World Expeditions introduces Australian palaeontologist, archaeologist and science communicator Sally Hurst as host of a new fossil-focused journey into Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
Mongolia is already one of the world’s most fascinating adventure destinations. Now World Expeditions is offering travellers an entirely new way to discover it: through the eyes of a palaeontologist.
Launching in August 2027, the new Mongolia: Fossils, Landscapes & Lost Worlds with Sally Hurst is a 12-day small-group journey through the Gobi Desert, visiting landscapes where some of the world’s most extraordinary dinosaur discoveries have been made.
Travellers will venture deep into the Gobi to visit legendary fossil regions including the Flaming Cliffs, Nemegt Basin and remote Khermen Tsav, learning how palaeontologists read clues in rocks and landscapes to reconstruct worlds that disappeared millions of years ago.
Leading the journey is Australian palaeontologist, archaeologist, author and science communicator Sally Hurst, who has spent more than a decade turning complex science into stories that are accessible, entertaining and occasionally surprising.
“The only dinosaurs we have left today are birds. Every penguin, parrot and pelican is a direct descendant of dinosaurs,” Hurst said. “Have you eaten chicken nuggets lately? You’ve eaten a dinosaur.”
Hurst is the author of Found a Fossil: Digs, Discoveries & Australia’s Deep Past and has more than 10 years’ experience as a museum educator and guide. Her field experience stretches from Lightning Ridge and the megafaunal caves of Wellington in NSW to the Canadian Badlands and Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, where she has searched for Velociraptor and tyrannosaurs and supported research into fossil poaching.
For more than a century, expeditions into the Gobi have uncovered dinosaur eggs and nests, ancient mammals and remarkable species, as well as the celebrated “Fighting Dinosaurs” fossil.
“There’s something incredibly powerful about standing in the landscape and beginning to understand what was here millions of years before us,” Hurst said.
“You don’t need to be a scientist to find palaeontology fascinating. It’s detective work on an enormous scale. Rocks, fossils and landscapes are full of clues, and once you know what to look for, you start seeing the world differently.”
The journey is not a technical expedition or hands-on fossil dig. It is designed for anyone curious about dinosaurs, fossils, natural history and the story of our planet, with plenty of opportunities to ask questions and learn from Hurst along the way.
And there is much more to the adventure than fossils. Travellers will hike through dramatic Gobi canyons, climb the towering dunes of Khongoriin Els, meet local herders and experience Mongolia’s nomadic culture, staying in traditional tourist ger camps and remote desert cabins.
Limited to a maximum of 14 travellers, Mongolia: Fossils, Landscapes & Lost Worlds with Sally Hurst departs 23 August 2027.
