Olduvai Gorge

Located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a short drive off the main road between Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, the name Olduvai derives from Oldupai, which is the Masai word for the type of wild sisal that grows in the gorge.

It was here that, in 1959, Dr Louis Leakey and his wife Mary discovered the skull of first Zinjanthropus Boisei, or “nutcracker man”, and then, a year later, the remains of Homo Hablis or “handy man” at that time regarded as mankind’s first step on the ladder of human evolution.

Many more fossils have since been discovered including those of prehistoric elephants, giant horned sheep and enormous ostriches. There is a small museum and an observation platform,overlookingthe gorge, where visitors can listen to an informative talk.

Getting there A four-hour drive, or one-hour flight, from Arusha. A two-hour drive from lake Manyara of Tarangire National Park.