Human Evolution Tours

Anyone interested in an “off the beaten path” idea for side trips in Africa should consider the following Human Evolution trips.

1. Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, South Africa

The Transvaal hosts several important discoveries. There is a large exhibit and if you call ahead you can arrange to take a free tour with one of the research assistants. You will learn about human evolution and the important fossils that were found in the area surrounding Swartkrans and Sterkfontein. You can even see the actually fossil of Mrs. Ples. An Australopithicas Afrikanus skull, dated 2-3 million years ago, one of the first apes to walk upright. Truly amazing.

2. Laetoli

Just south of the Ngorogoro Crater is Laetoli and Olduvai gorge, the site of 2 important fossil findings. Lateoli is where Mary Leakey discovered footprints of an upright ape that walked several million years ago. The oldest such footprints ever discovered. Olduvai is where Louis Leakey discovered the skull of a Homo Habilis, the earliest in the genus homo. It is expensive to get here but you can arrange for a quick side trip before or after Ngorogoro or Serengeti.

3. Sibiloi National Park, Lake Turkana, Kenya

Only for the extreme traveler who is not afraid of an adventure. It takes 3 days to get there from Nairobi, traveling by private vehicle. You won’t see a single vehicle after your first overnight stop, in Maralal. And you’ll have to pack in your own gas, food, water, etc. You’ll travel through the desert seeing local Samburus dressed only in red paint who don’t speak one word of English. No signs of life for 30 mile stretches. And Shiftas roam the area wielding ak-47’s. But if you brave the trip, you will see Africa untouched by the western world, finally arriving at Sibiloi on the 3rd day, the only tourist within 100 miles. Sibiloi has lodging (call ahead though to make sure), wildlife galore, and millions of fossils literally eroding from the ground.

The story of Human Evolution is one of the most beautiful that can be told. The fossil record in Africa is just amazing. It is like looking millions of years into our past. Haunting at times and breathtaking all the same.

For more information, write icarus_adam@hotmail.com or read adam-africa.blogspot.com