Team Journals

Name:	Jamie		Subject:	Getting to Mongolia - the First Day	Date:	April 3, 2005 - Sunday
What a crazy experience it was getting to our final destination! Our final destination is a research camp located 7 hours from any other sign of human life, deep in the heart of Mongolia. After being denied at the ticket counter in Los Angeles for Air China because we didn’t have a transit visa (a visa JUST to move through the Beijing airport), we spent a day and a half in Los Angeles. Ugh! The next day, we finally got a flight to Mongolia through Korea because a transit visa isn’t needed. Our flight to Korea was approximately 13 hours and once we landed, we had a 3 hour lay-over before our final flight to UlaanBaatar. The flight to UlaanBaatar was a little under 4 hours and once we landed it was well into the early hours of the morning. Ulaanbaatar is the biggest city in Mongolia and the setting for our rendezvous with the rest of the team. Arsen and myself checked into a hotel with the help of the Principal Investigator , Dr. Rich Reading, who heads the research project. Morning was an early start and we started our travel to the research site, which ended around 2:00. When we arrived, everyone was out doing observations of the Argali, so we only met two of the other volunteers. They came to greet us at camp, after seeing we had arrived while they were doing their research. Immediately after we arrived, I started setting up the tent that would be my home for the next 12 days. I made sure the fabric was pulled as tight as it could be pulled. This was a lesson I learned from being in Mexico and being woken every single night to the wind slapping at my tent flaps! Once the tents were set up, myself and the other volunteers joined the Principal Investigator (PI) on an aerial survey of the amount of Argali there are in the general area. This was so much fun because we got a chance to ride in a helicopter over the rough and barren terrain that is Mongolia. The aerial survey went well and the PI was able to capture many photos of the various types of wildlife and Argali that were going about their business on the ground. Dinner was around 8 o’clock and it was a feast of chicken, vegetables, flour pancakes, and bread. Shortly after dinner, everyone started to wind down and everyone socialized in the main ger. (pronounced “gair”) The main ger serves is a structure that serves as a dining hall, game room, living room, and bedroom for a few of the volunteers who wish to sleep in the warmth of the shelter. Hopefully, my tent won’t be flapping like crazy tonight, or maybe I will be one of those volunteers who chooses to bunk up in the ger, and closely share the limited space. Tomorrow is the start of fieldwork for me, and I am really excited to be out in the rugged environment. Who knows how it will all go, but I have a very strong feeling that this project is going to be unlike any other we have done, which will make it that much more educational and exciting. Peace, Jamie

Name:	Jamie		Subject:	Trekking	Date:	April 4, 2005 - Monday
Nine a.m. to five p.m. Up, down, over, under, through, between, in, out, and around. They are the directions we trekked while observing argali for the wonderful 8 hours today. The approximate distance we walked was 36 kilometers, which is about 20 miles. The terrain we hiked included mountains, plains, dry riverbeds, frozen rivers, and rocks. Breakfast was at 8 and everyone enjoyed the oatmeal, cereal, bread, yogurt, cheese, and coffee that was presented on the table. After breakfast, everyone packed their field lunch and gathered in front of the gers ready to head out into the mountains. Tyler and myself were in a group together with a Mongolian guide who is specially trained in argali research and observation. The fieldwork for the day included hiking over various types of Mongolian terrain, and tracking the argali. We track the argali visually and with a radio antenna that beeps when an argali is near that has been tagged with a radio collar. The device will give off a beeping sound if the argali are within 10 kilometers. The beeps get louder as you point the antenna in the general direction of the argali. We only saw about 6 different groups of argali and each time they were at a far distance. After walking for 5 hours, Tyler and myself began entertaining each other by singing Hi-Ho. The singing was short-lived because we quickly realized how much breath we needed to walk up the mountain. J Despite the fact we didn’t see that many, it gives us hope that before we leave, each one of us will have a close encounter with an argali, or maybe even a whole group of them! They seem to always run whenever we approach, but maybe with a little luck we will be able to sneak up on them. After we did our observation, we headed back to camp where Tyler and myself plopped down in the main ger and had ourselves some well-earned cookies. I had two gnarly blisters on the back of my heels, which were tended by a wonderful volunteer who is trained in wilderness first aid. For dinner we had beets, cabbage, egg with carrots, green pepper and some people had mutton, which was absolutely delicious. After a quick game of Scrabble, I made my way to my tent. Even though it was still pretty early (8:30) I needed my rest, because tomorrow will be just as eventful as today! Peace, Jamie