The Great Baikal Trail Association (GBTA)

The Great Baikal Trail Association (GBTA)

In the summer of 2008, the Great Baikal Trail Association (GBTA), Earth Island Institute, and Tahoe-Baikal Institute (TBI) organized a fabulous opportunity for exploring one o f the newest World Heritage sites: Lake Baikal. For three weeks late in the summer, GBTA staff host a trip to this, the fresh-water pearl of the Earth.

The trip includes a unique voyage to Baikal’s remoter islands, where large rocks offer a natural “blind” from which these darkeyed seals can be photographed. One goal of this ecotour is to generate added interest among local peoples at Baikal for protecting these unique marine mammals.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the oldest and deepest lake in the world - recently recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Indigenous people call Baikal the “Sacred Sea” in admiration of its majestic beauty and size.

Baikal is also the most biologically diverse lake in the world. It provides habitat for some 1,500 plant and animal species found nowhere else on earth. This includes the nerpa, the world’s only freshwater species of seal.

Three Main Objectives for the Ecotour

• First, GBTA aims to help preserve the unique natural treasures of the Lake Baikal region via the promotion of eco-tourism as an alternative to industrial development in the region.

Second, GBTA also wants to bring you, the ecotourist, closer to some of earth’s most pristine forest areas, and also introduce you to the largest lake ecosystem in the world

Finally, GBTA simply wants to arrange a fun trip for you all, with the kind of adventures you would expect in this, one of the most remote and most unusual corners of the earth.

The Adventure

The adventure begins when tourists gather in the city of Irkutsk - one of the oldest cities in Siberia. For two days they tour natural and cultural history museums of Irkutsk, as well as the Baikal museum in the shoreline village of Listvyanka.

For the next couple days after that, they visit the village of Bolshoe Goloustnoe, and experience the hospitality and unique culture of western Buryats who live there. Bolshoye Goloustnoye is located in the heart of Pribaikalsky National Park, which runs along Baikal’s western shores.

Then we head back to Irkutsk, and travel by Trans-Siberian railroad to Ulan Ude -the capital of the Buryat Republic. There, in the heart of eastern Siberia, they visit a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, as well as a traditional Buryat community of yurts.

After Ulan-Ude, they visit two large and spectacular national parks - the famed Zabaikalski and Baikalski reserves - both located along the shores of Baikal. Also they spend some time traveling on a forty-foot boat, exploring the Ushkany Islands, which are inhabited by the nerpa.

Summer is the best time to visit Baikal. This is when the waters are cool and clear, and the hills are colored with native wildflowers and butterflies. Tour participants are able to spend plenty of time outdoors. Certainly, anyone with a calm and flexible attitude, a love for nature, and a spirit of adventure enjoys this trip.