Mongolia Quest's Annual Newsletter

✨ A YEAR IN REVIEW

In 2023, we were thrilled to continue our mission of assisting travelers in exploring Mongolia and beyond. With over 30 years of experience, we excel in our unique tour categories and are dedicated to being industry leaders, offering cultural explorations, active adventures, wildlife safaris, educational tours, special projects, and trips that invite you to engage in philanthropic activities.

Our guides are experienced in interpretive guiding and are known for being smart, fun, friendly, and attentive. We take pride in our collaboration with international and national experts in the fields of archaeology, paleontology, history, cultural, and natural sciences. We work with the country’s best suppliers, ranging from top-notch hotels to ger camps, restaurants, horse and camel wranglers, drivers, chefs, and eagle hunters.

To look back, we’re happy to share our main achievement and highlights of our business. 

OUR SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES & STORIES OF 2023

♻️ Reducing Plastic Use: In all our tours, we are committed to minimizing the use of plastic bottles. In pursuit of this goal, we purchase water in bulk or 5-liter containers to eliminate single-use plastic bottles, encouraging refilling during the trip. To date, we have saved 5,800 regular small plastic bottles from disposal! Additionally, this marks the first year we have completely eliminated the use of disposable items throughout all our tours. We provide reusable kitchenware during our field meals, striving for a completely plastic-free journey.

⭕️ Leave no trace: In our expeditions and camp arrangements in remote locations where recycling facilities or nearby garbage dumps are unavailable, we implement appropriate waste disposal management practices, including separation, composting, burning, burying, or transporting the remaining non-recyclable waste to the nearest garbage dump, ensuring that we leave no trace.

🤝Community Engagement and Giving Back: In adherence to our commitment to collaborate with local communities, we partnered with 60 local drivers, horse and camel wranglers, herder families, eagle hunters and chefs from seven provinces. Our investment in supporting the local community amounted to 40,000 USD. 

📚️ Educational Initiatives: We organized lectures at various schools, with our international and national experts to share knowledge with young minds. Our collaboration with the International School of Ulaanbaatar allows us to arrange summer vacation excursions for students in grades 6-11. These tours offer a diverse learning experience, combining education, physical fitness training, paleontological exploration, and cultural, traditional and adventure activities.

🆕 Partnerships and Donations: In Umnugovi province, at the renowned Flaming Cliffs,  we hosted a special VIP tent camp operation for the first-ever "Dinosaur Festival 2023", organized by the Mongolian Institute of Paleontology. This initiative was a testament to our commitment to preserving historical and cultural treasures while making scientific knowledge accessible to all and promoting citizen-scientist.  

We donated an office printer, camera equipment and field tents for the park rangers of Tost Toson Bumbat Nature Reserve and the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area. In our bid to support local conservation initiatives, we donated tents to Mongolian national renowned field biologist Batsaikhan Nyamsuren, who is currently conducting a field work for restoring Siberian marmot population outside Ulaanbaatar.

We continue our support of the Rally for Rangers initiative of the Mongol Ecology Center and provided logistical assistance in delivering new motorcycles to rangers in Mongolia and Namibia this year.

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR 2023 TOURS

All of our journeys were unique and special in their own way, yet we have highlighted below some of the most unique ones we have had the chance of arranging.   

👑 Nemegtosaurus excavation at Nemegt Valley
(Dinosaurs of Mongolia)

Led by paleontology expert Dr. Philip Currie, a multinational team of 10 paleontologists, supported by the Institute of Mongolian Paleontology, spent 20 days excavating the Nemegtosaurus skeleton in South Gobi province. The Nemegt locality, known for its rich dinosaur findings, yielded significant specimens, including Saurolophus and Tarbosaurus, in the past. In 2023, the team focused on uncovering the Nemegtosaurus, known from the holotype collected at the site. The expedition, involving over 200 tons of overburden removal, successfully retrieved some of the remaining skeletons. Lab analysis is underway, contributing valuable insights to paleontology. Our “Dinosaurs of Mongolia” participants actively engaged, becoming citizen scientists and exploring the region's rich history.

We would like to convey our special thanks to Mr. Graham Taylor and Mr. Clint Coker of Australia who have helped to finance this tremendous project which is an incredible case of tourism supporting science in Mongolia.

👑 Sierra Club hikes in the Altai mountains

After years of planning and the scouting team's work, we were pleased to launch our first hiking journey with the historic Sierra Club in the western Mongolian Altai Mountains. Hikers traversed the most remote part of western Mongolia, just over 50 km from the Mongolia-China border. This region offers an unparalleled experience of traveling through Mongolia's most intact ecosystem and traditional nomadic culture. Participants enjoyed unique visits to traditional herder families while taking in the breathtaking scenery of the area. 

The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states and was founded by renowned preservationist John Muir, who became the first president. It is one of the first hiking clubs to offer domestic and international hiking programs outside of the U.S.

👑 Eagle Festival in the remote Altai soum of Western Mongolia

Ever since Mongolia Quest was one of the founding members of the Golden Eagle Festival in western Mongolia, we strived to ensure the local hunters receive as much benefit and exposure as possible from this ever-increasing popular event among ethnic Kazakh hunters. This year, we proudly helped to arrange one of the local initiatives of arranging a local Eagle Festival in the remote village called Altai, located about 100 kms north of Mongolia and the Chinese border. The aim of this festival was to bring the festival home to the real local communities where local tourism could contribute to the local economy. 

To be arranged during every second week of September, this event ensures visitors to have a genuine and authentic interaction with not only the local hunters but village habitants to explore their unique way of living. Mongolia Quest will be offering this event as one of our official Golden Eagle Departures for our upcoming private journeys, beginning from next year.

👑 BBC’s upcoming films on Gobi bear, Snow leopard and Mongolian gazelle

The next installment of the famed "Planet Earth 3" and a new series called "Asia" episodes by BBC, showcases Mongolia, presenting the elusive Gobi bear, snow leopard, and Mongolian gazelle in their natural habitats. Over two years, the BBC Natural History Unit of the UK captured these magnificent creatures. Mongolia Quest had the opportunity of arranging in-country production works ranging from film permissions to all ground logistics, involving more than 40 of our staff and establishing close ties with Mongolian National Park authorities and park rangers.

Filming of the Mongolian Snow Leopards, took place in Tost and Toson Bumbat National Park of South Gobi province, in collaboration with the Snow Leopard Trust, will feature for in one of Planet Earth III’s: the ‘Extremes’ episode. The Gobi bear segment is filmed in the remote Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area A. The Mongolian Gazelle segment raises awareness about man-made obstacles in their migration routes, focusing on railway fences. Our collaboration with the BBC contributes significantly to Mongolian wildlife conservation, educating decision-makers and the public on the importance of preserving Mongolia's unique wildlife.

FEATURED TOURS OF 2024

In the coming year, we are dedicated to organizing more unique, educational, sustainable, and adventurous tours with the support of our international and local experts and trusted team leaders. Here are our top 3 featured tours and keep in mind that our early-bird booking discount available until January 31, 2024!

🇲🇳 Mongolia Unveiled with Dr. Chris Atwood
(June 27-July 10)

We invite you to join us on this exclusive journey to discover Mongolia with Dr. Christopher Atwood of University of Pennsylvania, USA, one of the leading Mongolian experts in North America. With a focus on history, nomadic culture, flora and fauna and geography, this is one of our most comprehensive quests to date, for discovering Mongolia. 

🦕 Dinosaurs of Mongolia
(Sep 6-Sep 20)

We are excited to organize our annual expedition led by Canadian Paleontologist, our expert, Philip Currie and paleobotanist Eva Koppelhus in collaboration with the Mongolian Institute of Paleontology. This expedition is a golden chance for anyone eager to delve into the world of paleontology, dinosaurs, and science. It’s also a perfect adventure for families looking to ignite a passion for science in their children. Don’t miss out on the incredible opportunity to become a citizen scientist in the vast Mongolian Gobi alongside world-renowned paleontologists. 

🦅 From the Gobi to Golden Eagle Festival
(Sep 24-Oct 6)

Every year, over 100 Kazakh hunters, who train Golden Eagles for hunting, gather in a valley of the Altai Mountains to celebrate the Golden Eagle Festival. Both men and women compete in this age-old tradition, which was preserved among the Mongolian Kazakh community in Mongolia. This trip is a prime example of sustainable tourism that supports the local community. Our President, Badral.Yo, is one of the founding members of this exotic festival. We are always proud to be part of the conservation of the eagle hunting tradition and supporting this age-old cultural heritage.

ℹ️ QUICK FACTS

• Mongolia has been named the top country to visit in Lonely Planet's 'Best in Travel 2024' book! Click here for the full article.

• There are only between 3,920 and 6,390 snow leopards left in the world, with 953 of them calling Mongolia home? Click here to check our Wildlife Safari Tour 2024.

• Mongolia plans direct flight to the US in 2023. Click here for the full news.

👨‍👦‍👦 MEET OUR NEW TALENTS

💰️ OUR PARTNERS

Mongolia Quest family wishes you a Happy and Healthy New Year! We hope to see you in 2024!