9-Nights Land of the Snow Leopard

Explore the Indian Himalaya's Alpine Heights on a Search for One of Earth's Rarest Cats

The Himalayas have long held allure for adventurers, and in the world's highest mountains, no creature is more captivating than the snow leopard. This elegant feline, with its rosette-spotted silver coat, patrols lofty ridges in the world's most forbidding altitudes. Agile and solitary, built for hunting bharal and ibex, it uses its long, thick tail for balance and warding off winter's cold bite, traversing snowfields on broad paws that serve as snowshoes and pad rocky landings after a 50-foot pounce onto unwitting prey. From our optimally situated base—a strategically located luxury ecolodge—search for these mysterious cats in the heights of Ladakh. In this former Silk Road kingdom in northern India, a vibrant Tibetan Buddhist culture thrives. Icy peaks tower above whitewashed monasteries and vibrant prayer flags flutter atop mountain passes. Here, our wilderness quest in search of the elusive snow leopard awaits.