Vashlovani National Park by 4x4 — 2-Day Private Tour

A private 2-day 4x4 trip from Tbilisi into Vashlovani National Park, Georgia's semi-desert in the far south-east by the Azerbaijan border: the Pantishara canyon, the badlands below the Usakhelo viewpoint and a night in the park bungalows at Mijniskure on the Alazani river. Vashlovani looks nothing like the rest of Georgia. A reserve was first set up here in 1935 to protect its open woodland of wild pistachio, and in 2003 it became part of a larger group of protected areas; the national park alone covers about 25,000 hectares. You drive across dry steppe, eroded clay badlands and canyons with sheer walls, and end the day in the floodplain forest along the Alazani, the river that forms the border with Azerbaijan. The park is one of the best places in the Caucasus for wildlife. More than 100 bird species have been recorded, including imperial eagles, black vultures and black storks, and 46 kinds of mammal, among them wolves, lynx, jungle cats, golden jackals and porcupines. Goitered gazelles, gone from Georgia for decades, were brought back from Azerbaijan in 2013 and now breed in the park; the open steppe around Pantishara is where you are most likely to see them. In 2003 rangers found the tracks of a Caucasian leopard here, and a camera trap filmed one the year after. Sightings are never guaranteed, so bring binoculars and patience. The park has no paved roads, so from Dedoplistskaro everything is by 4x4 on slow tracks. We stop there for the free Border Police permit and to pay the park fees. On day one you walk in Pantishara canyon, whose cliffs are known as the City of Swallows, have a picnic lunch, look over the badlands from Usakhelo and watch for gazelles on the steppe. The night is in a simple park bungalow at Mijniskure, with dinner, breakfast and a very dark, quiet sky. Day two starts with an early walk by the river, then about 3 hours on tracks out of the park past the old Shiraki airfield, and a short walk in Eagle (Artsivi) canyon near Dedoplistskaro, where griffon vultures nest on the limestone walls, before the drive of about 140 km (2–2.5 h) back to Tbilisi. The Takhti-Tepa mud volcanoes lie at the other end of the protected areas and need an extra day; we can add it on request. We run this trip in spring and autumn only: summer is too hot, and after rain the clay tracks become sticky and can be impassable. It suits travellers who like wild places and don't mind rough roads and basic lodging.