Explore Mongolia’s birds and wildlife. Przewalski’s horses, saiga antelope, Pallas’s cats and Mongolian gazelle await. And, accompanied by a naturalist with a specialty in birding, we hope to add numerous birds to every traveler’s life list!
Meet your tour naturalist and enjoy a morning of birding on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, looking for birds such as long-tailed rosefinch and Amur falcon. Back in the center of the city, explore Mongolia\’s wildlife, geology and paleontology at the National Museum of Natural Sciences. (B,L,D)
Tuesday, May 25Yolyn Am Canyon
Return to the airport and fly to Dalanzadgad in the vast South Gobi Desert. Meet your private chef, who along with your tour naturalist, will accompany you throughout the desert. Travel into the Three Beauties Mountains, home to nomadic herders, their herds and myriad wildlife. Hike through the high rock walls of Yolyn Am Canyon, filled with junper and wild rhubarb, and named for Lammergeier bearded vultures (Mongolian yol). In addition to the Lammergeier, we’ll be looking for species including the near endemic Mongolian accentor. After birding at the canyon, we travel west across the vast desert plain at the edge of the Three Beauties, looking for Mongolian gazelle and Siberian ibex, reaching the Hongoryn Els Sand Dunes in the evening. Spend the first of two nights in a cabin at a ger camp near the dunes. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, May 26Sand Dunes and Bactrian Camels
The Hongoryn Els Sand Dunes tower six hundred feet above Gobi Three Beauties National Park. Spend the night in a cabin at a remote ger camp outpost near the dunes. Meet a family of camel herders and learn about raising the desert’s legendary two-humped Bactrian camels. Ride camels and hike on the shifting mountains of sand. Explore Seruun Bulag, a spring-fed oasis at the base of the dunes. We'll also be looking for birds including saxaul sparrow and the Asian desert warbler. (B,L,D)
Thursday, May 27Flaming Cliffs
Travel east across the desert and explore the red sandstone Flaming Cliffs. The cliffs, rich in dinosaur fossils, are renowned for the world’s first discovery of dinosaur eggs, uncovered in 1923 by an American Museum of Natural History expedition led by explorer Roy Chapman Andrews. As far as modern-day dinosaurs, our primary target today is the great grey shrike. (B,L,D)
Friday, May 28Birding in the Gobi Desert
Our last day in the Gobi, will be focused on birding, giving us an additional chance to see species such as oriental plover and Pallas’s sandgrouse, after which will bid our naturalist a brief farewell until we reunite with him a few days later in the Altai. (B,L,D)
Saturday, May 29Genghis Khan
Fly back to Ulaanbaatar and get introduced to the legendary history of Mongolia with a visit to the towering Genghis Khan Statue on the steppe east of the city. (B,L,D)
Sunday, May 30Ulaanbaatar
Continue exploring Mongolian history with a visit to the spectacular Chinggis Khaan National Museum. Then, visit Gandantegchenlin Monastery, the center of Mongolian Buddhism. In the evening, attend a performance of folk music, dance and throat singing by the renowned Tumen Ekh Ensemble. (B,L,D)
Monday, May 31The Steppe
Travel west onto the steppe to the Mongol Nomadic Ger Camp. After a morning of horseback riding, enjoy a demonstration of cultural traditions and spend the first of the night in a deluxe ger. (B,L,D)
Tuesday, June 1Hustai National Park
Visit Hustai National Park. The focus will be on Przewalski’s horses, the world’s only truly wild horse, but we will also look for other species such as Mongolian marmot and Asian Wapiti. Potential bird sightings include steppe eagle and Daurian partridge. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, June 2Eagle Hunting
Head back to the Ulaanbaatar airport and fly to Ulgii in western Mongolia’s Altai Mountains. Your private chef will you once again for your days in the Altai. Travel to the district of Sagsai, the center of eagle hunting, to visit the family of an eagle hunter. Eagle hunting is a form of falconry with golden eagles practiced by ethnically Kazakh nomads. Meet the hunter and learn more about the deep relationship between humans and eagles. Spend the night at one of Ulgii’s small hotels. (B,L,D)
Thursday, June 3Lakes of the Altai
Reunite with your tour leader for one of the most exciting days of birding on this day. First, head south from Ulgii to Tolbo Lake, to look for Arctic loon and Père David’s snowfinch. Then, continue southeast to the town of Hovd. Hovd is the gateway to the Great Lakes Basin, a series of massive fresh and saltwater lakes at the edge of the Altai. In the evening, head just outside of town to the largest of these lakes, Khar Us Lake in search of Dalmatian pelican, bearded reedling, and chukar. Spend the night at a hotel in town. (B,L,D)
Friday, June 4Birds and Saiga
Continue to explore this area of lakes and mountains. Two mammals are our focus today: Pallas’s cat, one of Mongolia’s most iconic animals, as well as saiga antelope , a previously widely-spread species whose numbers have decreased precipitously in recent decades. We’ll also be on the lookout for birds, such as Mongolian ground jay and Pallas’s sandgrouse. (B,L,D)
Saturday, June 5Ulaanbaatar
From Hovd, fly back to Ulaanbaatar. Enjoy a farewell dinner with your fellow travelers. (B,L,D)
