Search for Snow Leopards with Valerie Parkinson

Winter trip in Ladakh to search for snow leopards. Amazing scenery , saw snow leoaprds on 3 consecutive days , also other wildlife. Tough going on occasions and lots of concentration required walking on frozen rivers, snowy icy paths or loose shale .

Very hard, very demanding, very cold, VERY REWARDING. The first view of a snow leopard, like my first encounter with a tiger, was highly emotional and, unashamedly, induced tears ! 

I'd wanted to go in search of snow leopards and experience a major Tibetan Buddhist festival since reading Peter Mathiesen's The Snow Leopard while in Lhasa in 1984. This trip exceeded my expectations in every way!

This was our second visit to Hemis NP in search of the snow leopard. Our visit in 2011 produced one very brief sighting. On this return visit we were amply rewarded with several lengthy sightings on four of the six days we were there, giving us the chance to view them stalking prey (blue sheep), resting and ridge-walking. Much of our success was due to the incredible skill and dedication of our Ladakhi spotters. We cannot thank them enough. We were also priveleged to have good sightings of a pair of wolves, a herd of urials, picas, woolly hares and several large birds of prey including two Eagle Owls roosting and flying at dusk. Apart from wildlife watching, there were very good cultural experiences too - visiting monasteries, attending a Buddhist masked dance festival at Matho Monastery and a welcoming homestay in the traditional Ladakhi village of Rumbak.

An amazing time spent in Ladakh amongst stunning scenery and the local people. We were incredibly lucky to see 6 snow leopards in total thanks to the incredible skills of the spotters. The time spent in Delhi and Leh made an interesting contrast to the mountain wilderness.

Watching snow leopards on a TV in the comfort of your living room may get you close but you cannot feel the environment. By simply being there you can start to feel, appreciate and understand the very essence of the environment they live in and the remarkable way the local population and wildlife interact. 'in Search of the Snow Leopards' is the title of the trip but it is also a trip in search of many things. If ever there was one journey where the multifaceted aspects of geography came together - this is it. The sightings of the snow leopards being the pinnacle.

A memorable winter holiday, superbly organised and led.  We went for the winter walking, the Buddhist monasteries, Leh out of season and of course the snow leopards, but even had we seen none of the latter this holiday would have been a delight.

If you have ever dreamed of seeing the elusive snow leopard then this is the trip for you. Don't think about it just book it. Ladakh is an incredible region and you couldn't ask for a better guide than Valerie. Been there, done that and probably knows the location of every rock on the mountain. As for the area - if you saw nothing but the scenery you would get your moneysworth, however the team scour the countryside for wildlife - with lammegeiers and golden eagles regularly sighted overhead. As for the snow leopards themselves we had 12 sightings - an extraordinarily good year, some were very distant and only visible with the fantastic Swarovski scopes. However we were also lucky enough to get a mother and cubs sighting and a mating pair at distances under 600m - this isn't a petting zoo - which is clear enough for binoculars and long lens cameras. Photographers with a dslr need to thing 500m or bigger with tripods and teleconverters. It will not be Africa Serengetti encounters, but that makes them even more magical. Failing this kit the guides are adept at taking mobile shots through the spotting scopes - good enough for keepsakes and memories of an incredible trip. It is cold though and involves trekking on rocky trails - so heed the trip notes, get good warm boots and kit and enjoy your complimentary hot water bottle ( after a lovely filling meal) Icing on the cake is the Street Kids tour of Delhi and the inspieational stories of the work done by the charity. Can't thank Valerie and team enough and gladly go and do it all over again - if she can take the stress of getting my mountain of camera kit through customs.

Ladakh is a beautiful region of Northern India. Add to that the friendly welcome and the variety of wildlife and culture and you have a destination that it would be hard to find fault with. This was my second visit and this time I was there to see Snow Leopards. Except, of course, they're so rare that the chances of spotting just one would be very low. And indeed spotting just one was impossible - I saw a total of 6 during the 10 days I was there, including relatively close sighting of a mating pair on our first day in the mountains, a mother and her two cubs and a solitary Snow Leopard rolling in the dust to hide its scent before hunting. Our group as a whole saw 12. This amazing tally was due largely to the experience, skill and dedication of the spotting team and our leader, Valerie, who between them took us to the right places at the right time and found the well camouflaged big cats where we may have only seen a buff coloured rock. And let's not forget the Blue Sheep, Lammageier Vultures, Bearded Griffon, Golden Eagles, Woolly Rabbits, Uriel Goats and Alpine Chough. This is a challenging trip - cold, altitude and remoteness all add to the adventure although its well within the abilities of anyone with the right kits and who has trudged the hills in the UK. But it's worth it for the experience of the incredible Himalayan landscapes, the unique culture and the amazing flora and fauna. If you have the chance, book the trip that coincides with the Stok Festival, a colourful and spectacular celebration of Tibetan Buddhism in the form of music and dance culminating in the appearance of the village oracles.

I felt privileged to see this unique part of the world - its awesome magnificence,its wildlife,and its culture.The Buddhist ceremonies at Matho were fascinating and I appreciated the fact that it was nota show put on for tourists,(of which there were very few) but for the ladakhi locals.Once we began trekking and camping,the environment revealed its beauty,but also its harshness and austerity - the cold and the altitude were a challenge for most of us I think,although we were very well catered for by our ladakhi guides and porters.