Mongolia | Camels and Vultures

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Mongolia is the land of camels and vultures.

Of course it’s a lot more than that, but when you come from a country with neither of those creatures, then they really stand out. During our time in Mongolia, we spent about 4 days in the capital of Ulaanbaatar, and then the rest of the time we were out in the countryside.

The drive took around an hour from the city, and on the way there are a few places where people have parked themselves for tourists to pull over and get up close and personal with some of these incredible animals. On our first trip out to the countryside we stopped, and I held a Lammergeier Vulture (also know as the bearded vulture). There were three big birds; a golden eagle, the Lammergeier and a Black Vulture. The Black Vulture was nearing 20kg, and the Lammergeier only 8kg (apparently; I’m slightly dubious and wonder if the numbers got lost in translation), so I went for the slightly smaller option.

It’s not that hard to hold a vulture, it turns out. You put on this huge oven-mitt-like padded glove, the bird climbs on, and the trainer gives a little tug on their cord and they extend their wings in full force (I think over a metre in length), and you snap a few pictures. Turns out I’m stronger than I thought I was too, though I suspect any long than a minute or 2 and I would have been struggling.

The second time we went out to the countryside we were travelling with different people, and they wanted to stop and hold a bird. So while they were doing that I jumped on a camel. We had limited time, so I didn’t do the ride-around-the-field that I could have done, but rather just went a few steps around the site, mostly for photos’ sake.

I think I’d been on a camel before, though I was young so don’t really remember. But you guys, camels are funny. Just look at their faces. They’re both bored out of their minds and taking nobody’s crap, all at the same time. They have resting-grumpy face, and might spit at you at any moment. Thankfully that didn’t happen.

Camels in Mongolia have 2 humps, making them super easy to sit on, and I feel like you’re less likely to fall off because you have a back rest and a front barrier. These camels had blankets on them in the middle to make it a little more comfortable, but I can imagine you’d get rather sore after a while riding these chappies.

So those were my animal adventures in Mongolia.

If you happen to heading to Mongolia, firstly let me know, and secondly, make sure you do these two things. It’s really cheap (the places we stopped was charging 5000T, which is around about $3 New Zealand Dollars), and so much fun. It also makes for great photos.

Have you ridden a camel? Held a large bird? Do share!