Lost & Found: How Our Drone Survived a Night in the steppe
We lost our drone in the wild steppes of Kazakhstan — and found it the next day in the most unexpected way.
Today, I’m going to share one of the most unforgettable moments of our trip to Central Asia in 2022. Let me spoil it for you – I’m going to tell you about how we lost our drone in Kazakhstan and found it again the next day in the most unexpected way. A true travel tale with a twist, humor, and a lesson for all drone pilots.
It was one of the most beautiful summer days in the Almaty region. That day, we decided to visit one of the historical sites in the region, the Tamgaly tract. Our goal was to see the ancient petroglyphs. It was quite amusing, as there were two places with almost the same name, Tamgaly, located in the same region, and both of them had petroglyphs, but they were quite far apart. The first place was called Tamgaly, and the second was called Tamgaly Tas, but we didn’t know this at the time.
The petroglyphs we wanted to see were the oldest, dating back to the Bronze Age, which is about 3,000 years old. This was a place called Tamgaly. However, we didn’t know this, and instead of going to Tamgaly, we went to Tamgaly Tas, where there are Dzungar petroglyphs dating back to the second half of the 17th century. So, after our arrival, we found that it was a completely different place, but we didn’t get upset and instead went hiking and explored the surroundings, including the petroglyphs. Tamgaly Tas is located near the Ili River, which was turquoise at the time. At that time, half of summer had already passed, and the surroundings of Tamgaly-Tas were painted in golden color. The river contrasted sharply with the golden landscape, which made the view surprisingly beautiful.
After we left the territory of the petroglyphs, we decided to take some pictures and try to fly around using a drone to capture the beauty of the picturesque landscape. It was a fairly warm and calm day. A few people were swimming in the river, which we would not want to risk, as they do. Birds and insects made sounds from the bushes, making the atmosphere interesting and relaxing.
I was sitting in the car after taking photos with my camera when my husband approached me and asked if I could see where the drone was flying. We both heard the sound, but to our surprise, we couldn’t locate the drone itself. The drone may have been making a sound for about 5 minutes before it suddenly stopped. The drone’s battery was fully charged, and the connection between the flight controller and the drone was strong. It was connected to a GPS connection, and if the connection was lost, the drone would return to the point where it had started. But it happened, even when the distance between us and the drone wasn’t that great. We wouldn’t like take the risk of sending the drone over long distances, especially when you’re in a foreign country.
We immediately started searching for the drone. We walked for a long time and tried our best to find it, but unfortunately, we were unable to do so. As the sun was setting, it was time to return to Almaty. We were frustrated, but we didn’t want to give up. So, we returned to the city to check the drone’s flight controller at the hotel. We couldn’t understand why the drone was behaving this way, as everything seemed to be in order. Our first assumption was that an eagle might have attacked the drone. Upon arriving at the hotel, we immediately checked the flight controller to determine where the drone would land. Fortunately, the flight controller had the drone’s location data, where it had flown and got stuck. It was almost impossible to find the drone’s location on a regular online map. Therefore, we immediately tried to check the location on Google Earth. There, we found out where our drone had landed.
So, the next day, early in the morning, we went back to the same place. After arriving, we immediately climbed a hill and started our search for the drone. It took about 10-15 minutes. I was exploring the area where the drone might have landed or crashed. Suddenly, my husband shouted, “I found the drone!” He was waving his arms with the drone in his hand. Thank God! It was an exciting news. I immediately approached my husband and asked, “Where did you find the drone?” He placed the drone exactly where it was found and said, “I found it here.” I felt like we were lucky twice, because the drone landed next to a dried cow pat. Imagine what would have happened if it had landed on that and it had been a fresh one!? So, the drone was spent one night in the wild steppes of Kazakhstan. It’s crazy!
The reason for the drone’s strange behavior was not an eagle attack. The reason was that the drone’s SD card was full. Actually, after each shoot, we immediately back up the footage, but it seems that we had shot too much that day, and the SD card was full. As a result, the drone became stuck in the air. We checked the last footage from the drone’s flight. The video shows that the drone was stuck in the air and turned towards us on its own, as my husband was unable to control the drone using the flight controller at that moment. So, the drone was hovering in the air, watching us from above, and it was funny to see two people walking around trying to find the drone while the drone was filming them. There was an element of irony to it. After hovering for a few minutes, the drone slowly descended to the ground and continued filming. Thankfully, everything ended well. We could return back to the city with our drone.
We decided to share this story with you because if you ever lose your drone, don’t give up! Keep searching for your equipment. Losing the battery-powered equipment would not be so good for the environment. Take this article as a friendly piece of advice. We also learned to be more careful.
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