Olduvai Gorge

Olduvai Gorge
Olduvai Gorge also known as Oldupai Gorge is found around the Ngororongoro conservation area and Serengeti plains of Tanzania. This is one of the most important paleontologist sites in the world.
The name of Oldupai is derived from a local Masai word meaning “wild sisal” due to the abundant growth of wild sisal in the Oldupai Gorge area. Zinjanthropus boisei was the first species to be discovered by Leakey’s attributed that the species indulged in heavy chewing.
Olduvai Gorge has helped scientists in understanding human revolution established by paleontologist archeologists team of Louis and Mary Leakey. Leakey suggested that choppers were the most common stone tools used long ago at Olduvai Gorge. They also identified principal rocks used to make stone tools, the mist common material being quartzite originating from Naibor Soit Isenberg not far from the gorge.
Olduvai Gorge covers about 48 kilometers long on a steep sided ravine of the great rift valley. The oldest tools at Olduvai Gorge are known as Oldowan found at the lowest layer, acheulean and chellean were found on the next layer with the third down layer containing levallois artifacts and still many implements.
In 1911 while a German physician and archeologist was traveling in East Africa, he visited Olduvai Gorge and discovered fossil bones of a three toed horse, this interested another German geologist known as Hans Reck who led a team to Olduvai in 1913.
Although Hans Reck found hominid remains that we’re radiocarbon dated to 17000 BP world War 1 prevented their other planned Expeditions. In 1931, Hans Reck, Louis Leakey and Donald Mclnnes led an expedition and found some hand axes.
Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey later on led several expeditions and made different discoveries of hominin fossils. Geologist Richard Hay spent twelve years studying the geology of the Oldupai Gorge alongside Mary Leakey and published their study in 1976.
The work of Mary Leakey has been used locally, regionally and continentally as a foundation for assessing stone tool making during the early Pleistocene. The stratigraphic sequence at Olduvai Gorge is about 90 meters piled in lava flows at Olmoti mountain.
The Olduvai Gorge remains have proved that human evolution started in Africa giving a full insight to a sequence of old stone age industry.
Ngororongoro conservation area
The Ngororongoro conservation area is found within Olduvai Gorge area of Tanzania. The area covers 9292 kilometers squared teeming up with the densest wildlife population on earth mostly roaming at the Ngorongoro crater which is the largest intact caldera in the world, the crater spans at 265 square kilometers and 610 meters deep. There are also other calderas in the area like; Empaka and Olmoti calderas.
One of the most interesting things in the area are shifting sands, the mysterious sand dunes are believed to have come from Mount Ol Donyo Lengai. The sand dunes move for about 10 meters every year without changing shape.
Ngorongoro conservation area rewards visitors with thrilling wildlife opportunities and tourists can spot wildlife such as; African wild dogs, zebras, warthogs, cheetahs, leopards, lions, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, impalas, reedbucks, gazelles, olive baboons, velvet monkeys, elands, hippos, spotted hyenas and so much more.
Bird enthusiasts can be sure to spot some of the 500 species of birds recorded at the Ngorongoro conservation area and some of this include; black kite, African spoonbill, white eyed slate fly catcher, verraux’s eagle, Jackson’s widow bird, kori bustard, fantailed widow bird, Kenya rufous sparrow, Livingstone’s turaco, red and yellow barbet, Namaqua dove, scarlet chested sunbird, rosy throated long claw, Egyptian vulture, Easter. Double collared sunbird, capped wheatear and many others.
Serengeti national park
Serengeti national park is a must visit while at Olduvai Gorge, it’s the most visited national park in Tanzania covering an area of 14,753 kilometers squared. Serengeti national park is famous for one of the one of the greatest natural wonders in the world whereby every year, over 1.5 million wildebeests, 250,000 zebras, thousands of gazelles, topis and other antelopes embark on a 800 to 1000 kilometer journey to the neighboring Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.
In 1930, an area of present day Serengeti was gazetted as a game reserve and the park was upgraded to a national park status in 1940. The word Serengeti is derived from a local Masai word “siringet” meaning a place where land runs forever.
Serengeti national park is renowned to be one of the national parks with high numbers of lions in the world and it was designated as a Lion conservation unit in 2005 with over 3000 lions in the ecosystem. While at Serengeti, tourists can enjoy wildlife viewing and spot animals like; African cape buffalos, wildebeests, cheetahs, leopards, African bush elephants, black rhinos, black backed jackals, spotted hyenas, African Golden wolf, Nile crocodiles, giraffes, zebras, hippos, otters, ground paneling, banded mongoose, bat eared fox, African stripped weasel, African wild cat, common warthog, African civet, aardvark, aardwolf, common Genet and many others.