Selenge

Camp breakfast.

Drivers have their breakfast in the host family ger.

The family.

A modern nomad.

Vultures.

Kites.

A local shop.

A field of spring flowers.

The caldera of the volcano.

Demoiselle Cranes.

Sunday, July 8^th.

This morning Buhuu made our breakfast of eggs on a hotplate in his tent. It was quite chilly and breezy as we ate and then packed up our gear and tents. We went back to the homestay family to say goodbye. We all went into their ger and had a cup of milk tea and all the drivers had a breakfast of left over mutton in their milk tea. When someone asked who they kept the meat overnight, Buhuu laughingly said that the refrigerator was under their bed. Then we said goodbye and posed for photos.

After a couple of hours, we stopped for a pee break (and a smoke break for the drivers). I feel sorry for the women as there frequently is no cover whatsoever. Karen held out her scarf so someone could hide behind, or Patricia acted as a tree so someone could squat behind. There is precious little cover out here. We made a stop when we saw about a dozen vultures sitting in a field and then later when we stopped for lunch we saw a group of kites sitting on fence posts. The lunch restaurant was litterly in the middle of nowhere and was the only one for miles, so it was busy. We made one more stop at a grocery store for supplies and then drove on to another volcano where some of us hiked up the steep incline to the rim and then walked around the whole rim. It was about a two kilometre walk and it felt great to stretch the legs. The surrounding area was like a meadow and full of spring flowers.

Then we drove the short distance to our ger camp. We got there about 3:30 and had the afternoon to chill. Some people had naps, others showers. I sat outside talking to people and enjoying the warmth of the sun on this chilly day. It felt like a spring day back home.

Just before we ate the tell-tale noise of the Demoiselle Cranes could be heard overhead and they landed not far from our camp. Demoiselle cranes are beautiful migratory birds that breed across central Europe and Asia and winter mainly in north Africa, India, and Pakistan. They are birds of dry grasslands (which include steppe country and savannah), but stay within reach of water. I finally managed to get some clear pictures of four of them. We had dinner at 7:00 after which I went for a walk in the beautiful valley. The skies had cleared and the sun had warmed things up. I walked until just after sunset when it began to get cool again. Then I headed back to the ger and my tent mates, where I typed and went to bed.