Kazakhstan Wilderness Wildlife
Wildlife of the Great Silk Road

Arrive Almaty - Your flight should arrive in Almaty before 09:00 in the morning. You will be met at the airport and driven to Altyn Emel National Park (3½ hours) through firstly agricultural land then later through the drier grasslands and deserts with good views across Kapshagay lake, reaching your guesthouse in the national park around midday. Altyn Emel National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site and covers 4600 square kilometres between the Ili River and the Ak-Tau mountain range and consists mostly of desert, rocky terrain and also wetland avifaunas. We are here mainly to see the Przewalski wild horse which has been reintroduced to Kazakhstan, Koulan wild ass (more than 1,100), Bukhara deer which was once almost extinct but now reintroduced to the park, Argali sheep (about 200) and Goitered Gazelle (up to 5000) which have always been there. After settling in in the hotel we'll drive out to the singing sand dunes with a hope of seeing some wildlife on the way. The area is referred to as The "Singing Dunes" on account of the rumbling sound emitting from the sand.

Accommodation: Comfortable guesthouse with breakfast.

A 100 km excursion through Altyn Emel National Park - A whole day exploring the national park in vehicles and on foot with good chances of seeing all the large animals already mentioned (Przewalski horse, Koulan, Bukhara deer and Goitered Gazelle), but also with slim hopes of seeing smaller mammals like Stone marten, Steppe Polecat, Pallas' wild cat and Eurasian lynx. Did you know they plan to reintroduce Tigers in 2025! Birds to look for include Saker falcon, White-tailed eagle, Short-toed snake eagle, Black stork, Macqueen's bustard, Barbary falcon, Lesser kestrel, Collared pratincole, Black-bellied sandgrouse, Roller, Hoopoe, Indian golden oriole and Songar tit. Due to the large number of ungulates, scavengers are common - Grey wolf, Red fox, Eurasian and Himalayan vultures, Cinereous vulture and Egyptian vulture. We should visit 5 Huge Scythian Burial Mounds (Bes Shatyr Necropol) at some stage during the day.

Accommodation: Return to the comfortable guesthouse with breakfast.

Drive to the start of the horse trek expedition in the Tien Shan mountains - We have a further 3½ hour drive today to reach the start of our horse trek expedition in the frontier zone wilderness. We will leave the guesthouse in the National park when we're ready and we'll take our time to look for wildlife during the journey with several rest breaks on the way. We'll now leave the drier desert regions behind and head up into the lush green mountain flower meadows with stunning snow-caped mountain backdrop landscapes as we drive up the Bayankol Gorge. Eventually we'll reach the Bayanko frontier post where we'll present our special permits to enter the restricted area where Kazakhstan borders China and Kyrgyzstan. Until we gained this special permission only about 20 people per year were able to enter this area. This area is teaming with rare wildlife relatively undisturbed by humans, this is what makes this area so special to enter and unique to Nature Expeditions' clients. You stand a 50% chance of observing Snow leopard, Grey wolf, Eurasian linx and the Tien Shan brown bear. There's a strong population of Grey wolf which tells you there's good biodiversity. A 50% chance might not sound good to you but I can assure you these odds are the best there are anywhere! Other large mammals, with a 100% chance of you seeing include Siberian ibex, Argali sheep, Siberian roe deer, Maral deer and the largest Wild boar there is anywhere. Smaller predatory mammals include Pallas's cat, Red fox and Corsac fox, Tien Shan dhole, Least weasel and Otter. You'll also see a great many Marmot on the way, both Grey and Long-tailed marmot. Our destination for the day is a cabin in a place called Eki Asha Gorge. Here we'll change into our expedition clothes, store our unnecessary travel kit, get introduced to our horses and ride for a couple of hours to reach our camp for the night at 2200 m elevation.

Accommodation: Wild camp (1 or 2-person tent).

Horse ride to Tamshi Gorge - We have a 3-hour horse trek today culminating in Tamshi Gorge. We're trekking up a valley of mountain flower pastures en-route, and we'll only climb 600 m so this will be an easy introduction to wilderness horse trekking. Species to look out for include: Roe deer, Linx, Golden eagle, Common rosefinch, Saker falcon, Citrine wagtail and Hoopoe. By the end of the day we'll be in prime Ibex, Deer, Boar and Wolf country.

Accommodation: Wild camp (1 or 2-person tent).

Continue on horse expedition to Kokala Tas - After what would have been a much colder night than previously we will wake to some truly stunning landscape scenery. We've another 3-hour horse trek ahead of us to Kokala Tas, but now we're in prime Bear country. We're also reaching Argali sheep country, Argali are the world's largest species of wild sheep, extremely timid and quickly disappear on sight, a near threatened species and becoming very scarce having disappeared from much of their range, they are now listed as a Kazakhstan red-book species and fully protected. Birds common in this area include: Long-legged buzzard, Isabelline wheatear, Citrine wagtail, Yellow wagtail, Common rosefinch, Stonechat, Whitethroat, Tree pipit, Cuckoo and Hoopoe. We will eventually make camp at 3000 m. Another thing I'd like to point out is that we're now more than 100 miles from the nearest town, consequently there is zero light pollution thus producing some of the darkest night skies in the world. It's well worth trying to get that stunning photograph of the milky-way.

Accommodation: Wild camp (1 or 2-person tent).

Horse ride to the Kara Say glacier to look for Snow leopard - With a further 3 hour ride we're now entering an area with a lot of Snow leopard activity. You stand an excellent chance to see a Snow leopard, but at least you should see its tracks in the snow and sand. This is still prime country for Ibex and Argali, the main prey species of the Snow leopard. Birds at this high elevation include Güldenstädt's redstart, Rock thrush, Wallcreeper, Alpine accentor, Lammergeier, Himalayan griffon and Eurasian griffon vulture, Rock ptarmigan, Himalayan snowcock, Brandt's mountain finch, Alpine chough, Red-billed chough and Plain mountain finch. We'll make camp at 3400 m, and spend all of our time here looking for Bear, Wolf and Snow leopard.

Accommodation: Wild camp (1 or 2-person tent).

Horse ride back 20 km to Eki Asha Gorge. - You'll be used to riding by now so you should be able to handle a 5-hour ride back down to Eki Asha! It's easer and faster going down hill. But there is still plenty of time to see wildlife on the way, we'll look out for any species we missed on the way up. We'll pay special attention to look for Eurasian linx and Tien Shan Bear in the pine forest. We'll end up back at Eki Asha Gorge to camp at 2200 m.

Accommodation: Wild camp (1 or 2-person tent).

Return to Almaty - Say goodbye to the trusted horses, change back into travel clothes and drive back the 380 km to Almaty visiting Charyn Canyon en-route. We'll get back to the hotel in the late afternoon.

Accommodation: Comfortable city hotel.

Leisurely Almaty city tour - A day to take life a little easier. You'll be given an Almaty city tour including a visit to the Ethnovillage to better understand some of the Kazakhstan culture and history. Followed by a farewell dinner in a Kazakh cuisine restaurant.

Accommodation: Comfortable city hotel.

Depart Almaty and fly home - An early morning transfer to the airport to catch your flight home.

Accommodation: Your home.