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The "Garden of Eden"   

Giraffes on the Serengeti Plains

Zinjanthropus Man

Homo erectus

Nairobi Skyline

Fort Jesus Passageway

Artisan in Akamba Village

Cobblestone Street in Stone Town

Ngorongoro Crater Lake

Buffalo on the Plains

Beautiful Maasai Women

Background

During the 2003-2004 winter we visited the highlands of Ethiopia; one point of the cradle of humanity at Hadar of the Afar Desert.  This winter December 27, 2004 to January 5, 2005, as we continue our travel along the corridor of the cradle of humanity: the high grasslands (Ethiopia) East and Central Africa, our next stop is at those sites that bear the actual footprints of our most ancient ancestors: Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. In Kenya and Tanzania we will visit the “Garden of Eden” where our ancestors traversed the highland interior of East Africa, punctuated by the imaginary equatorial belt and the aftermath of volcanic activity from about 1000 to 500 million years ago. The continental geological unrest resulted in the formation of oscillating mountain ranges, the seamless expansiveness of the Serengeti plains, and the 20 to 15 million years ago  fracture of the African continent  from the Red Sea to the Kalahari in Namibia which gave way to a  64,000 km  long Great Rift Valley, dotted by lakes and plains.  It was on the Rift Valley floor, which still remains plentiful with the flora and fauna, that made life possible for our ancestors. The fertile plains with their flora yielded many varieties of cereal grasses, which sustained both man and the rest of the animal kingdom. Large herds of animals: giraffes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, gazelles, zebras, buffalos still roam the famed Serengeti and its ancillary spaces of Tanzania and  Kenya, reminiscent of the distant past. Its own peculiar signature characterizes each area of the multi-layered ecosystem of this region. For example,  elephants, buffalos, baboons and many varieties of monkeys inhabit the lush vegetation of the Montane forest; ostriches peruse and feed on the tall grasses; storks, pelicans, flamingos and fish-eagles trawl the margins of lakes in search of food; while the predators of lions, leopards, hyenas, jackals, reptiles and man lay in wait as intermediaries.

The current conversation about human origins is most fascinating to all of us since archaeologists, geologists, and physical anthropologists do finally agree that we all ultimately belong to Africa, the home of hominids (4 million to 1.5 million years ago) to Homo sapien,  (approximately 350,000 to 200,000 years ago) and Homo sapien sapien, modern man, of approximately 150,000 years ago, according to radiometric methods of dating. Specially, in Tanzania at the Oldupai Gorge (a Maasai word meaning "wild sisal plant" commonly found in Ngorongoro), aka Olduvai, the monumental four-layered geological barometer holds many of the secrets and evidence of our distance past. The Oldupai Gorge Museum provides us  with a view of evidential moments of fossilized remains of animals from the remote dinosaur period to the meteoric rise of  hominids:  Zinjanthropus man (nut cracker man, the vegetarian with formidable molars);  the stone tools that open a window into the intelligence of man as tool-maker; Homo habilis, (handy man),1.75 to 1.5 million years ago; Homo erectus, the upright walking women and men with exceptional loco motor skills, that deployed themselves across the continent of Africa about 1.5 million years ago; Homo sapien (ancient equatorial variant of man) with fully developed protuberant chin and skull and burial practices intact;  and Homo sapien sapien, (modern man) the linguist  who developed and spoke a proto-world African language, the Mother tongue, the first and root language of all the worlds diverse linguistic branches.

During my visit, and our subsequent educational tour, we cannot neglect to visit the following places described below to put our (African experience) journey into perspective. Join me as we share the places visited (ancient to modern) on my expedition to equatorial East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Itinerary

Day 1 - After the evening departing flight from JFK our first stop is the modern bustling metropolis, Nairobi, Kenya with its gateway through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Meals on flight.  

Day 2 - Arrival in Nairobi Kenya. Move through immigration and customs Transfer to Hotel for overnight. 

Day 3 - After breakfast the City Tour to the famed National Museum of Kenya where one witnesses the geological time capsules of the planet earth, evolution of our species, the flora and fauna, and myriad of modern day cultural and ethnic groups that make up the diverse nation of Kenya. The Nairobi National Park and the Bomas of Kenya, an unforgettable cultural presentation of traditional dancers and acrobats will crown our first full day in Kenya. Later that evening we will board the train for Nairobi to Mombasa with dinner. The  overnight train  arrives the next morning. Breakfast is served before disembarkment.

Day 4 - Check in to our hotel and prepare for a full day city tour of  Mombasa.  Fort Jesus, which still stands, as a bastion of East Africa trading port for Africans into slavery, is our first stop. That site is followed by walking through the narrow streets with shops full of items to remind one of this island frozen in the time of the 15-17^th century.  The motored tour then takes us to largest production of wood sculptures in East Africa at Akamba Village. After breakfast we complete our Mombasa tour by visiting Gomongo Village.  Gomongo Village provides a slice of life from about ten cultural groups in Kenya which include the Kikuyu, Turkana, Pokot, Maasai, Akamba, and others.  Afterwards, we return to our hotel to relax to the maximum along the Indian Ocean.  Dinner

 Day 5 - In the early morning after breakfast our flight takes us to the island of Zanzibar. Check-in hotel then begin Stone Town Tour. Zanzibar Stone Town is known for its  quaint narrow streets with stone architecture from the Sultans and aristocratic Indian elite who still colonize the indigenous African people. We will visit the site of the  slave market and dungeon, the museum, Africa House and other places of interest in this very small pedestrian city.  Dinner

Day 6 - Breakfast in Zanzibar.  Part of the morning is spent on completing tour of Stone Town.  Leisure and extra excursions for those who wish to explore more of the island.  Zanzibar is known for its unique tropical flora and fauna, spice markets, and diverse population of Africans, Arabs, and Indians whose major language is Kiswahili.  They boast of speaking the most perfect form of Kiswahili.  Afternoon flight to Arusha.  Check in hotel for overnight and dinner.

Day 7 - ARUSHA - OLDUVAI GORGE-NGORONGORO CRATER (Safari)

Early breakfast, drive to Ngorongoro through parts of the Rift Valley, see Kilamanjaro on our way to visit the Olduvai Gorge, its museum, site of Zinjanthropus boise, the shifting sands, the drive through the Serengeti.  We take the hypnotic view from the crater rim then ascending to the crater floor to view one of the world's phenomena of a lake sinking to about a half mile into the earth about 2 million years ago with a complex ecosystem.  If the Garden of Eden did indeed exist, then this is it.  One will not find it uncommon to see from our land rover elephants, zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, lions, gazelles, hippos in minor lakes, and birds of varied varieties.  Ascending from the floor of the Crater will take us through a virgin forest still intact.  We will see Lake Manyara Eyasi and other sister lakes on our way to our hotel.  Dinner and overnight in the Wildlife lodge.

Day 8 - Early breakfast, then we visit a Massai Village to experience authentic Maasai life.  The Maasai are a nomadic people of the plains who are in constant search for adequate grazing ground for their large herds of cattle and other live stock.  When two Maasai meet, the first greeting they exchange is Keserian ingra? Keserian ingishu? (How are your wife and children? How are your cattle?)  To have one without the other is to be poor.  To have both is to be rich.  The Maasai are thought to be a hybrid of Nilotes (from the Nile River region) and Hamites originating from North Africa.  They came from North Africa, migrated along the Nile River and settled in East Africa initially settling around the Lake Turkana area in Kenya about the 15th century.  Physically, they are among the handsomest of mankind with slender bones, narrow hips, wide shoulders, and most beautifully developed muscle contour.  The Tanzanian Maasai are less exposed to Western influences as compared to their Kenyan counterparts, and thus have retained closer links with their culture and traditions that are now severely challenged.  The Ilkisongo (Tanzania) prefer dark red and dark blue in their bead work whereas the Ilpurko (Kenya) like orange and light blue.  We leave for Nairobi via Arusha for overnight and dinner at our hotel in Nairobi.

Day 9 - This day will remain open for either shopping or any activities that we want to do and time did not allow before. There will be airport transfer for our flight home in the late evening.

Day 10 - Arrive at JFK. End of educational tour.

COST PER PERSON DEPOSIT SCHEDULE  

A Visa is mandatory for travel to Kenya and Tanzania.  Please secure visas prior to travel and make sure that passport name and visa name correspond.