Dinosaur hunting in the Gobi Desert: Mongolia
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Join New Scientist on a thrilling and unique expedition to find dinosaur remains in the beautiful wilderness of the Gobi desert with specialists from the Mongolian Institute of Palaeontology. Participate in live prospecting and fossil digging across keys sites, and potentially be the first person in 80 million years to set eyes on your discovery.
Visit the stunning Flaming Cliffs site where the first ever dinosaur eggs to be discovered where found in 1922 during the first modern palaeontological expedition into Mongolia. Bookend the expedition in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, where you will visit famous museums and sites such as the laboratories of the Mongolian Institute of Palaeontology.
The tour will be accompanied by paleontologist- Dr David Hone , who has visited and written about Mongolia and dinosaur fossils extensively. With no more than 12 guests on the trip, you will have plenty of access to the guides and experts.
DAY 1: ARRIVE INTO THE CAPITAL ULAANBAATAR
Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met and transferred to downtown Ulaanbaatar, where you will enjoy a welcome dinner with your fellow guests.
Ulaanbaatar offers a contrast between ancient traditions and the dawning of a 21st-century democracy, which can be seen in the traditional gers (a yurt like accommodation) and Buddhist monasteries coexisting with modern high-rises.
DAY 2: EXPLORE ULAANBAATAR
You will begin the day with a visit to Gandan Monastery. The monastery is considered as the seat of Buddhism here and a popular spiritual destination for Mongolians from all across the country. You will see the 26-metre-tall standing Buddha and visit monks in service. Next, you can marvel at the National Museum of Mongolia for an excellent overview of Mongolia's history and culture. The exhibition includes Stone and Bronze Age art crafts, historical costumes of Mongolia's minority tribes and sacred religious relics.
After lunch, you will be joined for the rest of the tour by palaeontologist Dr David Hone. Together you will inspect Hunnu Mall, where a temporary field museum of palaeontology is on display. This is followed by a visit to the Paleontological Laboratory of Mongolia. Here, you will have hands on experience about how the institution runs and carries out its research. Finally, visit Bogd Khan Winter Palace museum, which was home to the last Buddhist leader of Mongolia in the 20th century.
DAY 3: ENTER THE GOBI DESERT
After breakfast, fly over a vast steppe to Dalanzadgad. This is the gateway to the Gobi Desert, comprised of mountains, sand dunes and fossil beds.
Upon arrival, you will meet our drivers and transfer to a ger camp at the Khongoryn Els sand dunes, the largest dunes in the Gobi Desert. This amazing landscape offers one of Gobi’s diverse ecosystems. Here, you will meet the accompanying palaeontologists from the Mongolian Institute who will help you hunt for fossils while in the Gobi. Some of the best finds here have been unearthed by tourists and amateurs.
The next eight days are in the stunning wilderness of the Gobi desert and the itinerary is flexible based on conditions, recent finds and what is discovered on this expedition. Should a specific site yield a lot of interesting finds, the itinerary will be rescheduled to investigate further.
DAYS 4 & 5: NEMEGT MOUNTAINS
The central and western parts of the Gobi desert date from the middle to the late Cretaceous period, about 90-60 million years ago, which was a key period for dinosaur evolution.
In the morning, you will drive further west, cruising through Gobi’s vast basins and plains until you arrive at the first important locality, the Nemegt Basin. Here you will spend two nights prospecting through its red cliffs, looking for new trails of newly exposed fossils. For the remainder of your time in the Gobi, you will be living the life of an expedition member, staying in well-appointed tents.
Every day after breakfast, you will be divided into two groups and begin prospecting the valleys under the guidance of a guest palaeontologist. You will return back to the base camp for lunch. It might be necessary on certain days to wait out the afternoon sun, until it gets cooler. Hearty meals will be served each day in a group expedition tent by an expert field chef following adventurous days of field prospecting, working and discovering the local flora and fauna.
DAYS 6 & 7: ALTAN ULA
Drive a short distance to set up camp for the next few days at Altan Ula within the Tarbo area. This is another of Gobi’s vast and rich fossil beds, where some of the best discoveries of large carnivorous dinosaurs have been made recently.
Daily prospecting walks will continue with snacks provided. During one of these days, a palaeontologist will ask you to participate in the removal of promising looking finds, which sometimes can take hours, depending on the size of the find.
In the evenings, you can enjoy a welcome drink around the campfire or in the mess tent while reviewing the day's discoveries.
DAYS 8 & 9: BUGIIN TSAV
In the last leg of your expedition, you will move to a more remote area of the Gobi, known as Bugiin Tsav, where you will prospect for more fossils. Recent Japanese and Russian joint expeditions have been working here.
Each of the prospecting sites, where you will continue working under the guidance of a palaeontologist, is different in key ways: some have different sediments or unusual topography.
DAY 10 & 11: RETURN TO KHONGORYN ELS SAND DUNES
This morning, you will drive back towards the central part of the Gobi, reaching Khongoryn Els sand dunes later in the afternoon. It will then be dinner and an overnight stay in gers or log cabins.
DAY 12: THE FLAMING CLIFFS
After breakfast, you will drive to a ger camp conveniently located near the Flaming Cliffs site. En route, you will stop at a petroglyph site of the Gobi desert featuring key rock art.
By late afternoon, you will reach the legendary Flaming Cliffs, red sandstone formations more than 3 kilometres long, where hundreds of dinosaur fossils have been discovered over the course of the past century. Palaeontological expeditions from many countries, including from the US, Poland, Japan and Russia have worked here over the past 90 years. Each year, rain and wind reveal yet more fossils and every summer, exceptional new discoveries are made. You will explore the cliffs following in the footsteps of legendary US explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, who discovered the first dinosaur eggs that the world had ever seen nearly a 100 years ago. Enjoy sunset dinner at this majestic place before returning back to the ger camp.
DAY 13: FLY TO ULAANBAATAR
After breakfast, you will drive to Dalanzadgad for your return flight to Ulaanbaatar. Following lunch, vist the Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum, named in honour of a renowned 17th-century artist and politician, who was also the first Buddhist leader of Mongolia. The museum contains one of the best collections of Buddhist art and artefacts in the world, including many of Zanabazar's original works. In the evening, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.
DAY 14: DEBRIEFING AT THE INSTITUTE OF PALEONTOLOGY
You will spend the day visiting the Mongolian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Paleontology and Geology and get an opportunity to provide a report on your field work. Approximately eight weeks later, you will be issued with a final trip report from the institute. After your institute visit, you will see the Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs, which contains a stunning cache of recently confiscated fossils that had been smuggled out of the country.
The remainder of the day is available for last minute sightseeing. In the evening, you will be treated to a performance featuring traditional Mongolian dancers and khoomei (throat) singers.
DAY 15: DEPARTURE
After saying farewell at breakfast, you will transfer to the airport for departure.
