Looking to Share Costs to Mongolia Summer 2024!
Hello fellow mammal watchers! I am looking for someone to split costs for an expedition to Mongolia this coming July in to August, 2024. This is an ambitious expedition with some special targets – namely wild Bactrian Camel, Mongolian Saiga, Pallas’s cat, two species of wild horses, both species of gazelles with lots of smaller mammals – jerboas, souslik, pika, etc. The basic plan is 30 days in Mongolia.
Tour map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1EktDIkpbBbC47rhk3_-i_Oj918Utnx0&usp=sharing
Cost for 1-person private photography 30-day tour: 8990 US$ pp
The cost includes a one-way domestic flight and ground transportation including an extra vehicle carrying camp equipment and food supplies, petrol, cooking, all meals, trackers, entrance fees, camping gear, etc.
Here is the plan – rough idea (Dates 10 June through 10 July, 2024 – approximate until locked in)
Days Destinations Targets Distance
1 Ulaanbaatar 1 hour
2 Fly Dalanzadgad & transfer to Yolyn Am Pikas, Ground Squirrels aka Sousliks, Ibex fly 1 hour
3 Yolyn Am to Zulganai Oasis Black-tailed Gazelle, reptiles, and jerboas 350 km, 6-7 hours
4 Zulganai Oasis to Ehiin Gol Oasis Black-tailed Gazelle, reptiles, and jerboas 100 km, 1-2 hours
5 Ehiin Gol Oasis Black-tailed Gazelle, reptiles, and jerboas
6 Ehiin Gol Oasis to Shar Hulst Oasis Wild Bactrian Camels, Gobi Bear, Asiatic Wild Ass aka Khulan, Black-tailed Gazelle 100 km, 2-3 hours
7-11 Shar Hulst Oasis Wild Bactrian Camels, Gobi Bear, Asiatic Wild Ass aka Khulan, Black-tailed Gazelle
12 Shar Hulst Oasis to Bayantooroi Black-tailed Gazelle, reptiles, and jerboas 270 km, 5-6 hours
13 Bayantooroi Black-tailed Gazelle, reptiles, and jerboas
14 Bayantooroi to Altai Unwind at a comfortable hotel 230 km, 4-5 hours
15 Altai to Sharga Saiga 170 km, 2-3 hours
16-17 Sharga Saiga
18 Sharga to Durgun Saiga 170 km, 2-3 hours
19-20 Durgun Saiga
21 Durgun to Homyn Tal White-tailed Gazelle, Przewalski’s Wild Horse 120 km, 2-3 hours
22 Homyn Tal White-tailed Gazelle, Przewalski’s Wild Horse
23 Homyn Tal to Santmargats Pallas’s Cat 200 km, 3-4 hours
24-26 Santmargats Pallas’s Cat
27 Santmargats to Bulnai Siberian Marmot 280 km, 3-4 hours
28 Bulnai to Kharkhorin Transfer 450 km, 5-6 hours
29 Kharkhorin to Ulaanbaatar Transfer 360 km, 4-5 hours
30 Fly Home 1 hour
I am flexible to a degree with some changes. My main targets are camels, Saiga and Pallas’s Cat. If you are interested, lets talk! Contact me at: cosm@patana.ac.th
Hope to hear from interested people soon.
Cheers, Coke
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Karina and Andrey
Hi Coke, great plans! We have some advices on your route (may be it can useful).
– Foothils of the Zoolon mountains – somewhere here : 43.458821736673826, 102.4850352523533 is good for khulan, goitered gazelle (early morning and late evenings) and Mongolian five-toed jerboa (at night, by foot).
– Somewhere here we saw a long-eared jerboas and a long-eared hedgehog in 2017 43.22897300117318, 98.99094880097716. Look for the black stony areas, not sandy. Expect super low numbers of them – the desert here is very dry. Later at night is better.
– The riverbed north from the Ehiin Gol Oasis (about 1-2 km from the settlement) is good for great gerbils. Note sure, but approximately here 43.270871075428246, 99.02495967888349 – their large colonies there are hard to miss. Also try birding right at the willage and near the water leaks in the pipes – some nice birds are attracted by the fresh water.
– On the way from Khuld to Dalanzadgad – unfortunately do not remember the exact place – there are rocky outcrops 50-100 m east from the road where you can search at the daytime (e.g. on the rest/toilet stop) for grey dwarf hamsters surrounded by much more abundant mongolian gerbils
– to spot saiga, early morning (just after the surise from the hill) search with binoculars from the hill would help a lot. Evenings are not so good – they will rest most likely.
Hope this would help
A&K