A day in search of the snow leopard

A day in search of the snow leopard is very different from a classic safari. Guests often wake up to morning calls from the Himalayan snowcocks and chukar partridges, and the typical day starts with a breakfast served in the dining room.

At this time, our expert tracker-guides will already be on the lookout for snow leopards in the valley where the guests stay or in the surrounding valleys. They are in constant communication with each other ensuring the group are appraised of any information in real time.

After breakfast, the group will leave for the valley in a privatized vehicle before continuing on foot, on basic paths that are sometimes long and steep, to look for snow leopards. The goal is to scan the mountain slopes closer and farther away in the hope of spotting and photographing this mythical creature.

Our tracker-guide knows the best areas to find the snow leopard and indicates the markings and tracks that encourage us to continue the quest. Everyone has to keep their eyes open because this beautiful animal can be very difficult to spot as a result of its secret and elusive nature and its perfect camouflage. Once detected, it has the ability to seemingly disappear from in front of the eyes of observers; hence the nickname “gray ghost”, given by the local population, which refers to this remarkable feature.

These hikes are also an opportunity to discover the rest of the fauna of Ladakh, which includes predators such as lynx, Tibetan wolves and the very rare manul or Pallas cat. Asian ibexes, Tibetan argalis, gazelles and Tibetan kiangs are more easily observed, plus birds such as bearded vultures, Himalayan vultures, sacred falcons, golden eagles, Tibetan beaks, etc.

Lunch is taken as a picnic, to allow the group the ability to be reactive and mobile when searching snow leopards. The day ends when the sun goes down, and the group then returns to the lodge for a well deserved rest and to refresh themselves before meeting around the table for a good hot dinner.