Snow Leopards of Central Asia

In Bishkek our fantastic Kyrgyz team will meet you and transfer you to a top-notch 5* hotel in the city centre. Most flights arrive in the early hours of the morning, so we’ll give you a few hours to catch up on some sleep before a late lunch close to the hotel. Supper will be at an excellent restaurant in the heart of this vibrant capital city.

You head for the Kyrgyz hills today! After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, you’ll be driven east towards the white peaks of the Ala Too range.

You’ll stop for lunch on the road before heading deep into the pine-covered hills. It really is a wilderness up here – the silence of these hills and forests is stupendous.

After settling into the lodge, you’ll be treated to a hearty meal and then enjoy a presentation by the staff of the conservation organisation whose efforts here are so vital to both limiting negative human impacts and ensuring the local wildlife is given the best possible chance of thriving.

After a hearty breakfast at the lodge, which is owned and run by one of the local wildlife rangers, you’ll be splitting into groups to spend the day in the hills with rangers from this community based conservancy. As the snow is likely to be at least a foot deep at this time of year, you’ll be travelling by both horse and foot. After a hot picnic lunch in the hills, you’ll return to the lodge in the mid-afternoon to warm up and compare notes from the day.

This evening you’ll be having a talk from one of the local conservation team, and there will also be some traditional Kyrgyz entertainment…

Supper will be at the lodge, with our ranger host and his family.

Today, you’ll spend all day out in the hills around the lodge, returning late afternoon after a warming lunch on the slopes.

You’ll be exploring different parts of the surrounding hills, and any recent sightings of key species will be reported to ensure that you maximise your chances of spotting whatever is out there to be seen.

This is your last day enjoying the fresh air and forests of Chon Kemin.

The ranger team will have been working very hard to ensure that you have been able to get fully involved with the conservation efforts here. This is something that very few tourists get to do, so we hope it will have been a special experience for you.

The rangers will bid you a fond farewell today and we are likely to enjoy a toast or two with them before they go. Tonight, you’ll enjoy a super meal at the lodge, hopefully with a star-strewn sky outside.

After an early breakfast at this mountain eyrie, you’ll travel back to Bishkek via the Burana tower. This ninth Century minaret is now rather shorter than it once was, thanks to an earthquake that toppled the higher portion, but it remains an impressive landmark.

You’ll have lunch on arriving in Bishkek, in perfect time to check into your 5* hotel. This afternoon is yours to explore this fascinating city, its teeming bazaars, museums, numerous spas and wide-open spaces. We love Bishkek and it will provide the perfect chance to unwind after your trip so far.

Supper tonight will be at one of the city’s finest restaurants.

You’ll be transferred from your 5* hotel in Bishkek to Manas Airport in luxury cars and delivered into the welcoming arms of the CIP fast-track team who will look after you until you embark on your flight for the short hop over the mountains to Almaty, from where your connecting flight to Dushanbe will depart.

Your first flight leaves Bishkek at around 09:00 and arrives into Almaty at roughly 10.00 local time. You’ll head out of the airport with our local guide, into the welcoming arms of Almaty to enjoy a delicious lunch and a spot of sightseeing before returning to Almaty Airport at about 16:00. A further 2 hours in the air with – daylight permitting – some incredible views over the jagged ridges of the stunning Pamir Alai range, the flight will bring you to the capital of Tajikistan. This flight is included in the trip cost.

Arrive at Dushanbe Airport at around 19:00, where we will meet you, assist with immigration and then transfer you to your 5* hotel. After a chance to refresh, you’ll head for supper at one of the best restaurants in the city. Overnight in Dushanbe.

This morning, we will leave the hotel after breakfast and drive down to the Khatlon region. Here, the dramatic landscapes of the Darvaz ranges begin to open up, and you’ll get your first glimpse of neighbouring Afghanistan. Around mid-afternoon, you’ll arrive at our mountain lodge in the heart of the Darvaz range. This small conservancy is home to the highest recorded density of snow leopards ever recorded, with ten individuals in a 100km² (39 miles²) area.

This evening after supper, there’ll be a talk from the ranger team about the local wildlife populations, their work here and what you’ll be doing over the next few days. You’ll also have the chance to look at detailed maps and recent locations of cat tracks and sightings.

Today begins the work of locating the snow leopard.

After a morning briefing from the rangers – during which they will talk about weather conditions and recent wildlife sightings – you’ll split into smaller groups, each of which will head to different locations accompanied by 1-2 rangers. The ranger team will have been closely tracking the cats in the week prior to your arrival, hence giving you the best possible chance of seeing the cats and other key species.

You’ll be walking in the mountains, tracking wildlife and helping to set camera traps which you’ll then analyse in the following days. Lunch will be served out in the field, along with hot coffee and tea. After a hot supper and some G&Ts back at the lodge, you’ll hear more from the ranger team about their conservation efforts in the region.

oday, you’ll be up early to hike to the best positions before sunrise. This, together with local knowledge of the best slopes, will hopefully allow you to spot snow leopards, Markhor or Ibex. Lunch will again be out in the hills before heading back to the lodge in the afternoon.

Supper will be at the lodge.

You’ll be out in the mountains again today, on foot in small groups, enjoying the wild beauty of this place and looking for wildlife. Lunch will be in the mountains and you will return to the lodge in the afternoon for warming drinks and some time to relax.

Tonight’s supper will be at the wildlife conservancy manager’s own home. This way, you’ll get to experience more of how the local people live and enjoy their wonderful hospitality. Tajiks must be among the most welcoming people in the world and you’ll doubtlessly enjoy this evening.

After the pleasure of getting involved with community efforts yesterday, hopefully you’ll be fired with yet more enthusiasm for another day of spotting in the hills.

You’ll be once again in small teams with your rangers at hand, and we’ll be staying again at the lodge tonight.

Today will be another early start to get out before sunrise. Many people only have the chance to track snow leopards once in their lives, so we are going to do our best to find the cats, and that means some early starts. It’ll be a shorter day on the hills today, as you will return to the lodge for lunch and then head to a local school. Here, in co-operation with the local conservation team, you will have the opportunity to help educate the children about why the key predators in their region are so important to the entire ecology – including themselves. This outreach programme is an essential part of conservation efforts here. It will also be a chance for you to help the children with their English – you’ll be some of the first native English speakers they’ve had the chance to meet.

Tonight – for those who want it – there will be a traditional Russian bath-house, or banya. Very much like a sauna, this is a great way to get a deep clean before supper and a glass of wine.

It’s your final day here, and our rangers will once again have been out since before dawn scouring the hills for signs of the cats.

You’ll split into groups, or if a recent sighting has been reported, all will go in a single group.

Lunch will be in the mountains, and then you’ll enjoy a final supper at the lodge with all the local team – no doubt with much toasting and good cheer! You’ll also review any camera trap footage and have the chance to get copies of any images captured during the stay.

Hopefully by now, your memory card will be straining with images of fluff and fur.

After breakfast you’ll wave ha’ir and dasvidanya to the Tajik conservation team and drive back to Dushanbe, stopping on the way for photos of Nurek Lake (reservoir).

Your last full night in Tajikistan will be spent in Dushanbe’s best 5* hotel. Supper will again be at one of the best joints in town.

You’ll have a day to relax, decompress and see the sights of Dushanbe today.

Although Dushanbe doesn’t have the history of some other Central Asian cities, it does have things to see and do and we do find it an endearing place.

Of course, you may feel like relaxing, reading a book  or going for a swim today instead.

Some flights may depart this evening, others go early tomorrow morning in which case you’ll stay at the same hotel tonight. We will transfer you in time for your flight in any case.

We’ll get you to the airport in Dushanbe in time for your flight, whenever it may be. Many departures (e.g. Turkish Airlines and Fly Dubai) have early departures, or you may be departing a little later via Astana/Nur-Sultan or another regional airport.

Either way, we’ll wish you Bon Voyage after an epic trip has concluded.