Of all of the things that define me as a person, not even just a traveler, but a person in general, animal lover is right near the top. In fact, in my day to day life, animal lover would probably outrank travel luster on most days. I am a dog dad to two loveable jerk-ass senior rescue Dachshunds, and a step dog dad to the world’s sweetest Golden Retriever. For our wedding, instead of having a registry, David and I directed people to donate money to Old Dog Haven, our favorite local nonprofit dedicated to rehoming senior shelter dogs, instead of bringing us gifts. So, without too much hand wringing, it’s safe to say that we’re certifiable animal whack-jobs.
So, how is this relevant to our time in Bulgaria, you may ask? I’m getting there – on the day we left Sofia on leg one of our self-drive road trip we had originally planned to drive south to visit Rila Monastery, then through Plovdiv to Kalofer, where we would spend the night before hitting up Buzludzha the next morning. This was a great plan, and we were both content with it. But, knowing my past with and David’s PTSD surrounding monastery visits, we were less than enthused about visiting Rila Monastery, despite its status as Bulgaria’s number one tourist attraction.
My husband, David, typically leaves all the research and itinerary planning to me (or I block him out of the process, one of the two), and typically reads up on our destinations on the plane ride over. On our flight to the Balkans, he read about a magical place in Bulgaria called the Dancing Bears Sanctuary – an expansive preserve in Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains where former circus and “dancing” bears are all allowed to live out their days in peace, rehabbing from a life of cruelty and mistreatment. 
It turns out that, across the Balkan Peninsula, there has been a relatively common practice to steal bear cubs from the forest, and train them (cruelly – I won’t go into details, but you can read about it here) to dance for money either in the streets or at local events like fairs or weddings. The practice was banned in Bulgaria and Romania in the early 90s, but until recently was fairly common in Serbia. The Dancing Bears Sanctuary, largely financed by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, rescues these bears and places them in sanctuaries around Europe (the largest being the one we visited in Belitsa).
Are you crying yet? Because this is some Sarah McLachlan ASPCA commercial-level shit right here.
We arrived at around noon, not knowing quite what to expect. No sooner had we parked our car that we saw our first bear, protected from people behind chain link fences, going about its merry way. It was hard not to associate the bears with the terrible things that had happened to them in the past, but it was wonderful to see them living life as near to normal as could be imagined with the things they had gone through.
The sanctuary has a staff onsite (much like a zoo’s) to ensure the bears are taken care of. And they are doing a great job – all of the bears, some as old as their late 20s, have learned to hibernate after not being able to while in human captivity. Some, despite the sanctuary’s no breeding policy, have taken on mates – though in reality they are more each other’s companions.
There is a small visitor’s center where you can learn about the plight of the Dancing Bears, but no information is available in English. There’s a TV set up here with a video on loop on the dancing bears, which is great if you aren’t crying already. But otherwise, the only reason to check out the building is to empty your pockets and donate all of your money to these people – which I recommend you do. But don’t spend too much time here, as the stars of the show are really the bears. And boy were they cute.
There is a path that weaves around all of the enclosures – up and down some very steep trails. I imagine the land there was cheaper than in the flat around Belitsa which is largely used for agriculture. We stopped for lunch at an adorable cafe at the bottom of the sanctuary where many items on the menu were bear-themed. We spoke with the owners of the place who had moved to Belitsa from Sofia to try something new – they run not only the restaurant but also an adjacent guest house. The food was extremely fresh and delicious. I recommend the cheese fries, because, really, it’s always time for cheese fries.
The Dancing Bears Sanctuary is one of those places that you feel incredibly honored to get to visit. Spending time in the presence of these giant, majestic animals – now living happily after a lifetime of being enslaved – was truly a privilege, and a highlight of our trip. And while we missed out on Bulgaria’s premier tourist destination, we got to witness some real good being done – something that can feel somewhat scarce in today’s society.
Getting to the Dancing Bears Sanctuary would be difficult without your own wheels. We rented a car from Sixt Rental Cars at the Sofia airport and drove directly, though presumably you could take a local bus from Sofia to Bansko, then Bansko to Belitsa, and then hitch to the park with any of the families already on their way there. I presumed the park would be empty, but there were a surprising number of folks there. It would be doable to take a day trip to the sanctuary with a stop at Rila Monastery if you traveled early enough, but the sanctuary is worth a trip on its own if you are cuckoo for animals like we are. Lucky for you, the road to the sanctuary was just redone this year, so you can drive fairly easily in a tin can up the mountain. The last 2km or so is dirt, but not too difficult to navigate.
Also note, the sanctuary is only open from March – October due to the bears needing to get their hibernate on!
