Archaeology Safari (Week 6)

        After departing Tarangire, we began the Archaeology portion of our safari. We picked up our Human Evolution professor, and he accompanied us for the last leg of our journey. We went to major archaeological sites such as Laetoli and Olduvai, and we also went to Ngorogoro crater for a few days. Ngorogoro was really cold, and it felt nice to wear a fleece and hat at night. Our campsite also was visited by a herd of zebras, which was fun. During our game drive in Ngorogoro we saw two black rhinos, and that was the safari highlight. We also went to an organic farm called Gibbs farm in Keratu, and we had probably the best meal of our lives. 

          Our last stop was Lake Natron, also the site of Oldonyo Lengai, which is a big-ass active volcano. We off-handedly decided that it would be fun to hike said volcano, but because it is so hot during the day it would have to be a night hike. Once we reached our campsite, we had dinner, took a short nap, and then departed around 11 pm to the trailhead. We didn’t begin our hike until 12:40 am, and our guides warned us that it is a difficult hike so we should have water, lights, and proper clothes. Some of us didn’t have these things, but we laughed it off and were like “yeah, whatever. We will be fine”. We weren’t. After about two hours of hiking in the dark, the terrain started to become really ashy and slippery, and it started to get steep. Some of our group members decided they were done, and turned around to go back to the cars. As we kept ascending, the ground kept getting sketchier and steeper. After the halfway point our guide told us “now we begin the climb”, so even more people dropped off. It was too dark and dangerous to go down, however, so they had to sit and wait in the dark until the sun rose. The remaining 11 of us decided to push on, even though I was getting kind of scared and it was difficult to hold the flashlight because I needed to use both hands at all times. Once the sun rose I almost had a panic attack because I realized we had gone really high, and we still had a ways to go. I kept slipping down a few inches with every step and I had all four limbs touching the side of the mountain to keep from falling down. It took us six and a half hours to reach the summit, and at the top I primarily felt cold and miserable. All I could think about is that we had to somehow get back down vertical scree and dust. It didn’t help that I hadn’t slept or eaten in a very long time. The decent was…interesting. We were all getting a little bit delirious, and I couldn’t stand so I slid down on my butt most of the way. Loose rocks would come tumbling down every so often, so we would scream “ROCK ROCK ROCK” and the people in front would cover their heads and duck. There were a few close calls but no one got hurt. It took us five hours to get down, and in the end our hike was a 12-hour experience. I was so glad when it was over, and I have a sore body and bruises and cuts to show for it (there is a big one on my butt from all of the sliding on the ash and rocks). Retrospectively I guess it was sort of fun. That was the grand finale of our six-week adventures. The next day we drove back to Arusha, and yesterday we had a 12-hour bus ride back to Dar filled with lots of horrible movies and music videos.

            We will be in Dar Es Salaam for the last three weeks, and I am going to do my best to make peace with this city. We don’t have any classes, so our only responsibilities will be to study for our Ecology and Human Evolution finals, and to type up our research reports. I think I have thoroughly bored my audience, so I will cut it off here. I’m sure I will post later about my last few weeks in Dar. It actually feels good to be back, and now I have internet, so please send me updates on life at home! Baadaye.