An eight-person team is mountain biking through Africa on an archaeological expedition in search of the origins of man and to find out why so many of Africa's animals are disappearing. Follow along here as they update their diary.

The Great Baboon Slaughter

October 30, 1998
Web posted at: 1:10 PM EDT

OLORGESAILIE, Kenya -- "This is the site of the great baboon slaughter," exclaims Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia, as we walk up to an area covered with tools and bones that dates back 900,000 years. Dr. Kibunjia is a Kenyan archaeologist. Today he guided us to Olorgesailie, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.

It's hard to imagine that this bone-dry place used to be a lake teeming with wildlife. As we walk, Dr. Kibunjia paints a picture of the site as it looked a million years ago. "Back then this was all lake," he says, sweeping his hand across the horizon. "The volcanoes you see around us were active, and the lakeshores would have been bustling with animals. This was a good place for Homo erectus to find his dinner."

Everywhere we walk the ground is covered with stone handaxes. The remains of over 50 extinct baboons have also been found here. I imagine the scene like this: It's early morning and a troop of now-extinct giant baboons (a species that was as big as an 8-year-old kid) are minding their own business. Suddenly, they're ambushed by a group of hominids who sweep down from the hills, smash their heads in, and then cut them up for a baboon buffet!

The hunting hominids, like their descendants for the next 890,000 years, killed animals and gathered plants as they needed them. Here at Olorgesailie, Homo erectus was just another animal, even if it was the cleverest animal on the block. As I sit here in the shadow of Mt. Olorgesailie, tapping away on my laptop, and preparing to blast this off into cyberspace, I wonder about the being that formed those tools that litter the ground behind me. Our tools have changed a lot. Have we?

October 29, 1998

LAIKIPIA PLATEAU, Kenya -- I had to spend a day covered in hyena poop to confirm something I already suspected. People forcing animals to leave their homes is one of the main factors causing the decline of wildlife.

In the Laikipia area, ranchers kill lions and hyenas to keep the animals from eating their cattle. They also kill animals who might compete with their livestock for food. In one instance, in a single year, a wheat farmer killed 3,000 animals that had invaded his fields. Even if they can coexist in the same space, cattle change the vegetation in savanna areas, consuming select parts of plants that are normally taken by wild grazers like gazelle and dik diks.

Can we solve this problem? I hope we can. Some land owners "train" predators to stay away from livestock by shooting warning shots at would-be predators, or employing guard dogs. Others are encouraging eco-tourism, opening their land to visitors who want to see the native African animals with whom the farmers share their land.

Though it's unromantic to see money when you look at an elephant or leopard, it is an increasingly favored view among African conservationists. Since 80 percent of African wildlife live outside game parks, it's more important than ever to focus on the real-world problems of unprotected areas like Laikipia. And it is important to consider real-world solutions. Still, it's tough to argue "acceptable" losses to a farmer who sees crops as money. It is even tougher for me to argue "acceptable" losses of wildlife when some species are facing extinction. Perhaps we'll find some more solutions to this problem in the remaining weeks of AfricaQuest.

The pungent pleasures of animal research

October 28, 1998

LAIKIPIA PLATEAU, Kenya -- As team archaeologist, I typically study animals that have been dead for thousands of years! But this week our biologist asked me if I'd like to write about hyenas. How could I pass up the opportunity to talk about an animal that eats rotting flesh, laughs while he does it, and then barfs up hair pellets?

High on the Laikipia Plateau we met up with Jason Hassrick and Brendan Bowles, two young wildlife researchers, and decided to help them with their day's work. The day began after breakfast with a ride to check a hyena trap. As we we hoped, the cage held a snapping and growling spotted hyena.

Once it was darted, the hyena fell asleep in the corner of the cage. Christina, Cherian, and I had the pleasure of carrying the 100-pound beast out of its cage, stepping over rotting meat on the way. Over the next two hours, we handled and measured more body parts than I care to mention; sticking our hands in its nasty, germ-filled mouth; and picking ticks off its belly.

At the end of the day I walked back to camp smelling like dead gazelle, with traces of hyena blood on my pants and hyena saliva on my hands. I think I'll stick with fossils.

AfricaQuest doctor experiences microscopic African wildlife

October 27, 1998

SAMBURU VILLAGE, Kenya -- Thus far, the AfricaQuest adventure has been about exploring ancient fossil sites to better understand the origins of humankind. We're also investigating reported declines of large animal species such as elephants in an effort to see what can be done to preserve these great treasures. These are pretty grand mysteries. Yet, after three days of fever, headache, and stomachache, my thoughts turned to something small… bacteria.

Of the thousands of types of bacteria on earth, only a few are harmful and cause disease. They're called pathogens. It's these guys that give all bacteria a bad name. Cholera, a disease that killed 17 people in Turkana just a couple of weeks ago, results from a bacterium that spreads quickly in drinking and bathing water that has been contaminated with human feces. The immune system is usually able to handle these pathogens. So, what happened to me?

As I see it, there was a break down in my prevention routine. A few pathogens were able to get into my system, establish a base camp, start reproducing and causing damage at a rate faster than my immune system could handle. What could I have done to help my defenses prevent getting overwhelmed? Well, first I could have made sure that all of my foods and liquids were properly heated (pasteurized). Pasteurization is the use of mild heat to reduce bacterial populations in foods, whereas sterilization is the complete killing off of bacteria). We've been boiling water or sterilizing it by adding iodine or bleach. In the last week, I must have failed to use these prevention procedures when I prepared my food or water. So, as you can see, doctors get sick too.

The Samburu and the Elephants

I traveled to a Samburu village in search of a wise elder. When I saw Mzee Lempuna's bright orange Nike cap with the gold lettering, somehow I knew I had found what I was looking for. Along with his hat, he wore the bright-red traditional dress of his people. I interrupted his "bau" game and asked him to tell me a story. Bau is a little like checkers and different versions are played throughout Africa. He agreed to talk with me.

We shook hands firmly and exchanged greetings, though neither of us understood one another. We squeezed ourselves into little desks designed for 8-year-olds. I opened my little notebook where I'd jotted down some questions and was about to begin the interview, but first had to ask,

"So, Lempuna, what's up with the Nike hat?"

He laughed, flashing his crooked white teeth. "It was a gift from a friend. Do you like it?"

I said I thought it suited him quite well (which was no lie) and then got down to the business of elephants.

I learned from Lempuna that the Samburu people respect elephants more than any other living creature. Elephants are powerful symbols in their culture. When a young couple marry, a pile of elephant dung is burned on the floor of their house to bless them with a long marriage and happy life together. In the old days, before the illegal ivory trade began to threaten elephants the Samburu would find an elephant that had died naturally in the wild and bring its ivory back to the village. Using this ivory, they would create a small charm. This necklace would be hung around the neck of a newborn baby to protect him throughout his life. Hearing this story, I wondered about Lempuna's Nike hat and what the odd mix of traditional and modern symbols we've seen in our travels through Africa. What might the Samburu use now to ensure lifelong protection?

Vanishing Africa

WEST GATE, Kenya -- Africa is disappearing. The continent itself isn't disappearing nor are its people. But the romantic vision of Africa as a place filled with wild animals, pristine jungles, and colorful tribes is vanishing. That's why we were so pleased to run into five Samburu warriors wearing bones in their ears and brandishing spears.

We found these warriors in a northern Kenya village called West Gate. The warriors showed up dressed more elaborately than runway models at a Paris fashion show. They donned robes called "shukas," beaded necklaces and bracelets, earrings, and sported elaborate hairdos. Samburu warriors are called "morani" in their native, Maa language.

Foreign influences are changing traditional Africa, attracting people like the morani to cities. The Morani are known for their toughness in battle. But in the capital of Nairobi, they're better known as security guards, where they watch parked cars rather than livestock and family. World demand for coffee, tea, and cotton has inspired Kenyans to cut down forests for plantations. Advertising for American products lines the streets in most Kenyan cities. The American T-shirt has replaced traditional clothing; and Bob Marley is known better than many African musicians.

Modernization, in our sense of the word, may be good. But living successfully -- indeed surviving -- in a modern world requires money. And in Kenya, where the average family makes perhaps $75 a month, the modern world can be a pretty brutal place.

After our meeting, I shook hands with the warriors and thanked them. They acknowledged me with a frigid nod and wandered off into the bush. As I watched them walk away, I couldn't help but think that they represent much of what's beautiful and special about Africa. Sadly, they also symbolize what's dying.

Click here to read the diary from Week One.

Click here to read the diary from Week Two.

Click here to read the diary from Week Three.