Robert Hare Stavers Photography

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

Mongolia - Golden Eagle Festival

Judy and I were fortunate to attend the 12th Annual Golden Eagle Festival in Western Mongolia in October 2012. The Golden Eagle Festival in the Altai Mountains of Western Mongolia, attracts Kazakh hunters from near and far who attend the festival with their Golden Eagles, known as berkut, to compete in speed, agility, and accuracy.

This annual festival, celebrates the Golden Eagle as well as the hunters' traditional culture, and is arranged by the local Kazakh community and members of the Berkut Association, a community-based conservation organization, founded to preserve hunting tradition and protect the eagles. We went with Nomadic Expeditions; Jalsa Urubshurow, their founder, was instrumental in starting the festival in 2000. You can find out more about the festival and Nomadic Expeditions by clicking here. Enjoy these photographs for a taste of Mongolia.

(As usual, click on any image to see a larger version)