O is for Olduvai Gorge

Africa's Olduvai Gorge is considered one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world. It is located in the Eastern Serengeti in Northern Tanzania, within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Gorge is a long ravine, forming part of Africa's Great Rift Valley. This Rift Valley stretches from the Red Sea through East Africa to the southern end of Mozambique and is characterized by uninhabitable desert and fertile farmland, flat arid plains and steep escarpments. It is also the only major land feature on earth visible with the naked eye from the moon.

 The name is an early misspelling of Oldupai Gorge, which was adopted as its official name in 2005. Oldupai is the Masai word for the wild sisal that grows there.

Over time, a series of fault lines, along with centuries of erosion, has revealed fossils and remnants of early humankind in Olduvai Gorge, which have been instrumental in furthering the understanding of human evolution.

Excavations in the early twentieth century by the famous archaeologist, Dr Louis Leakey, uncovered some of the earliest remains of fossil hominids at Olduvai. 

Seventeen years after the first discovery of human forms, Leakey’s wife, Mary, discovered the unmistakable fossilized footprints of a human ancestor who had walked along a riverbank three million years ago.

Skull of extinct giraffe

Since then, excavators 
working in Olduvai have 
found skeletal remains 
of a number of 
ancient hominids, 
including Homo habilis, 
Homo erectus and 
Australopithecus Boisei.

The Monolith

This archaeological evidence convinced most paleontolgists that humans originally evolved in Africa, and led to Olduvai Gorge being dubbed "The Cradle of Mankind'.

We came upon Olduvai in 2006  as we made our way from the Masai Mara in Kenya to Tanzania's Serengeti. 

When our driver stopped at a small, shabby museum, we were surprised by its simplicity...it  
seemed an unlikely holder of this area's rich history.

 Seated on small benches overlooking the Gorge, we listened attentively as a native guide explained the significance of the site.

It was only when we were leaving that I realized not all in our group were impressed. The two twenty-something girls with us rolled their eyes in boredom and asked why we'd stopped to look at "a big hole in the ground". Having never heard of the Leakey family or of Olduvai Gorge, and being unable to follow the guide's broken English, it must have seemed an odd thing to be sitting there, indeed.

Never underestimate the importance of context!

We shared our picnic lunch with a number of tiny birds that occupy the site.

I am linking this post to ABC Wednesday, and suggest you drop by and check out other takes on the letter'O'...

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.ca/

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The A - Z April Challenge: P

Africa boasts many treasures among its wildlife, not the least of which is the rich array of birds that populate the continent. For today’s A – Z Challenge, I offer two of them…

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P is for Pelican

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Great White Pelicans are large birds that look awkward on land, but are powerful and regal when flying in spectacular V-formations.

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Their pouches serve as scoops to gather up the large quantities of fish they consume each day. Because of overfishing, they are often forced to fly great distances to find food.

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Great White Pelicans at Lake Nakuru with a sea of flamingos in the background

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Human encroachment, pollution and loss of habitat are contributing to the decline of the Great Whie Pelican. People exploit this bird in many ways. Their pouches are used to make tobacco bags, their skin is turned into leather and the fat of young pelicans is converted into oils used in traditional Asian medicine.

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Humans are the pelican’s greatest threat…

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P is also for Plover

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The striking Blacksmith Plover is found in the wetlands of Kenya and Tanzania. This bird’s numbers have actually been bolstered by the presence of humans as they’ve expanded into areas where dams are built and farms established

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They feed on insects, worms, snails and mollusks. An opportunistic forager, the plover also plucks parasites from the backs of reptiles as they bask in the sun, and will even enter the mouth of a crocodile to pick remnants of food from between its teeth or leeches from the lining of its mouth.

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For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter P...

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http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting

The A - Z April Challenge: L

L is for Lion

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We spent time on the Serengeti watching a pair of lions cross the savannah to settle in with the rest of their pride. My attention was captured by a lioness whose scars told the tale of her hard-won life.

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These pictures speak for themselves...

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For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter L...
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http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting

The A - Z April Challenge: I

I is for Impala

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Of all the antelopes on the African plains, the Impala became a favourite. They had the curious habit of running ahead of our truck on the dusty roads in what appeared to be a game… neither veering off to the open verge, nor moving on without us when we stopped.

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Once our guide pointed out that Impala were easily identified by the ‘m’ on their hind ends, we began to see them everywhere!

 As is usual in the antelope family, only the males are horned, and the Impala’s lyre-shaped horns are most impressive. Young males spend many hours butting heads in preparation for adulthood.

 Common Impala have an unusual method of self-defense. When startled or threatened, the entire herd begins leaping around to confuse its predators. They can jump distances of over thirty feet, leap as high as nine feet in the air, and run at great speeds.

Clearly, these strategies work, as their numbers are plentiful in Africa, especially on the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. This is welcome news indeed when so many species are under threat…

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For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter I...

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http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting

The A - Z April Challenge: H...and Camera Critters

H is for Hartebeest

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This fine fellow is a Coke’s Hartebeest, also called kongoni and is found on the open grassy plains of southern Kenya and Tanzania. Although ungainly in appearance, the Hartebeest is one of the fastest antelopes, and the most enduring of runners. We came across a few on the Serengeti Plain and though not able to get close, I managed to capture a few shots.

H is also for Hyena

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As Hyenas are nocturnal, it was our good fortune to come across them several times in the morning. Hyenas have unjustly been reviled as cowardly scavengers…in truth they hunt their own food and will fearlessy drive off leopards and lionesses who covet their kill. In spite of his fierceness, the Spotted Hyena in these photos looks as harmless as his distant canine cousins.

 And H is also for Hyrax

I had not heard of the Rock Hyrax until we came across them in the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. These stocky little mammals lazed quietly on the warm stone walls surrounding the lodge swimming pool, and seemed quite undisturbed by our presence. They are numerous enough to be considered pests, but I found their funny little faces to be adorable.

 And of course, H is for Hippopotamus

As I recently did a piece on the the semi-aquatic Hippo and his antics, I think I'll just redirect you to that post which may tell you more than you ever wanted to know about them!

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But do notice the crocodile in the background of this last photo...they invariably lined the edges of every hippo pool we saw, neither one seeming interested in the other...
 http://imaginationlane.blogspot.com/2011/03/watery-hippo-reflections.html

For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter H...

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http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting

I'm also linking to Misty Dawn's Camera Critters, always a great page to check out if you have the time...:)

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http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/

The A - Z April Challenge: G

G is for Giraffe

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Giraffes delighted me in Africa. They were plentiful on the savannah, feeding on the leaves of tall acacia trees 

 that only they could reach. I loved their lanky gait, their  impressive height, and the slow way they moved from branch to branch, their eighteen-inch tongues delicately
able to avoid sharp spines and select only the most succulent leaves.

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The tallest land animal in
the world, male
 African Giraffes can be

up to 18 feet tall,

weigh 2000 lbs., and live

 for over twenty years.  

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East Africa is home to the Masai and the Rothschid varieties.
Each giraffe is covered with

a unique set of markings, while their

underbellies remain mostly white.

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Foraging in small groups, these beauties were always easy to spot, looming high out of the grass that other animals used for cover.They quickly became favourites that I never tired of watching...

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G is also for Gerenuk

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With its elegant long neck, sweet face and lovely long legs, the

dainty gerenuk is irresistible.

 These small creatures are able to feed on branches taller antelopes cannot reach because they stand upright on their hind legs to search out

the sweetest leaves.

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In this complex ecosystem, they've found a food source that offers no competition.
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Slight and shy, they are not particularly fast but are able to elude predators by maneuvering deftly through the bush. We saw few of them on our safari, but they were a true joy to observe when we did come across them.
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For more A - Z posts, be sure to pop by Arlee Bird's site and see what others have done with the letter G...
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.http://www.tossingitout.blogspot.com/2011/01/very-special-and-exciting