After the negotiating the jungle of Russian paperwork (which seems to get more farcical each year – don’t ask – just be prepared for long waits and the plan changing frequently) to get our permits, we’ve finally left that part of “civilisation” behind and arrived very late and very tired at our tranquil base camp in the middle of the Altai mountains, close to the Mongolian border. After the long drives and the bureaucratic frustrations of the last two days, being right in the middle of nature in the mountainous land of the snow leopard is a welcome relief.
This morning we’ll kick into action with our training and orientation sessions and the most important person of the expedition, our cook Nina, can start to work her magic to replenish our energy levels. Very few visitors get to this corner of the world. Getting here was an adventure already, often for reasons that we would have preferred to circumnavigate, but we’ve made it, we’re here and now the adventure for all the right reasons is about to begin…
Update from our snow leopard conservation expedition to the high mountains of the Altai Republic in Central Asia
Biosphere Expeditions: blogs from the frontline of wildlife conservation and the fight for a more sustainable planet 