in places like Alunis, Bozioru, Nucu, Ruginoasa, Braesti s.a.), the tracic Necropola (Naeni village) that has over 2500 years old;
– the trovants (the living stones) from Ulmet, the muddy vulcanoes from Scortoasa and Berca;
– The Amber Museum and the stone sculptures from Magura and Naeni;
– The accumulation lake from Siriu – that cuts your breath at sunset with its beauty;
– and many other sights.
Please enjoy some photos from these places!

What we felt?… Words are too poor to express the feelings and our gratitude to the local guide – Diana Gavrila. Here time took a different shape – from the religious places founded at 1500 to legends from Dacians, from weird rocks that grow every minute to pyramids hidden in the forest. We went through beautiful places where the heart beats tried to fight the echo of the no man land.

…We are convinced that these places embrace warmly the sincere man that want to discover part of the creation.