Video produced by Cameron Piper of SUNY ESF

Photo by Joscie Norris

Баярлалаа Mongolia!

For those of you who are reading this Round River Conservation Studies Mongolia blog for the first time, stop reading this now, and start from the very beginning! No, really STOP! Learn from Jeremy about our adventures in Ulaanbaatar and our journey by train, fergon, and even short boat ride to arrive to Shiluus Camp, our home for the semester. Taran recounts how snow delays turned into exploring the mountains around us as we began our talus pika research and then our first visit to the steppe with Battogtohk. Eli takes us back to our backpacking trip with Nyamochir where we studied pikas and vansembaruu, pushing through snow and frozen boots to see some of the most beautiful views of the semester. Katie introduces the amazing humans (and cat) I lived with for the semester. Evan takes us along for a day with “Bob and the Backseat Boys” as they collect camera traps and track Winston the Wolverine. Joscie celebrates our last weeks in the Darhad Valley as our semester drew to an end culminating with our final research presentations for the parks. Rhia narrates our journey back to Ulaanbaatar, our final shenanigans and the difficult goodbyes to the people who have become our family and a country that have become our home. And now you have come to me — the last blog for Mongolia Fall 2018.

While these blogs only express a partial snapshot of our time in Mongolia, they also only capture a fraction of what this semester has meant to us. This gratitude and love for every part of this semester are beyond words. But, I would like to give thanks in the best way that I can.

Thank you Horidol-Saridag mountains for anchoring us into this landscape as we learned more about your inhabitants and beauty.

Thank you Mungosh River for quenching our thirst, carrying away our dirt and grime, humming us to sleep and biting our Croc covered toes.

Thank you Tumurusukh, Battogtohk, Nyamochir, and the other park rangers and staff for teaching us that no matter what, if you are dedicated and love a landscape as much as y’all do, you can protect it.

Thank you to the people of the Darhad for teaching us the true definition of hospitality.

Thank you -27° C nights for testing our limits and teaching us to appreciate warmth.

Thank you stove for warming frozen toes, drying soaked boots, cooking toast, and being the heart of our ger.

Thank you stars for making us feel small and giant all at the same time.

Thank you birds for exciting this avian nerd and reminding us that even though we were across the world, that our world is still connected and familiar.

Thank you fergons for teaching us the proper tuck method and adding a sense of adventure to our commutes.

Thank you Summer Camp cookies for celebrating our achievements, comforting our sore bodies, and pushing us to finish our assignments.

Thank you peanut butter for giving us the energy and touch of home we needed by the spoonful, and then another spoonful, and then another, okay one more…

Thank you Nyamka for caring for a wild group of American students, teaching us Mongolian and becoming our dear friend in the process.

Thank you Rebecca and Chris for challenging us to rethink our role as conservationists and introducing us to the joys of natural history.

Thank you Jeremy, Taran, Eli, Evan, Katie, Joscie, and Rhia, for being the best group of hooligans to fall into Mongolia with and friends who understand how much this semester meant and will continue to mean to us even as we no longer live together in two gers.

Thank you Mongolia for everything!

Баярлалаа! Баяртай!