2013 February Tanzania - the rest of the trip ...

Oldupai Gorge is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches through eastern Africa. A river cuts through several layers of strata with four distinct beds. Bed I, the oldest, is about 2 million years old. It is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in the Arusha Region and is about 30 miles long. It is located about 30 miles from the Laetoli archaeological site. Laetoli is a site in Tanzania, dated to the Plio-Pleistocene and famous for its hominin footprints, preserved in volcanic ash. The location was excavated by archaeologist Mary Leakey in 1978. “The Laetoli Footprints” received significant recognition by the public, providing convincing evidence of bipedalism in Pliocene hominids based on analysis of the impressions. Dated to 3.6 million years ago they were also the oldest known evidence of bipedalism at the time they were found, although now older evidence has been found such as the Ardipithecus ramidus fossils.)

Oldupai is the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, which grows in the gorge.



The Gorge is possibly the most important paleoanthropological site and has helped the understanding of early human evolution enormously. Excavated by Louis and Mary Leakey in the mid-1950s the site, or rather group of sites, is nine miles long and 350 feet deep and includes almost 2 million years of occupation. The sites at Oldupai are primarily stream and lake-side occupations, where stone working occurred. A stone-hut structure is in evidence at the DK locality, dated approximately 1.8 million years ago. Other site types include butchery sites, home bases, and storage caches. Fossil hominids identified include Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis and Homo erectus. Stone tool assemblages recognized there include Acheulean and Oldowan. The excavations at Olduvai were important because they established the African origin of humankind. There is strong evidence that the site was taken by Homo habilis approximately 1.9 million years ago – then occupied by Paranthropus boisei only about 1.8 million years ago.

Finally Homo erectus occurred here just 1 to 1.2 million years ago. It seems that Homo sapiens came to the site as recently as only 17,000 years ago. For Louis Leakey it was significant as he found traces of increased developmental and social complexities in hominins at the Gorge - production and use of stone tools were found, which indicates the increase in cognitive capacities. There is also evidence that the practices of both scavenging and hunting took place too (gnaw marks predating cut marks), and increase occurrence of tool deposits etc. indicates a growth in social interaction and communal activity.



The first great invention - we think - was a hand-axe and plenty were found at the Oldupai Gorge (there's one such example in the British Museum about 1.5 million years old). Hand axes were still in use there some 500,000 years ago & no other cultural artefact is known to have been made for such a long time across such a huge geographical range (even found in Asia .. Korea!) and they were always made from stone and (we think) always held in the hand during use - having a characteristic teardrop shape.



Around 500,000 years ago seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut down into the sediments, revealing seven main layers in the walls of the Oldupai Gorge. The Museum is pretty rough & ready given that J. Paul Hetty's Museum - during the 1990s & it's Department of Conservation made over and added to the museum - including a new wing for exhibitions and that Tanzania's government's Department of Cultural Antiquities is pretty poor! Its located on the edge the Gorge and the exhibits are centred around the Leakey family and their pursuit of working at Olduvai Gorge and an adjacent hall dedicated solely to the Laetoli fossilized footprints.

Type of occupation: Homo habilis is thought to have occupied the site from 1.9 to 1.2 million years ago. Paranthropus boisei was found to occupy the site from approximately 1.8 million years ago until 1.2 million years ago. Homo erectus remains were found and dated at the site from 1.2 million years ago until 700,000 years ago. Homo sapiens came to occupy the gorge 17,000 years ago.



(the original site being quite some distance away) - with a cast on show, that was made of part of the footprint trail in 1996 (thanks to the J. Paul Getty Museum).

Plantation Lodge is set in Ngorongoro Highlands. It’s tranquil, scenic and in a great spot for easy access to the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. The rooms are simple but luxurious and the food is particularly good as they make use of their fine organic vegetable garden - its located just outside the small village of Karatu - half way between the Crater and Lake Manyara (and a two and a half hour drive from Arusha). We stayed in a suite called 'Helioconia'. We enjoyed the food and drinks - the bar was lovely and the verandah, (where we ate a couple of times as well as the restaurant.



The Lodge is only about 30 minutes from the entrance to the Ngorongoro Crater, and was a short drive from the Tarangire Park. We could easily reach Lake Manyara from here.



The lodge itself is situated amongst the lush sloping valleys of the coffee plantations - it has the feeling of an old colonial farm house - a series of white buildings spread out amongst a beautifully kept grass lawn. The gardens and vegetable patches are all rich, verdant and plentiful.

Lake Manyara stretches for about 30 miles - along the base of the rusty-gold 1,500 to 2,000 foot high Rift Valley escarpment, and is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. Water in Lake Manyara is trapped and subjected to intense evaporation, which has led to salt accumulation and the appearance of distinctive deposits at the water’s edge. Permanent pools on the fringes of the marshes are irresistible wallowing sites for elephant, buffalo and warthog. This waterlogged habitat is also home to the specially adapted reedbuck and waterbuck, and several rarely encountered species, apparently including the serval and marsh mongoose - though we didn't see them.



There's also an abundance of frogs apparently that breed in the marshes and attracts a range of snakes, including the African rock python (Python sebae) - we didn't see the frogs or the snakes either! During the dry seasons, the waters of Lake Manyara recede and stretches of exposed land are covered with tender grasses attracting many grazing herbivores. While most large mammals can be found in the woodlands, extensive shrubby areas provide a protected habitat for the Kirk’s dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii) and the tall termite** mounds are often occupied by mongoose, as well as (again unseen!) lizards - most likely the Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus). Birds are plentiful, due to the abundance of insects, nectar and seedpods. Nurtured by a permanent supply of groundwater, a tall, evergreen forest thrives in the park's northern region. Most large mammals avoid the boggy conditions of the forest, but elephant and buffalo occasionally feed here and bushbuck are commonly encountered. Troops of monkeys and baboons forage through the tree canopies.

**taxonomic rank of order Isoptera termites live in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. Colonies use a self-organised systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence to exploit food sources and environments that could not be available to any single insect acting alone. A typical colony contains nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, sometimes containing several egg-laying queens. Termites divide labour among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of young collectively. Worker termites undertake the labours of foraging, food storage, brood and nest maintenance, and some defense duties in certain species. Workers are the main caste in the colony for the digestion of cellulose in food and are the most likely to be found in infested wood. The soldier caste has anatomical and behavioural specialisations, providing strength and armour which are primarily useful against ant attack; (they are not true ants though maybe called 'White Ants'). Termite workers build and maintain nests to house their colony which can be elaborate structures - made using a combination of soil, mud, chewed wood/cellulose, saliva, and faeces - which has many functions such as to provide a protected living space and to collect water through condensation. Savannah species build nests above-ground, that usually develop into very large mounds, - sometimes (exceptionally) 30 feet high! Ecologically, termites are important in nutrient recycling, habitat creation, soil formation and quality and, particularly the winged 'reproductives', as food for countless predators. In addition, scorpions, lizards, snakes, small mammals, and birds live in abandoned or weathered mounds, and aardvarks dig substantial caves and burrows in them, which then become homes for larger animals such as hyenas and mongooses.



At Manyara - from the entrance gate - the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong Yellow Baboon (Papio cynocephalus) troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, Blue Monkeys or Diademed monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) scamper nimbly between the ancient (but invasive)Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) trees, dainty Bushbuck - the Kéwel (Tragelaphus scriptus) and the Imbabala (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) tread warily through the shadows, and outsized forest African Redbilled Hornbills Tockus erythrorhynchus honk cacophonously in the high canopy. Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer), Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) and the Plains Zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchelli) herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do Masai giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance. Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of Acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing Lions (Panthera leo) and impressively tusked African Elephants (Loxodonta africana) . Squadrons of Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) dart between the Acacia spp. trees. Pairs of Klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lake shore in the far south of the park.



Lower down the birdlife is impressive with 100s of birds around. We saw stunning water holes with the wallowing pods of Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), complete with their helpful Oxpecker Birds - both yellow & red eyed - (Buphagus africanus and B. erythrorhynchus) - being "Commensal' - as well as Yellowbilled Stork (Mycteria ibis), Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis), a Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) , not to mention the Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiacus) and the Palm-nut Vulture or Vulturine Fish Eagle(Gypohierax angolensis). In spite of the water's salinity it has high concentration of algae and attracts an astounding array of water birds - including flamingos - most likely the Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) - though we didn't see any. Groves of tall, ghostly trees grow on the banks of the lake during the dry season, dying off as the level of the lake rises and the tree roots become waterlogged. New forests spring up in the next dry season, continuing the perpetual cycle.



Other flora include the Baobab (Adansonia digitata), the broad-leaved Croton (Codiaeum variegatum), Quinine Cinchonia pubescens, - the so called-Sausage Tree Kigelia africana), Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) , the Umbrella thorn (Acacia tortilis) so popular with the elusive tree climbing lions of Lake Manyara, the Wild Mango (Irvingia gabonensis) as well as the (Yellow) Fever Acacia (Acacia xanthophloea) trees.

Went to a nearby Orphanage and Bob left his paper ... and signed the vistors' book as well as made a donation. TO my shame I cannot recall the name but Godlisten did a good job here. I left loads of coloured pencils for him to give to the Orphanage too.





Ngorongoro Crater is the most spectacular largest intact, inactive and unflooded caldera in the world (a basin caused by the collapse or explosion of the centre of a volcano) - and is home to one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in the whole of Africa, including the big five: elephant, buffalo, giraffe, lion and rhino. From the rim edge to the floor it is about 2,000 feet!



The largest animals in the crater are the black rhinoceros and the hippopotamus. There are no Impalas (Aepyceros melampus), Topis (Damaliscus lunatus),Oribis (Ourebia oribi), Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis), or Crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus).

The Munge Stream drains the Olmoti Crater to the north, and is the main water source draining into the seasonal salt lake in the centre of the crater - Makat, (Maasai - meaning salt); and more properly Magadi. The Lerai Stream drains the humid forests to the south of the Crater, and it feeds the Lerai Forest on the crater floor - when there is enough rain, the Lerai drains into Lake Magadi as well. The other major water source in the crater is the Ngoitokitok Spring, near the eastern crater wall. There is a picnic site here open to tourists and a huge swamp fed by the spring, and the area is inhabited by Hippopotamus, Africa Elephants, Lions, and many others. Many other small springs can be found around the crater's floor, and these are important water supplies for the animals and local Masaai, especially during times of drought. Masai are now permitted to graze their cattle within the crater, but must enter and exit daily.

Aside from herds of zebra, gazelle, and wildebeest, the crater is home to the "big five" of rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The crater plays host to almost every individual species of wildlife in East Africa, with an estimated 25 000 animals within the crater.

The crater has one of the densest known population of Lions. On the crater rim are Leopards, African Elephants, Mountain Reedbuck, and Cape Buffalo. A large lake in the middle of the crater is inhabited by hundreds of Flamingos, and, from a distance, they appear as a pink border of the lake. There are also Wildebeest, Eland and Thomson's gazelle as well as Cape Buffalo and Waterbuck; (the latter nearer the Lerai Forest). Lions are common in the reserve as are Hartebeest, Spotted Hyenas, and Jackals. Compared with elsewhere the migration in the Ngorongoro Crater is almost non-existent, as it as an abundance of year-round food and water supply - and the precipitous walls of this collapsed extinct volcano discourage (but don't totally eliminate) migrating. The collapsed but unbroken, unflooded crater (or caldera) measures about 12 miles across.



We also saw Bats in the restrooms (near the forest)!

We saw Flamingos in the lake ... then back to the Lodge and ready for our next adventure based in the Serengeti! We game drove towards the park ... seeing lots of animals on the way.



The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa located in north Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya and spans some 12,000 square miles and hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, which help secure it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, and one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world. The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population and is one of the best places to observe prides in their natural environment.



By David Dennis from Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain (Zebra in the Serengeti Wildebeest)

Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language, Maa; specifically, "Serengit" meaning "Endless Plains". Approximately 70 larger mammal and some 500 avifauna species are found there. This high diversity in terms of species is a function of diverse habitats ranging from riverine forests, swamps, kopjes, grasslands and woodlands. Blue wildebeests, gazelles, zebras and buffalos are some of the commonly found large mammals in the region.

Olakira, (means “shining star” in kiSwahili), is a classic mobile Serengeti safari camp. It moves twice a year to follow the migration and both spots are fantastic. When in the south, it’s located in the Ndutu plains in close proximity to the calving herds. It was a luxurious under-canvas camp (it moves twice a year - with the seasons, following the wildebeest herds).



It's rustic but luxurious, a small camp with just 10 tents which seemed fully furnished with flushing loos and showers. It's is a fantastic camp in one of the last few remote areas in the Serengeti. It had fine linen / dining yet was an authentic East African safari camp set in the great grassy plains of the south. The camp was near to both Lake Macek and Lake Ndutu so we could see Flamingos too.






The camp was very comfortable and aside from having to ordered hot water for the shower, everything was convenient. On out game drives from here we saw just about everything and of the things we wanted to see the most was Wildebeest en masse and leopards. Both of which Godlisten sorted out for us.



We saw Hyenas causing the herds of wildebeest issues ...





We saw Plains Zebra ...



I loved safari and learnt (most of all) that the Serengeti is massive - in a way I should have known really (given all the beasts that graze on it) but hadn't thought it through. I was also incredibly pleased to have been to Oldupai Gorge too.



We left via a small private aircraft from the Olakira Ndutu airstrip - which was only 20/30 minutes drive from the camp!



Memorably, we saw Wildebeest mothers giving birth - and five minutes for the baby to get used to walking and running!