Day 224: Where the wild sheep are

Before breakfast, Zoe helped to disperse the livestock into the surrounding landscape and to milk one of the cows. We had breakfast in the family ger – eggs and frankfurters deep fried in the wok, washed down with a bowl of the ubiquitous milky tea (and some juice that we had brought with us), then the girls helped to feed the baby animals. We all then piled into the van with the ranger's husband to do some wildlife watching, driving up into the hills in the nature reserve. 

We had been told that there were lots of marmots (burrowing rodents about the size of a cat) in the area and sure enough, it wasn't long before we saw one sunbathing outside its burrow. Our next stop was adjacent to a wetland, where we saw a majestic white-naped crane (an endangered species down to about 5,000 individuals in the wild) striding along beside the water. While we were watching it, we spotted some big birds of prey riding a thermal nearby – vultures. We got a closer look at them a bit later when we came across a big group feasting on a cow carcass. 

 

We were soon heading right up into the hills, on the lookout for argali, the world's largest wild sheep. It wasn't long before Kate spotted a few up ahead, running uphill into the rocks, their bright, white rumps bouncing along as they made their way over a steep ridge. These were just the first of many – indeed, our guide was amazed at the number of sheep we saw, often in big groups with large numbers of young animals. Seeing argali is apparently a good omen, so for the Mongolians among us, this was a very auspicious day, the highlight being a sighting of a group of seven large males.

As we drove out of the more rugged, hilly area favoured by the sheep we stopped for a somewhat windblown picnic lunch and then headed back to the camp, stopping on the way for more marmot spotting and to climb a hill with great views over the surrounding countryside. 

Back at the camp, the girls played some games involving sheep knuckle bones in our ger with Tuul and the little kids. Outside, some wild weather blew in, pelting the ger with hail and snow. When it had passed, Kate took her turn at the udders, giving everyone a good laugh as she ham-fistedly attempted to extract some milk from a poor unsuspecting cow.

Tonight's dinner consisted of wheat-flour noodles, mutton, onions and carrots. Afterwards, everyone crowded around my laptop as I cycled through the photos that I had taken today – the shots of the seven male sheep together were a particular favourite.