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Mongolia's Dinosaurs, Past & Present!
Tour Code: MON03A unique 16-day fossil-hunting and birdwatching tour to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, including a visit to Hustai National Park, home of Przewalski’s Horse and the secretive Pallas’s Cat.
£6,995 (Inc flights)
£6,095
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
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Summary
This exciting tour follows in the footsteps of legendary explorer and palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who led the first fossil-hunting expeditions to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert in the 1920s. Andrews’s expeditions not only discovered the very first dinosaur eggs, but also opened the world’s eyes to the wonderful variety and abundance of fossils exposed in the deserts of central Asia. We now know that Andrews stumbled across one of the richest deposits of dinosaur remains in the world and a breathtaking range of specimens have been gathered from the Gobi since then, including Tarbosaurus (a relative of ‘T. Rex’) and the prehistoric villain of the big screen, Velociraptor. Dinosaurs, of course, survive to the present day in the form of birds, and Mongolia is also home to an equally rich assemblage of living species. On this tour we aim to search out both the surviving and extinct members of the dinosaur lineage by combining visits to two key fossil localities (the Tugrigiin Shiree and the Flaming Cliffs) with birdwatching in the region’s deserts and mountains. There will also be the chance to look for the rare Pallas’s Cat in the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park.
- Explore Mongolia’s Gobi Desert
- Walk in the footsteps of palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews
- Look for dinosaur fossils at Tugrigiin Shiree and the Flaming Cliffs
- Spectacular desert scenery
- Birds including Mongolian Ground-jay, Saxual Sparrow & Pallas’ Sandgrouse
- Visit Hustai National Park home of the rare Przewalski’s Horse
- Look for the elusive Pallas’s Cat
- Led by expert Naturetrek naturalist & local palaeontological guide
We will begin our holiday, however, with a flight to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s bustling capital. After one night in the city, we head south to Dalandzadgad and out into the endless rocky hills and sand dunes of the Gobi Desert, home to such birds as Mongolian Lark and the beautiful Demoiselle Crane. We will spend our next night in a comfortable ger camp on the edge of of the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park before heading further west for a night near the Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes, the largest dune system in the Gobi. The scenery here is spectacular and the surrounding dunes, stony desert and pockets of Saxaul forest are home to Pallas's Sandgrouse, Oriental Plover, Saxaul Sparrow and the enigmatic Mongolian Ground-jay. The shy Goitered Gazelle also ekes out an existence in this harsh landscape, whilst some of the commoner reptiles include Tuvan Toad-headed Agama and Mongolian Racerunner.
Continuing north-west, we will come to our first fossil locality in the Tugrigiin Shiree. We will stay here for two nights and spend our time prospecting for fossils – such as protoceratops and oviraptor bones – in its Late Cretaceous sandstone and shale cliffs. The site is perhaps best known for the fabulous 'Fighting Dinosaurs' specimen discovered here in 1971, a protoceratops and a velociraptor frozen in combat for 80 million years having been covered and suffocated in a sudden sandstorm or collapsing dune.
Moving our camp east once more, we next spend five nights — three camping and two in a ger camp — in the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, splitting our time between birdwatching and prospecting for fossils at the Flaming Cliffs, the legendary sandstones in which Andrews found his first dinosaur eggs! The magnificent Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park lies on the northern edge of the Gobi Desert. The rugged mountains, rocky deserts and ephemeral lakes of this starkly beautiful reserve are home to an exciting variety of sought-after birds including Daurian Partridge, Kozlov's Accentor and Godlewski's Bunting, plus Chinese Beautiful and Red-mantled Rosefinches. We also hope to find the rare Pallas's Cat here, a beautiful feline which wears a permanently 'grumpy' expression due to its unusually flat-topped head. Although elusive and shy, with our expert local guides close to hand, we hope to strike lucky!
Our time at the Flaming Cliffs is sure to be the paleontological highlight of the tour! It was here that Roy Chapman Andrews — a real-life Indiana Jones — made his most spectacular fossil discovery. At the foot of these red sandstone hills he found literally hundreds of specimens, the richest haul of dinosaur remains that had ever been found, including lots of protoceratops bones and the first-ever dinosaur eggs. Although the mass finds of Andrews' time are a thing of the past, the constant weathering here continually reveals new fossils. We will spend one and a half days at the Flaming Cliffs and stand a good chance of finding our own fossils, such as pieces of eggshell or bone, or, if fortunate, perhaps something more substantial.
Before returning home we will conclude our tour with three nights in a ger camp in Hustai National Park to the west of Ulaanbaatar. This UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is home to a herd of Przewalski’s Horse and is within reach of Bayan Lake which attracts, amongst many others, White-naped Crane, Asiatic Dowitcher and the rare Relict Gull.
Outline Itinerary
What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
In Ulaanbaatar we use a modern tourist hotel, where all rooms have private facilities. For the rest of the tour we will stay in a mix of simple, but comfortable, tourist ger camps and where ger camps are not available we will set up our own tented accommodation. The ger camps feature comfortable twin-bedded yurts with shared toilet and showers. When camping, sleeping bags and inflatable matrasses are provided.
- Food:
All included in the price from dinner on Day 2 to breakfast on Day 16.
Dates & Prices
2025
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The majority of our wildlife tours focus primarily on birds, allowing us to offer a huge choice of bird holidays. On most of our birdwatching tours we aim to see a wide variety of species, while taking time to enjoy other wildlife as well as cultural highlights and architecture.
Naturetrek Birdwatching Tours
We have one of the largest selections of professionally organised, small group birdwatching holidays around the world and all of our birdwatching tours are accompanied by at least one professional ornithologist leader with detailed knowledge of the area.
The majority of our bird tours have a relaxed, flexible approach which allows more time for photography, detailed wildlife exploration, leisure time and the region’s people, culture, history and architecture, while allowing the group to see a wide range of bird species.
Here is a small selection of our many bird holidays:
- Southern Morocco – an exploration of the birdlife in Morocco’s southern deserts, oases and mountains
- The Camargue in Spring – a short break to enjoy the spring birds of the Rhône Delta and Camargue wetland
- Wallcreepers & Cranes in Northern Spain – a 2-centre holiday focusing on Lammergeier, Wallcreepers, raptors, Cranes, bustards, sandgrouse and more!
- Madeira & Desertas Islands – A Seabird Extravaganza! – a short break focusing on special breeding seabirds, including a night on the remote Destertas Islands
- Peru – Macaws & Machu Picchu – searches for boobies, macaws and Inca Terns
- Spain & Morocco: Birding on Two Continents! – watch the spectacular spring bird migration from both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar
Our Bargain Birdwatching Selection
Our Bargain Bird Tours are intensive birdwatching holidays suitable for the serious birder. They are led by expert English-speaking local guides (and not accompanied from the UK by a tour leader). You can expect a higher-paced tour and to spend long hours in the field.
Our specialist recommends...
Byron Palacios - Tour Leader
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Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!
