2.Explore Ulaanbaatar (the locals abbreviate it as UB!). We’ll do a tour of this city of 1.5 million today. Starting with the Gandantegchinlen Monastery, an important Tibetan Buddhist monastery established in 1727.

Get a feel for the rich history of Mongolia through the ages. Then visit the Mongolia Museum of Natural History. After lunch, we’ll explore the “black market” a sprawling bazaar where locals do their shopping for a taste of live in this bustling capital. Dinner at a restaurant outside, then back to the hotel for the night.

All meals included.

3.We’ll fly to the Western province of Khovd, about 1,500km from UB. After landing at Khovd airport, we’ll transfer by awaiting LandCruisers to our private camp in the mountains.

Khovd province is rural and remote. The majority of the population are nomadic herders who rear livestock. Our private camp will be next to one such nomadic family in prime snow leopard habitat.

Guests will settle in to their gers (Mongolian yurts). We’ll spend some time getting to know our neighbors, learn their way of life, learn about how climate change affects their lives, and about the snow leopards that inhabit this area.

4-9.

Our snow leopard trackers will scan the surrounding mountains and valleys for signs of snow leopards. Trackers will split up across a few different sectors with high powered Swarovski spotting scopes and radios.

Our Mongolian field team knows these mountains like the back of their hands, while our Ladakhi spotters have tracked these elusive cats for over 20 years. A winning combination.

Our highest chances of spotting snow leopards are at dawn and dusk. If one of our spotters finds a snow leopard, they will report it on the radio, and we’ll converge to their location, if we aren’t already nearby. The days are spent looking for a wide variety of wildlife.

Depending on sighting success, we will also visit nearby locations such as Khar Us Nuur (Black Lake) where we will search for a variety of endemic bird species and the rare and endangered Saiga antelope.

While the snow leopard trackers do their job, guests can do a variety of things that include going with the trackers, engaging with our nomadic neighbors in activities like cooking, setting up a yurt. There will be lots of opportunities for photography or hikes, should those interest you.

10-11.After 6 days tracking snow leopards, corsac foxes, and many other animals, we’ll depart this part of the Mongolian Altai and head to the province of Bayan Ulgii, the westernmost province in Mongolia. After breakfast, we’ll set out on a 4 hour drive through some incredible terrain crossing parts of the Altai range and magnificent rivers. In Ölgii, our time will be spent meeting with Kazakh nomads.

This province of Mongolia is primarily dominated by the Kazakh ethnic group. The Kazakh pastoralists of this region are famous for raising Golden Eagles to hunt. Our time here will be spend learning about the life of Kazakh eagle hunter, with several opportunities to make incredible portraits and witness the eagles prowess. The Kazakhs have large families and there will be plenty of interaction.

Overnight in a traditional ger (yurt.)

12.

After bidding farewell to our Kazakh hosts, we’ll fly back to the Mongolian capital. A farewell dinner will bring this incredible tour to a close. Overnight at hotel.

13.

Depart. There are extensions available for those that would like to see the Prezwalski’s Horse in Khustai National Park.