Mongolia Snow Leopard & Birding

Day 1: Arrival in Ulaanbaatar.
Welcome to Mongolia! You will be picked up by our company representative at the brand new Chinggis Khaan International airport upon your arrival in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.

With a population of around 1.5 million, Ulaanbaatar (known to locals as “UB”) is the largest city in Mongolia, standing as its political, commercial, industrial and cultural hub. The city was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre. It settled permanently at its present location, the junction of the Tuul and Selbe rivers, in 1778. Ulaanbaatar sits at an average elevation of 1,300 meters (4,300 ft) above sea level and has the unfortunate distinction of being, on average, the coldest capital city in the world!

Some of the cultural and architectural highlights of the city include the national Museum of Mongolia, the Gandantegchinlen Monastery (the heart of Mongolian Tibetan Buddhism) with the large Janraisig statue, the socialist monument complex at Zaisan Memorial with its great view over the city, the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan, Zandraa Tumen-Ulzii’s International Intellectual Museum (actually a wonderful shrine to toys, magic and games), Sükhbaatar Square and the nearby Choijin Lama Temple.

The city has boomed in the last 15 years due to the discovery of gold (and coal, copper and uranium) nearby, leading to an economic resurgence for Mongolia. Unfortunately, this has also led to increased pollution levels, traffic and petty crimes. On the positive side, the city is a cultural free-for-all, with a wonderfully eclectic mix of traditional and western eateries, shopping options and inhabitants.

Upon arrival, transfer to the reserved hotel, ideally situated in a prime birding hotspot on the outskirts of the capital. Nestled along the banks of the Tuul River, the hotel is surrounded by lush riparian forest, offering a serene retreat just a short distance from the airport and away from the city’s hustle and bustle. The journey to key birding areas will pass through landscapes altered by construction, yet beyond this, a rich natural haven awaits. Stroll beneath towering willow trees, where tranquil freshwater streams and pools—remnants of an old gravel pit—create an inviting habitat for a diverse array of birdlife.

This birding hotspot offers the opportunity to observe a diverse selection of sought-after species. Keep an eye out for Mandarin duck and Falcated duck, both adding bursts of colour to the waterways. Overhead, Amur falcon and swift-flying Pacific swift may be seen in aerial pursuit of insects. The Demoiselle crane, is a highlight of the region. In wooded areas, the Azure-winged magpie and Azure tit bring a splash of blue to the canopy. The White-crowned penduline-tit and White-cheeked starling are also key targets, along with Red-throated thrush and Long-tailed rosefinch. 

The landscape also supports intriguing small mammals, including Daurian pika, often seen darting among rocks and burrows, and the Long-tailed ground squirrel, a lively forager that thrives in open grasslands and shrublands. Their presence adds to the ecological richness of the area, making for a well-rounded wildlife experience.

We will enjoy our welcome dinner together, getting to know each other a little better.

We will get our first taste of Mongolian cuisine. It is rooted in their nomadic history, and therefore includes lots of dairy, animal fats and meat, but few vegetables and spices. Two of the most popular dishes in the cities and towns are Buuz (a meat-filled steamed dumpling) and Khuushuur (a sort of deep-fried meat pie.) In the rural areas the most common dish is cooked mutton, rice or noodle stews, and for a snack they eat Borts (thin strips of air-dried meat). Milk and cream are used to make a variety of beverages, as well as cheese and similar products. Any dietary restrictions and preferences will be accommodated as far as possible, so everyone will get something they love and enjoy!

After our first meal we are off to bed for a good night’s rest; tomorrow the tour starts in earnest!

Day 2: Flight to Khovd, transfer to Mongolian Altai Mountains.
We will start our day with an early transfer to the airport.

We will take a flight to the small city of Khovd in far western Mongolia.

During the 2 hour long flight we will learn a bit more about where we are, and we will certainly see the desolate landscape underneath us. It’s important to remember that Mongolia is the 18^th largest and most sparsely populated country in the world (with a population of only about 3 million), with just over 30 tiny towns throughout a nation the size of the whole of Western Europe. Some areas are so remote you could drive a full day and see almost no signs of human habitation.

Three-fourths of Mongolia’s surface area consists of grassland plains without trees, which support the immense herds of grazing livestock for which the country is known, and is often referred to as “the Great Steppe”. The remaining area is about equally divided between forests, semi-deserts, lake-dotted basins, the barren Gobi desert to the south and the high Altai mountains in the west and north, resulting in a remarkable variety of scenery.

The country’s climatic conditions are dictated by the oceans on one side (albeit far away) and the snow-capped Himalayas on the other side (also far away). Basically, Mongolia is high, cold, and windy! It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short hot summers, during which most of its annual rainfall falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, hence the “Country of Blue Sky” moniker.

Mongolia has a remarkable and very long history, with everyone from Homo erectus (850,000 years ago) to the Huns to Genghis Khan (legendary founder of the famous Mongol Empire) to the Chinese and even the Russians involved. However, over the last 3 decades the burden of communism has been lifted, there have been free multiparty elections, a new constitution, greater cultural and religious freedom with more emphasis on Mongol national traditions, a neutral position in international relations, and a transition to a market economy. Contemporary cultural life in Mongolia is a unique amalgam of traditional nomadic, shamanic, and Buddhist beliefs.

Mongolia’s nomadic culture is famous, and the locals (especially in the rural areas) are incredibly friendly with tremendous hospitality. Visitors can easily overnight in a herder’s ger as long as he or she helps round up the sheep! It’s refreshing (and strange to our Westerners) to meet people willing to open their doors so easily and with a smile.

Every nation has its myths and magical creatures, and tales about them. But few are so amusing and odd as the tale of the olgoi-kharkhoi, the Mongolian Death Worm. A longstanding belief amongst Mongols first revealed to the West in a 1922 account by the palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, the Death Worm is by reputation a rare creature that lives deep in the sands of the Gobi. The few who claim to have seen it describe it as a three-foot-long fat worm, dark red, with spikes sticking out of both of its ends. Although sluggish, many fear it for its ability to spit corrosive acidic venom and to discharge a lethal electrical shock at humans and livestock from a great distance. There is no evidence it exists, and some speculate that it might have been a misidentified snake or worm lizard turned mythic over generations of tall tales, but the Death Worm is a fun topic of conversation nonetheless.

We will arrive in Khovd, situated at the foot of the Altai mountains (at an elevation of 1,395 metres/4,577 feet above sea level) on the Buyant river, and transfer to our camp in the mountains. We will stay in a community-based ger camp for the next 7 nights.

Our campsite is a real heaven, with sublime scenery in all directions. The camp, situated at about 2,000 metres above sea level, provides clean and comfortable traditional gers with two beds in each, with every ger heated by a stove. There will be a secluded area of the campsite with a Western-style toilet, a place to wash our hands and faces, and a shower room.

Our cook in the camp will cater for your special food requirements. We will be provided with fresh fruits every day. However, the meals in the camp might lack a variety comparing to the European standards, but here will always be hot drinks and snacks.

We will get together for our first evening in our mountain camp, have dinner and marvel at our incredible surroundings. This is the Mongolia you see in brochures – enjoy!

Day 3-6: Mongolian Altai Mountains.
We will spend our next 4 days in the Altai Mountains. Every day will follow essentially the same pattern, with all 3 meals served and enjoyed at our ger camp. Our camp assistants, local guides and cooks are all friendly local people who grew up in the same mountain we are stationed at, which will be a great benefit to us as they know a lot about the area. During meal times, they will share their expertise, information and local knowledge with us; a real privilege.

We will search for the iconic Snow Leopard and other fauna and flora on walks in the mornings and afternoons. We designed this trip so that the walks are not too strenuous. Temperatures should be relatively moderate and skies are usually brilliantly clear. The days will usually be sunny and cool, and pleasant. Nights will be considerably cooler after the sunset, but the phenomenal stars should make up for any chills you might experience.

We will fully explore the truly untouched habitats around us. These include the mountains, meadows, rivers, alpine lakes, forests, and glaciers. You better get your cameras ready, for the landscapes are truly spectacular.

The Altai mountains were formed during the great orogenic (mountain-building) upthrusts occurring between 500 and 300 million years ago and were worn down, over geologic time, into a gently undulating plateau. Beginning in the Quaternary Period (within the past 2.6 million years), new upheavals thrust up magnificent peaks of considerable size. Quaternary glaciation scoured the mountains, carving them into rugged shapes, and changed valleys from V- to U-shaped. The name comes from the two words al that means “gold/red/yellow” in Turkic languages and the tai word that means “mountain” in Turkic languages; therefore it literally translates as “Golden Mountain”. A vast area of 16,178 km², including the Altai and Katun Natural Reserves, Lake Teletskoye, Mount Belukha, and the Ukok Plateau, comprises a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site entitled Golden Mountains of Altai.

The Mongolian Altai embraces diverse fauna due to the different habitats here, including steppe, taigas (boreal or snow forests) and alpine vegetation.

Besides the elusive Snow Leopard, we have a chance to see many interesting mammals including ungulates like Argali, Siberian Ibex, Red Deer, Siberian Musk Deer, Siberian Roe Deer, Goitered and Mongolian Gazelle and more. Predators we could see include (Grey) Wolves, Eurasian Lynx, Dhole, Steppe Polecat, Red and Corsac Fox, and another top target, the near threatened Pallas’s Cat.

Small mammals we could see include Alpine and Pallas’s Pika, Tolai Hare, Mongolian Marmot, Long-tailed Ground Squirrel and many others.

During the nights, we will look for jerboas and other nocturnal animals. We will also use Sherman live-trap cameras to catch and photograph the rarely seen rodents for future mammal photographic guidebooks of Mongolia. You could be part of history!

From a birding perspective, there is also a lot going on in the Altai. We have a good chance to see some fantastic species, including Altai Snowcock, Chukar Partridge, Dalmatian Pelican, Bearded, Himalayan and Cinereous Vulture, Golden Eagle (the only people in the world who still hunt with eagles live in the Altai region), Saker Falcon, Merlin, Eurasian Eagle-Owl, Eurasian Crag Martin, Rock Sparrow, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, White-throated Bush Chat, Sulphur-bellied Warbler, Mongolian Finch, White-winged Snowfinch, Brandt’s and Plain Mountain Finch, Common, Red-mantled, Himalayan Beautiful and Great Rosefinch, Asian Rosy Finch, Alpine, Altai, Brown, Black-throated, Kozlov’s and Siberian Accentor, and Little, Rock, Godlewski’s and Black-faced Bunting and many more.

Our main target is, of course, the Snow Leopard Panthera uncia. It truly is one of the apex species on the planet, on par with other “big names”  like Tiger, Eastern Gorilla and Jaguar. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is estimated to number less than 3,500 mature individuals and declining. Their camouflaged fur gives them an incredible advantage in the rugged and foreboding mountains where they live. It preys on the Siberian Ibex and the Argali sheep. However, for all its power, an adult cat weighs only about 55 kg (121 lbs) at most. To help it cope with the cold, the Snow Leopard has been blessed with the thickest fur of all the big cats. We will learn a lot about this amazing feline from our expert local guides during our time in the Altai mountains.

The area where we will search for the Snow Leopard supports the lives of the Zahchin ethnic group, which were formed in the sixteenth century from the ancient Mongol tribes. They were famed for their bravery and abilities in battle. If you want to visit an authentic Zahchin family, this can be arranged during our time here.

We will return to our ger site in the afternoons and enjoy some relaxation time in the camp. Dinner will be served in a central ger and we will socialise into the evenings, completing our lists and wondering why it took us so long to take the leap and come to magical Mongolia. We will marvel at the incredible night skies as we head to our gers at bed time every night, enjoying the pollution-free air in one of the most remote places on the planet.

Day 7: Transfer to Khomyn Tal National Park.
Today our time in the stunning Altai mountains come to an end.

After having hopefully ticked all the target species for this part of the trip, we will move onto our next exciting destination.

In the morning, set out on a game drive across the sweeping steppe and undulating sand dunes, scanning the horizon for the elusive Saiga antelope, a rare and ancient species adapted to these arid landscapes. This rather strange looking antelope is only found in western Mongolia, where they are known for their extensive migrations across the steppes. Unfortunately, saigas have been hunted to near extinction since prehistoric times, and today the saiga horn’s value is equal to rhinoceros’s horn!

The journey leads to Khomyn Tal National Park, a vital stronghold for wildlife conservation and a remarkable success story in species reintroduction. This remote expanse serves as a thriving habitat for the world’s last truly wild horse, the Takhi, also known as Przewalski’s horse. Thanks to dedicated conservation efforts and meticulous management, the population has rebounded, with approximately 150 of these resilient horses now roaming freely across the park’s vast grasslands and shifting dunes. The dramatic scenery, where endless steppes meet golden sands, enhances the experience. 

In the expansive wetlands and surrounding grasslands of the Great Lakes region, explore a diverse range of habitats while searching for some of the area’s most sought-after bird species. Scan the open water and reed-fringed shores for the striking White-headed Duck. The arid steppe and semi-desert terrain provide ideal conditions for the elusive Pallas’s Sandgrouse and scattered shrubs may reveal Henderson’s Ground Jay.  In dense grasslands and reed beds, listen for the secretive Pallas’s Grasshopper-Warbler, a skulking species best detected by its insect-like song. Finally, keep an eye on damp meadows and shallow waters for the White-headed Yellow Wagtail.

Target birds are the following: Mongolian Ground Jay, Red-billed Chough, Azure Tit, White-crowned Penduline Tit, Crested lark, Red-throated Thrush, Desert Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Mongolian Finch, Long-tailed Rosefinch, Bar-headed Goose, Daurian Partridge, Bearded Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Golden Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Saker Falcon, Greater Sand Plover, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Isabelline Shrike, and Steppe Grey Shrike.

The target mammals are Mongolian Saiga, Goitered Gazelle, Mongolian Gazelle, Siberian Ibex, Takhi, Grey Wolf, Corsac Fox, Red Fox, Mongolian three-toed Jerboa, Andrew’s three-toed Jerboa, Northern three-toed Jerboa, Five-toed Pygmy Jerboa, Mid-day Jird, Desert Hamster, Pallid Ground Squirrel, Tolai Hare, and Long-eared Hedgehog.

In the afternoon, continue the game drive across the expansive steppe and rolling sand dunes toward the rugged Margaz Mountains. This striking landscape, where towering granite rock formations rise from the vast grasslands, is a haven for wildlife and breathtaking scenery.

Settle into a comfortable community-based ger camp, warmly hosted by Mongolian nomads and dedicated rangers who share their deep knowledge of the land.

We will get together for dinner out here in the middle of nowhere under millions of stars in Mongolia.

Day 8-10: Margaz Mountains.
Over the next few days, explore the mountain’s remote valleys and dramatic ridges in search of elusive wild cats and other rare wildlife species. The journey unfolds through a pristine wilderness of towering rock tors, lush steppe grasslands, and sweeping dunes—an unspoiled realm where nature’s raw beauty and untamed wildlife thrive.

Here are the birds we will be targeting in this area: Greylag Goose, Bar-headed Goose, Swan Goose, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Falcated Duck, Red-crested Pochard, Black-throated Loon, White-winged Scoter, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bearded Vulture, Chukar Partridge, Himalayan Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Golden Eagle, Booted Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Upland Buzzard, Lesser Kestrel, Long-legged Buzzard, Saker Falcon, Common Crane, Demoiselle Crane, Oriental Plover, Pintail Snipe, Asian Dowitcher, Relict Gull, Mongolian Herring Gull, Pallas’s Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Whiskered Tern, Little Tern, White-winged Tern, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, European Nightjar, Little Owl, Mongolian Ground Jay, Steppe Grey Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Red-billed Chough, Horned Lark, Crested Lark, Mongolian Lark, Asian Short-toed Lark, Asian Desert Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Black Redstart, Common Rock Thrush, Northern Wheatear, Isabelline Wheatear, Desert Wheatear, Pied Wheatear, Rock Sparrow, Pere David’s Snowfinch, White-winged Snowfinch, Brown Accentor, Mongolian Finch, and Mongolian Accentor.

Target mammals as follows:  Mongolian Gazelle, Asian Wapiti, Siberian Ibex, Argali, Snow Leopard, Manul, Grey Wolf, Red Fox, Corsac Fox, Least Weasel, Steppe Polecat, Mongolian Marmot, Long-tailed Ground Squirrel, Pallid Ground Squirrel, Mongolian Hamster, Desert Hamster, Mid-day Jird, Pallas’s Pika, Tolai Hare, Long-eared Hedgehog, Mongolian Mountain Vole, Brandt’s Vole, Siberian Jerboa, Gobi Jerboa, Five-toed Pygmy Jerboa, Thick-tailed Pygmy Jerboa, Northern Three-toed Jerboa, Andrew’s Three-toed Jerboa, and Mongolian Three-toed Jerboa.

Day 11: Fly to Ulaanbaatar.
Catch your return flight to Ulaanbaatar, where you’ll have the chance to indulge in some retail therapy. Explore local markets and high-end boutiques to find the finest cashmere in the world, renowned for its exceptional softness and luxurious quality. Whether you’re seeking elegant scarves, cozy sweaters, or beautiful throws, this is the perfect opportunity to take home a truly exquisite piece of Mongolian craftsmanship.

Then it’s time for our final dinner together on this amazing tour to magical Mongolia. We will socialise into the night, having made friends for life. Then we are off to bed for a final night’s rest in this fascinating place.

Day 12: Departure.
Unfortunately, our amazing tour has come to an end.

After breakfast this morning we transfer to the new international airport, where we will say our sad goodbyes and catch our homeward or onward flights.