My Expedition to Serengeti, Ngorongoro, & Olduvai Gorge
I am SO very behind on writing about my experiences here in Africa. I have finally been able to finish writing about my most recent expedition. Our expedition took us down into the Ngorongoro Crater, across the Serengeti, and to Olduvai Gorge. I don’t think my heart has ever been so full of wonder, inspiration, adventure, and happiness as it was in those four days.
As soon as we got back from expedition we went right into finals and then left for a weekend break in the city of Arusha. As soon as we got back from this we went off the grid for a week doing data recollection for directed research. Keep your eye out for some more posts on these experiences!
The Crater
The Ngorongoro crater is one of the most famous places in the world and a world heritage site. It is a volcanic caldera that formed when a volcano exploded and collapsed on itself millions of years ago. Today it is home to thousands of wild animals freely roaming inside the crater walls. Someone else at camp fondly refers to it as the “bowl of animals” and honestly there is no better explanation. The crater is a part of a greater conservation area called the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This protected land begins only a few kilometers from camp and the entrance gate to the crater is maybe only 20-30 minutes away, just on the other side of Karatu. However, driving down inside the crater takes over an hour. The drive was absolutely beautiful. Our trail of vehicles climbed up the crater walls looking out at this dense tropical forest of the deepest green I have seen since being here. Then, our cars began the descent into the crater where we could see stunning views of the dry expanse of grassland that stretched from wall to wall. Climbing farther down, I was surprised to see how many Maasai were around with their cattle. The Maasai are allowed up to a certain point, but once officially in the crater, tourist cars are the only sign of human presence in this incredibly wild place.
Words cannot express the beauty of the landscape in the crater. It is possibly the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. What blew my mind the most was the amount of wild animals. There is quite literally a sh*t ton! Everywhere you look there are massive herds of zebra, wildebeest, and buffalo. We also saw eland, hartebeest, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelle, waterbuck, hippos, elephants, warthogs, lions, hyena, black backed and golden jackals, and lots of birds. And yes, we did see a black rhino, but more about that later. Another interesting thing we learned was that old male elephants tend to make their way down into the crater in their final days because it is a comfortable place where they choose to die. I found this to be very sad but another fascinating fact about the wild world we are experiencing.
Inside the crater were our first sightings of spotted hyena of the semester, which was super thrilling. The crater has tons of them. After we saw one we didn’t stop seeing them. At one point we pulled up to a recent lion kill of a buffalo, where a group of hyena were finishing off the scraps. The lions were not too far away napping, seemingly too full to care. We only saw two males but it was likely the rest of the pride was hiding somewhere, as the pride supposedly has about 20 members. The hyenas were still wary about their meal as they constantly kept looking over at the lions in between bites. We watched as vultures began to gather and wait patiently for the hyenas to abandon the carcass. At one point, a black backed jackal seemed like it wanted to risk taking a piece of the meal but chickened out last second and retreated quite quickly from the hyenas. Getting to witness all of these interactions was truly amazing.
At another point during our game drive we came across an ostrich sitting, yes sitting, right next to the road. He had the meanest look on his face and I got some hilarious pictures of him looking right at us. Although, looking back at my pictures I realized that this ostrich looked like he was ready to ruin somebody’s day. They literally look so terrifyingly mean! Note to self…don’t mess with ostriches….they aren’t happy. Honestly, if I was a giant bird that couldn’t fly, ran like the most awkward animal on earth, and looked as crazy as it does, I probably wouldn’t be very happy either.
We kept driving through the crater for the rest of the morning seeing more wildlife and taking in the scenery. However, our car was on a mission. The crater has the only population of black rhinos left in Tanzania, being home to only about 10 of them or so. It is either very easy or nearly impossible to see them depending on where they are choosing to hide that day. Apparently it was a “let’s hide from everyone” day, and honestly I couldn’t blame them as it was hot and tourist cars can get quite annoying. So we did have to leave the crater without a rhino sighting, which was a bummer. At about lunch time we drove to the hippo pool picnic site where we could sit outside and walk right up to the edge of the water, where hippos theoretically could come right up to us if they so desired since there was no barrier of any kind. However, the kites (a type of bird) are quite the nuisances at the pool. If you so much as stand outside with food you will be the victim of an air raid attack that may or may not result in personal injury. It did happen to one poor soul in our group, but thankfully she wasn’t hurt, she still had most of her lunch, and it was quite a comical site for the rest of us watching.
After we left the crater and went to Serengeti and Olduvai for the next few days, we had to come back through similar roads that lined the crater rim to get back to camp. At a lookout point with a gorgeous view of the crater, we all stopped and pulled out our binoculars eagerly hoping a black rhino could be spotted below. And to our own disbelief, well not mine as I had this very strong feeling that we would in fact see one, we did see a rhino…kindof. I mean we basically looked through our binoculars at a black dot lying on the ground. We could barely make it out and not really even see its horn, however, it was confirmed to be a rhino so technically we did see one. I am hoping to return one day to get a much better sighting of these endangered creatures.
Our last experience with the crater was when we stopped briefly at the visitors center on the way out. A troop of baboons had inhabited the area at the time. We opted to just stay inside the car and watch the youngsters play around with each other. One youngster decided to pull another youngster by the hair on his head up a short wall on the edge of the parking lot. Another one loved striking some interesting poses. Meanwhile, a very large male seemed threatened by our presence. Since the little wall put him right at our level from the cars, he stared quite intently at us without breaking his glare. Then he thought it would be a great idea to rub his junk for a solid couple of minutes while staring straight at us. It was a rather uncomfortable moment, yet so hilarious at the same time. After this odd display he jumped down and started coming at our car while our professor yelled to shut our windows because it was very obvious he was ready to mess up our day. Nothing happened, but it was a funny experience to watch these baboons…. be baboons I guess.
Serengeti
After lunch at the hippo pool in the crater we set off for Serengeti on the road fondly referred to as the “free African massage,” and it is quite literally that. Although, the word choice of massage is slightly deceiving as it is in no way comfortable at all. We spent the couple hour drive to the gate being thrown up and down and side to side of the cars, more so than any of our other excursions this semester. After a short break at the gate and a very important investment in another can of pringles, we put the tops up on the cars and set off for camp. Not too long after this happened we got a flat tire and all had to stand outside until our mechanic could fix it. Unfortunately, no cool wildlife was close enough to make the whole fiasco more exciting. Personally, I was hoping for some lions, but I guess that was probably a good thing that they weren’t around. The rest of the drive to our campsite (located just about smack dab in the middle of Serengeti in the seronera area) was a peaceful drive standing up in the cars, feeling the wind on our faces, and watching ominous clouds in the distance as the day began to wind down. The plains of Serengeti are truly stunning. You can look in any direction and see endless grasslands. It gives you the feeling of being in a truly wild place. Even though we could see very few animals on this part of the drive, it didn’t matter, as the landscape was so gorgeous.
Just minutes before pulling into our campground we were lucky enough to see a cheetah. She put on a beautiful display of walking and rolling around, making the sweetest chirping sounds I have ever heard. I didn’t realize that this is what cheetahs sounded like, but I loved them so much more after hearing this sound. I posted a video of it for you all to see! Meanwhile, on the other side of the car was a stunning sunset signaling the end of a wonderful day.
The camp we were staying at was called “nguchiro” or mongoose. Yes, of all the exciting animals of Serengeti, mongoose was the obvious choice for a campsite name. Our campsite is not fenced in, so it is host to a multitude of wildlife passing through. Because of this, SFS has a policy that we need to be escorted to the bathrooms after dark by one of our guards, as they are located a little ways back from the tents. The first night a buffalo decided he wanted to just chill out around there for awhile. They can actually be highly dangerous animals because they are pretty unpredictable. Other animals around camp were giraffe, impala, marabou storks, baboons, zebra and hyena. I never actually saw any hyena, but some people did on their way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I also never saw any zebra but I could here them at night. Our student affairs manage aka “camp mom” highly discouraged us from becoming “bathroom tourists”. Apparently usually during this expedition the number of students that have to pee in the middle of the night more or less sky rockets. Honestly, I can’t really blame them. The second night of expedition I woke up the next morning to find out that an entire pride of lions were walking mere inches from our tents. They were close enough that people could hear their footsteps. Apparently they were rather vocal because our campsite was on the edges of some pride territories meeting. Why someone thought that made a lot sense I am not quite sure. Anyways, I have never thought that being a heavy sleeper could be a curse until now as I missed the entire thing. I literally woke up at 3 am and heard a zebra…and that was the extent of my excitement. Meanwhile, during the whole lion fiasco, one of our guards got so startled from the lions being so closed he threw himself inside one of the student tents to hid out until they walked away. I should probably mention that our guards only had machetes and flashlights to “guard” with. So I really can’t blame him for running into a tent in terror.
On our second day in Serengeti we had a few exercises to do that morning. The first was practicing bird identification and the second was making note of behavioral responses of wildlife to our cars. Our professor wants to use this data to publish a study on tourism impacts on animal behavior, because it has not been very well studied and it likely has huge impacts on wildlife. I will go a little more into detail about this later. Now, I can’t say that I have ever been able to really get into birding; however, I was pretty amazed at how many different species you can come across. After only an hour or so of this we all of a sudden see two lions running through a grassland nearby. The two lions quickly turned into an entire pride. We were able to watch the whole pride come together and greet one another. Then they crossed the road, walking right through all of the cars watching them. The pride walked over to a small riverside, and we watched as they drank and walked around greeting each other. The only male, besides sub-adult cubs, stood off to the side watching his pride, and warily watched the cars. All of this was happening so close to us. The lions walked around our cars and were literally an arm’s reach away from our open windows. The encounter was so thrilling. Then all of a sudden, another lioness approached the group with two very tiny little cubs. Seeing baby lions was one of the things I was hoping to see most and my heart all but melted of cuteness. The mother chose a tree right next to our car to settle down at, so we got to watch the two cubs receive bath time from mom and play around with each other. This was all happening probably 15 feet away from us and we had a front seat to this wonderful interaction. Eventually we pulled away and let the pride be as we headed back to camp for lunch.
After lunch we set out again, but this time we were on a new mission: to find a leopard. I was lucky enough to be in the car that saw the first leopard in Tarangire, but most of us hadn’t seen one yet and were very eager. There is an area in the Seronera region of Serengeti that is known as leopard valley because they are seen there so often. There is also a particular rock referred to as leopard rock because there is almost always a leopard nearby. However, before we went there we all stopped at the nearby visitors center for a short break from the cars. Standing in the bumpy cars under the hot sun all day does take its toll and breaks are usually much needed. The visitor center was quite literally infested with hyraxes. They are really stinking cute and were just about everywhere. There were even a bunch of really young ones peeking out from under the building steps. I forgot how much I love cold water and how much I missed ice after I bought refrigerated bottled water.
After our stop, then we could set out for leopard sightings. And of course, we got one! This beautiful cat was approaching leopard rock and gracefully jumped her way up this giant rock face. The rocks were so large and completely smooth so there was nothing for her to even hold herself up on, but she didn’t care as she climbed up without so much of a second thought. This sighting was just as frustrating as it was exciting because the other safari cars chased the leopard down as she walked to the rock and the tourists in the car behind would NOT keep their volume down as they watched her. This one woman decided that narrating what she saw in her binoculars for about everyone in a mile radius to hear, including the leopard, was a great idea. I was very close to saying something to her, but ultimately decided not to. To me, we are people encroaching on these animal’s lives. If we are going to get all up in their personal space then we might as well have the decency to be quite around them.
Shortly after this came my favorite moment of the entire expedition. We came across another pride of lions, but this one had at least twelve cubs if not more. This was a rather large pride with lots of females and again only one male. They had a recent zebra kill that the male and a lioness were polishing off. Meanwhile the rest of the lionesses and cubs were sprawled out with full bellies facing up. We watched for maybe a half hour the pride interact. A couple of cubs were nursing, while a few others practiced their balancing skills by crawling around some fallen branches. One adventurous cub tried to approach the kill but was very quickly scared away by dad. The rest of young ones would get up and seek out the attention of one of the lionesses for either a bath or just a general nuzzled greeting. I felt so incredibly lucky to get to watch these cats interact at such close range. It is one thing to just have an encounter with an animal but it is another to be an observer on the aspects of daily social life. I will never forget this particular part of Serengeti.
The excitement of the day was not to be over as we came across another leopard. Another beautiful male was perched in a tree with the sun brilliantly illuminating his spotted body. We watched him for a bit, but a leopard sleeping in the tree can be exciting for only so long. So within a couple minutes we came upon a couple of male lions. Again, they were sleeping. If there is anything I learned about the big cats is that they are really not much different than household cats in that they tend to enjoy spending most of their time sleeping. After watching them for a bit we returned to the leopard sighting. However, just shy of the cat our professor stopped the car and insisted there was some bird in a tree nearby that we must identify. We were more or less like “really? You had to make us do this next to a leopard?” However, looking back I am grateful that we did this because of what happened next. Right about the time that our car finally pulled up to the sighting, the leopard decided to climb down the tree. However, before the leopard got close to our car, he decided that it would be nice to take a nice poop right in front of the paparazzi. It was comical but I couldn’t help but think the leopard felt threatened by all the cars in some way so it was marking its territory. We got to see this cat come even closer than any of the other cats including the lions of that morning. He came within two feet of the car window. One of our beloved staff members, Fausta, who was with us that day was so excited she could barely speak because it was her window he was that close too. Again, this was another amazing encounter. All of this just about wrapped up one of the greatest days of my entire life. I was lucky enough to have unreal encounters with some of the most beautiful animals on earth, ones I had always dreamed of seeing.
The next day was our last full day of expedition. We got up really early to do another bird exercise, except this one was a bird count using a point count method. We drove along transects and stopped either every 100 or 200 m (I can’t remember which) where we would sit for five minutes and count/identify all of the birds within a 30 m radius of the car. When we were moving between transects a very angry buffalo was not happy with us that we were in his way from crossing the road to get to the buffalo on the other side. Our car was backing up in the same direction that the buffalo seemed to want to go in and then when our car started going forward, the buffalo also decided he wanted to cross in front of us. At that point he threw a tantrum by literally jumping around and stomping on the ground. Then he proceeded to charge our car at full speed. It was probably one of the funniest things ever because he was so visibly angry over this situation. You can actually see the anger in their facial expression. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of this incident because I was too busy watching a giant beast try to run us over. Our car was able to safely drive away and the buffalo eventually gave up and just crossed the road. The funny thing was that when he chose to charge he had a clear path to the other side, but he decided he would rather use the energy to let us know how upset he was instead. After this little fiasco when we were just about done with our transects we came across an albino guineafowl. Guineafowl look like prehistoric wild chicken/turkey things and they are one of my favorite things to watch exist on safari. They are freaking hilarious, especially when they run. Their lack of arms plus their awkward running gait make for great entertainment.
Once we were finished we were yet again lucky enough to come across more cheetahs, except three this time! That puts our total cheetah sighting at 6! It will also become 7 later that day. This encounter was unique because we had these three to ourselves. We didn’t have any other tourist cars crowding up the space. We had them to ourselves for about 20 minutes before others started showing up. I believe it was a mother with two mostly grown cubs. They weren’t doing much other than being lazy under some trees, but it is always exciting being able to witness these beautiful animal regardless of what they are doing. The next thirty minutes blew my mind as a couple minutes away from the cheetahs some sleepy hyena were curled up together under a tree right next to the road. After this awesome sighting another couple minutes brought us to another leopard sleeping in a tree and then some lions. I couldn’t believe that in such short time we happened across all three of the cats! However, what happened next broke my heart and angered me beyond belief.
At the lions we came across, we were pretty sure it was one of the prides from the day before. The area they were in was slightly hilly right next to a riverine. A herd of zebra was nearby and heading towards the water. An opportunistic lioness got up and started slithering her way through the tall grass. We were so excited, we were about to see a lion hunt! However, we weren’t the only ones excited. A handful of cars quickly turned into 30 or 40. And of course, the cars towards the back needed a better view, so their drivers drove up closer. Except closer meant that they were going to pull onto the other road that directly separated the lioness from the zebra. Soon a whole line of cars completely boxed her in, making her attempt nearly impossible, not to mention the cars drew attention to her and warned the zebra. Soon, another lioness joined her and they both crossed the road to see if there was any last hope of making a hunt. There wasn’t. Not to mention that through this entire moment, other tourists were INCREDIBLY loud. Nobody seemed to notice or care that their car was blocking a lioness from feeding her family, nor did they care if they were being loud and disturbing this natural event we were privileged to get to watch.
It is this very moment that made me feel guilty for being a tourist. I actually hated that I wanted to be looking at this lioness. Of course I am a wildlife lover and an avid photographer, so naturally witnessing this scene we had in front of us is a dream come true. However, because so many other people also wanted to witness the same thing, it just became a giant disturbance of nature. It no longer felt that I was in one of the most famous and wild national parks in the entire world. It felt that I was intruding on this natural space and contributing to the future demise of its natural state. I really fear that this brilliant idea of tourism that we had come up with to spread conservation awareness, appreciation, and promote rural economies, is really just a temporary solution to a permanent problem. We are still intruding on these natural places, not naturally coexisting but exploiting for personal pleasure and economic gain. Shouldn’t we be really concerned that three of the major cat species are okay will walking right around safari cars and remaining in such close proximity to them? Shouldn’t this be setting off bells and whistles? I really do not believe that the lions of Serengeti are all that wild anymore. Of course they are not tamed and are still dangerous, but I don’t think a wild cat should be used to having a parade of cars following it around for its entire life.
As I mentioned, I felt so incredibly guilty and internally conflicted over wanting to be there. Of course getting to see these beautiful animals in a “wild” setting has made me want to conserve them that much more. I also feel it is important to see the world and appreciate what else we share this planet with. However, I couldn’t help but feel that my presence was only perpetuating a negative cycle that is eventually going to lead to the further degradation of the little natural world we have left preserved. I have already witnessed and talked about the negative impacts of tourism on local cultures, but now I have really felt the impact of tourism on the wildlife. I am incredibly grateful that I have come to East Africa as a student, attending a school that does not believe in sugar coating local issues. If I came as a tourist, which I had previously intended on doing one day, I would have never come across the same conclusions. I would have returned to the states blissfully ignorant of these realities. I simply ask that if you ever travel to Africa, or know of anyone traveling to Africa, that you think about and share these realizations. If you are on safari, ask your driver to maintain adequate distances from the animals, and really try to look for authentic cultural experiences, and not ones that promote theatrical spectacles for profit. I am far too in love with this country to not return to it one day. However, when I come back I will be mindful of how I shape and plan my trip.
Also, the tourism companies are mostly owned by foreign people, meaning that it funnels the majority of the profit away from rural communities that are supposedly reaping all the benefits of ecotourism. Also, it is unfortunate, but true, that the incredibly wealthy people that come here for vacation expect to get the best experience for their money. Thus, they will be the ones in cars that push their way to the front and are incredibly loud around the wildlife. This was also something that I found so unsettling. These people with so much more than they need come to these places ridden with poverty and limited opportunities and leave behind very little. These people are slowly getting the knowledge they need to improve local social, political, and economic developments, however, they are still incredibly limited by financial resources. Tourism likes to give these clients the cushiest experience, away from any sort of the realities that the world desperately needs to pay attention to.
However, after this rant of mine, I will return to sharing some more of the exciting details of expedition. After this depressing lion experience, we left for the hippo pool. On our way we had some great sightings of elephants, including two of the youngest elephants that we have seen thus far. These tiny creatures that turn into gentle giants are so small and vulnerable, you just hope that they will survive the challenging childhood that is the reality for almost all baby elephants. They are so vulnerable to dehydration, malnutrition, and so dependent on their mothers that will hopefully never be poached. At the hippo pool we were able to observe the hippos on foot again. A short hill and a “barrier” separated us this time. These were the most “active” hippos we had seen, and by active I mean they moved their heads sometimes. This pool, however, had two of the smallest baby hippos that were quite adorable to look at.
After the hippo pool we went to Serena lodge to have lunch and an afternoon break. The buffet lunch was very good even though I paid way too much money for it. I endulged on some spaghetti in olive oil and garlic sauce with some bread and butter and it was quite delicious. After putting myself in a temporary food coma, many of us took a quick dip in the lodge’s pool, which felt so refreshing because during the game drives in Serengeti you get literally caked in a layer of dirt. Apparently, the pool gets frequent wildlife visitors of thirsty elephants and cheetah. When we first sat down for lunch some zebra were hanging out right next to the pool as well. And of course, the pool had another stunning view over Serengeti, although not as breathtaking as the view at the lodge in Tarangire. After a quick taste of being rich for a couple hours we piled back into the cars and set back out for some more game drives. Unfortunately we had two or three more flat tires between all the cars that afternoon. However, since some of our drivers are also our hired mechanics, and the vehicles are well prepared for these kinds of situation, they are pretty quick fixes.
Towards the end of the day we had this stunning drive of the sun setting behind the beautiful Serengeti landscape and all the wildlife. I got a great shot of the silhouettes of some browsing giraffe with the sun setting behind them. We also got another beautiful sight of a tree covered in marabou storks, with a bright orange scene glowing from behind them. On the way back to camp we were also lucky enough to get to see a hippo grazing on land. By this point I was convinced hippos never do anything, so seeing it walk around was seemingly mind blowing. We also got to witness a male ostrich trying to get the interest of two females, who were very quick to shut him down. Watching this I realized that opposite sex interactions between ostriches is entirely too relatable to college dating culture in the states. Yes, these are the important realizations I come to on this trip. But basically the guy awkwardly approaches a group of girls, that of course band together because they are females, and then tries to make himself look good. However, in reality, he makes himself look super awkward and fails miserably. He goes in looking like a hotshot then comes out with his pride bruised. Meanwhile, the girls initially start to act interested because of course they are going to eat up the attention. Then, then they are going to cold heartedly shut down the guy. Honestly, this is exactly how the entire interaction went between the ostriches, and it was great.
That night at camp the beautiful stars of Serengeti came out on display. Unfortunately, every night had been overcast so we didn’t get to enjoy them until our last night. Another student here was kind enough to tell them the right setting to use for night/star photography which is something I had been wanting to learn for a long time. I was able to successfully get some great shots. Of course we were kindof risking it by taking the pictures in the darkest part of camp behind our tents, which we proceeding to hear growling and crunching sounds off in the distance. However, the opportunity to document the beautiful scene above us was too good to pass up. Just getting to look up and enjoy the planetarium like view was magical enough. The sky was lit up by stars so bright and there were so many of them, it reminded me of the stars that I could see in Costa Rica.
The next day we had to pack up and leave this beautiful place that captured all of our hearts. We were all certainly very sad to go but most of us made promises to ourselves to return one day. Driving out I had one of the front seats of the car and I could just stand on the seat with the wind blasting through my hair and enjoy the last moments of the Serengeti plains. It was such a magical couple hour drive out, where I felt truly in the moment and didn’t think about anything else but where I was. The plains driving out were the same as coming in, stretching for miles will almost no other signs of tourists and or even wildlife. Although we got some beautiful sightings of elephant families on our way out and a couple lions, for the most part we were blowing through the roads on the way to the gate. I remember thinking to myself that this is the wild place I came here for. I felt that this is the natural and undisturbed version of Serengeti that I imagined. It was humbling to be such a small individual in the middle of this grand natural place. I was glad to put some of my uneasy feelings at rest that Serengeti is still very wild and although I believe the issues of tourism are still there, they haven’t taken their tolls yet. Overall, I think that Serengeti National Park is an amazing and magical place that everyone should get to experience one day. This place will always have a special place in my heart.
Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai gorge, is home to sites of some of the oldest ancestors in human evolutionary history and is one of the most important archeological sites in the world for piecing together our ancestry. The gorge itself is composed of a main gorge and side gorge and where we got to look out at the beautiful deeply carved landscape, was at the conjunction of these two parts. It is quite large with the main gorge being 55 km long and the whole thing 2 km wide. The popular name, Olduvai, is sortof of a mix up because the gorge is really named Oldupai, after the Maasai name for the plant that is found all throughout it.
A German butterfly researcher first explored the gorge in 1911, who happened upon some elephant fossils. In 1915, the first research expedition to the gorge was led by more German scientists who found fossils of Homo sapien, which is the modern species of human, dating back 17,000 years ago. Louis Leakey happened upon some of these fossils in a German museum (remember Germany controlled Tanzania for a long time) and was inspired to come to the gorge and lead his own research expeditions. Together Louis and his wife Mary made incredible discoveries here that have been key to our current understanding of human history. Based on what we were able to learn at the site and further research I am trying to piece together the complicated details of what has been found and discovered here. Please forgive me if I say something that is inaccurate!
To date there has been four hominin species that have been excavated here, including Homo habilis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus and Homo sapien. Homo habilis and Paranthropus boisei were both discovered for the first time in the gorge. For those of you who might be wondering about Lucy, she was found in Ethiopia, which isn’t too far away. Homo habilis, dated around 2 million years ago, is named “handy-man” for its evidence of being some of earliest stone tool creators and users. The gorge is also known for the discovery of stone tools, and until recently they were the oldest stone tools to exist. These tools have been termed Oldowan, after their discovery in the gorge. Also, not too far from the gorge is Laetoli, the site the holds the oldest evidence of bipedalism (walking upright on two feet). Basically, the site holds a series of footprints perfectly preserved by volcanic ash, dating 3.7 million years ago. This site has been casted and the footprints recovered for preservation. One of the casts is in the museum at the part of the gorge that we stopped at. The museum was established by Mary Leakey herself, whom I might add made many of these major discoveries instead of her husband.
Standing and looking out at this beautiful landscape and realizing I am standing at one of the few spots in the world where some of my earliest ancestors have lived was one of the most incredible and humbling feelings I have ever felt. I could not stop thinking about how lucky I was. I also thought about how all of us stood there, as the modern species of human, coming from parts of the world so far away to be at the actual place in the world of human origins. It felt like a cycle had been completed. I couldn’t help but wonder how these fossils lived as organisms, what they did, what they thought, what they looked at. It was so difficult to imagine, yet amazing, to think about millions of years of history sitting just over a hundred feet below me.
