Ger Life

Ger Life

Asia » Mongolia » Dornogovi
July 26th 2017

Published: August 13th 2017

After having such an amazing time working on a volcano in Nicaragua last year I thought I’d check out what other expeditions were on offer from the same volunteer charity, Earthwatch. After a perusal of all the exciting locations I decided I fancied a trip to the wilds of Mongolia, well why not. What did I know about Mongolia? Not a lot, mostly Genghis Khan (actually it’s Chinggis), horses an... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

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I've no idea if this has a name

It's nice place to take a rest from the fierce heat of the steppe though.

It's hot out there

The Gobi Steppe is not a place you want to get lost in, mind you the vultures wouldn't object.

One hump or two?

Two of course! Asian Bactrian camels are the two hump variety, I like these better.

Pika country

There was much evidence of previous pika habitation but it seems like most of them had moved away.

Hold still

A female kestrel (Falco naumanni) gets the science treatment.

Eugene! The runt of the litter..

We love you Eugene! Tip: never give a subject of scientific research a name as you then become emotionally attached and worry about them not surviving. Latest reports from Mongolia claim Eugene was thriving, we can only hope.

A traditional summer ger of a local ranger

Inside the tranditional ger

A bit more homely than our ger, lovely bright colours, especially the traditional orange furniture.

Khorkhog!

Our freshly killed goat was cooked in this traditional way, with hot stones. It wasn't pleasant to watch the goat meet its maker, but at least it was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Make me some slippers please

Some local ladies gave us a demonstration on how they make felt by hand, it all starts with a sheep.

Heading off to the disco.

Saturday night is disco night in Ihk Nart nature reserve, no joke. The disco is held weekly at this odd spa resort on the edge of the reserve.

Marmot homes

The residences of the Siberian Marmot (Marmota sibirica). The footprints are ours, well I don't think they have started wearing boots yet.

Do vultures eat dead vultures?

Even the vultures get their comeuppance in the Gobi Steppe.

Flat rocks, I need flat rocks!

You may think I'm mad to spend my holiday hauling rocks. However these rock dams we built are to help stop soil erosion, you just need a good selection of flat rocks.

I built this!

A one-rock dam built by my own fair hands. Another exercise to add to my Mongolian Boot Camp Exercise list.

Happy horses

Watering holes are drying up rapidly hence our attempts at water conservation measures. It was quite amazing how cold the water was coming out of the ground, icy.

The mighty vulture

A Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). They often get a bad press but vultures are really rather spectacular. They can fly as high as commercial jets and these ones have been found to summer in South Korea, fancy that.

Eek! Wolf!

I'm quite glad we only saw the footprints and not the actual wolf while we were hiking.

A break from the beige

Amethyst quartz dug up by illegal mining, naughty people!

What's the collective noun for a group of vultures?

The internet tells me it's a 'Venue' of vultures if they are sitting and a 'Kettle' of vultures if they are circling. All I know is if you see this many together something has died.

Dinner!

Don't be sad for the gazelle, as Elton John once said 'It's the circle of life'.

29th August 2017

D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley

Volunteering again
Good for you for picking some great locations. Mongolia is on my short list so I truly enjoyed reading this one. Great stuff. Will continue to follow along. MJ

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