Wildlife documentaries are unscripted, and take hundreds of hours filming to produce a 2 hour movie. Golden eagles don’t tend to know their lines all that well, so patience is the most important piece of equipment to pack into your bags.
Before we left we worked on a script for the documentary in order to give us an idea of the video we needed. Dr. Kennedy has trained in this area at UCLA’s film school, and with the help of a professional editor, we had a framework on what we needed to film
By the time we came back from the February 2016 trip we threw half the script out the window and went to plan B. After we return with footage from the June, 2016 (woohoo, it will be warmer then) we will probably be at plan C. When we finally get down to editing its probably plan D. Such is the life of a wildlife documentary.
We took lots of camera equipment and cold weather gear. The cameras and lenses consisted of the following Canon gear:
- C-100 Mark II video camera
- 1Dx still camera (will be bringing the 1 Dx Mark II also when we return in June)
- 7D Mark II still camera
- 5D Mark III still camera
- Go Pro Hero
- 50mm f/1.2 prime lens
- 24-105mm f/4 zoom
- 100mm f/2.8 macro
- 135mm f/2 prime
- 70-200mm f/4 zoom
- 400mm DO f/4 prime
- 500mm f/4 prime
- 1.4X teleconverter
- 2X teleconverter
In addition we had 3 tripods, lots of batteries, two computers, and several external hard drives. Now all we had to do was to figure out how to get all the camera gear, clothes, presents, (and cheerios) to fit into our bags.
My living room several days before our trip. The pictures speak for themselves.
We were able to stuff all of this into our 8 pieces of luggage
The airport in Seoul, Korea is called Incheon. Like many Asian airports, it is large, busy, spotless, and beautiful. There are people in the restrooms that spend their day cleaning from one end to the other, back and forth.
On one signboard, for a 2 hour period of time, departures only, there were 150 flights from the main terminal. This gives you and idea of how busy these Asian airports are.
As we walked to our gate we passed a classic music concert in the airport
After a long layover at Incheon, and another 4 hour flight, we landed at Chinggis Khaan International airport in Ulan Bataar. Notice how they spell what we could call Genghis Khan.
Its not quite the same thing as the airport in Seoul
The temp when we landed (yes, that is in Farenheit ). Ulan Bataar is one of the coldest cities in the world.
We stayed at a hostel called the Golden Gobi. It is a meeting place from travelers all over the world. It cost $28 per night for two people. Most everything in Mongolia is inexpensive compared to other countries.
It came as a nice surprise that the Ritz-Carlton had a sister hotel in Ulan Bataar
The proprietors were friendly, it was clean, and most importantly, the heater worked
We decided to eat authentic Mongolian food our first night, so off we went in search of local eats. We bundled up and walked the streets until we found a restaurant that fit the bill for authenticity- Round Table Pizza!
After the long time it took to get here, a little comfort food from back home seemed like a better idea than authentic
This is your first chance to practice your Mongolian
Just in case your Mongolian (called Khalkha) is a little rusty, here is your interpretation
After a glamorous night at the Ritz it was off to the airport again for our 4 hour flight west to Olgi in far western Mongolia. It was a turbo prop filled with people flying to far western Mongolia near Kazakistan.
On this flight we had a chance to view the snow covered landscape that would be our home for over a week
When you land at Olgi you get your bags on the tarmac while they are still outside
As you can see by the size of this police station, Olgi is not one of the world’s larger cities
At Olgi we met Bek and his assistant Jupar, purchased some winter boots (for $60), and had lunch. After lunch it was time to go over camera equipment with the guides. Dr. K would be spending her time with the GoPro, I would be splitting my time with the still cameras and the Canon C-100 Mark II video camera. We needed the guides to help take still shots to make sure we had all the camera angles we needed of the eagle while on Ardak’s horse and in flight.
Bek and Jupar were fast learners, and soon learned how to put the equipment together and mount the gear on a tripod
Off we went to teach them how to use all this stuff we brought. First we started on static objects like people, then moving objects, then finally we used a surrogate eagle to simulate what they would be shooting at Ardak’s.
Japar and Bek, our two budding photographers, in their photographer debuts
An example of one of their shots on static subjects. You felt like you were in Russia with the way the people looked
We then moved to a moving object and they did great. Notice how bundled up the people need to be in this below zero weather.
Once they had their moving shot skills down pat we moved on to our practice eagle shots (they did not pay this guy enough to run around pretending he was an eagle). I really only did it to keep warm, but I never told them that.
We took Bek, Jupar, and his family to dinner that night. This dinner was our first exposure to how cute and well behaved the children were in Mongolia. We found all the kids, including the kids of the nomads, to be well adjusted and happy.
These are Jupar’s kids. The little man in the middle could not stop staring at us and smiling .
The next day we drove 5 hours south to Altai where Ardak’s winter house was located and our home for the next week. It was Dr. P, Dr. K, Bek, Jupar, and Bek’s two nieces, who would be our cooks, for the next week.
We loaded up Bek’s magic bus with Jupar and the two cooks inside, along with our food and some hay for Ardak’s livestock
Bek, Dr. P, and Dr. K jumped into Bek’s Russian made Patriot SUV
Off we went through the beautiful Mongolian countryside. These low res pictures for the web do not do justice to the scenery.
The sky was this blue throughout our trip.
We encountered groups of camels along the way. They are all part of a herd that is owned by a nomad in the area. There are not many wild camels in this area.
Do you know what two flavors camels come in?
We also encountered nomad families moving their meager belongings to the high country
Their Yak calf was in the bed of this old Russian truck
Satellite dish on top
Grandpa and grandma were in the front seat riding shotgun
Along the way to Ardak’s we stopped at the house of a master falconer named Mana. Dr. K stayed with him in October of 2015, and she wanted to say hi to him and bring him gifts and pictures she took during that trip. We were guests for lunch.
The porch in front of Mana’s house
Mana and his wife were great hosts and put out a big spread for us
Their grandkids were super cute
This was our first opportunity to see a golden eagle. This one was hanging out in the kitchen.
Mana’s son fired up the stove and the feast began
When the food came out our guide Bek explained what we were eating since we had no idea
Dr. K checking out the spread, including the khurt
Khurt is hard cheese
They mix cow and yak milk with their tea (we just drank the tea plain, thank you)
Everyone joined in the feast and the stories started. Bek interpreted everything perfectly since his english is excellent (he learned a few new slang words from us), and he is intimately familiar with the nomads.
They were thrilled to see themselves in the pictures that Dr. K brought them from her visit here in 2015
They appreciated the presents we brought them
And loved the hats my mom made for the children
Our guide taught this boy how to say “Good Day Mate” the Australian way!
They gave us presents in return
They gave us eagle feathers. Be forewarned that these feathers are illegal to bring back into the U. S.
After lunch we took some pictures with the eagles and hawks (the bird on the left is actually a buzzard). They are all quite proud of their birds, and even Bek got into the swing of things and held one of the birds.
We drove a few more hours, past a Mongolian army checkpoint, through the town of Altai, and finally to Ardak’s. This is near the border with China.
No pictures are allowed at military checkpoints, so don’t look at these
The town of Altai. We felt like we were in Siberia.
Rush hour traffic in Altai
When the Lakers are in town this is where they play
After 5 days of travel from the U.S. we finally made it to Ardak’s. These nomads are master horsemen, and their lives revolve around their livestock. In the winter they set up a permanent home with an area for the livestock. In summer they move and go into the high country to let their cattle, yaks, goats, and sheep, graze.
Ardak’s saddle just outside his house
The livestock pen where the animals spend the night, protecting them from the elements and also the wolves
This is a yak. They can tolerate the extreme cold better than a cow, but produce less milk.
The cows are given blankets to help them get through the cold nights. To get the best of both worlds they breed the yaks and cows.
Ardak’s family welcomed us like old friends. The food never stopped, they could not do enough for us, and the kids were entertaining.
Our first encounter with Ardak
Ardak with his daughter
His daughter was our entertainment for the week with her nonstop curiosity about us
Her girlfriends came over to see the strange visitors
Ardak’s wife and Bek’s nieces started the cooking as soon as we got there, and kept us well fed at all times. We ate traditional food at times, ate the American fare that Bek brought for us, and nibbled on our own snacks brought from the U. S. (usually that meant Cheerios and dried mangoes).
The ladies cooked up dumplings made with lamb and cow meat
A typical breakfast was an omelette, bread, and of course, cheerios
A typical lunch was fresh vegetable soup with some meat
The table at the room we stayed in was never devoid of food and drink
Dr. K had a birthday while there, so they made a special birthday cake. Can you guess the ingredients?
After they sang happy birthday we had a toast. The nomads are not drinkers, and only drink on special occasions. The heavy Russian influence in the area means we will be toasting with vodka.
Dr. K the non-drinker holding the vodka bottle
All this time the Ardak’s eagle waited in the kitchen for her turn to eat. As you go through the rest of this page on Mongolia you will see many dozens of photos of her flying and hunting.
Feeding a Golden Eagle chopped up rabbit meat in your kitchen