#rift valley

[geologyin-blog]

The African Rift Valley, also known as the Great Rift Valley, stretches through East Africa, It is characterized by a series of interconnected rift systems where the Earth's crust is being pulled apart due to the divergence of tectonic plates.

[yearningforunity]

Portrait from the Rift Valley

Photographer: Lee Howell

[travelella]

Amboseli National Park, Loitoktok District, Rift Valley, Kenya

Vladan Raznatovic

[afrotumble]

[gregor-samsung]

“ Scoprii che i pasti caldi mi avevano cambiato la vita: adesso, infatti, per mangiare ci voleva molto meno tempo, e ciò mi dava agio di mettere ordine nei miei pensieri. Oswald usava il tempo così risparmiato per andare a caccia, papà per fare i suoi esperimenti; io lo dedicavo in buona parte all'introspezione. E mi resi conto, con un certo sbigottimento, che sopra le mascelle e dietro gli occhi avvenivano tantissime cose, indipendentemente da ciò che poteva avvenire al di fuori. Così indipendentemente, in verità, che gli eventi interiori continuavano anche mentre dormivo, e ancor più vividi: ma allora perdevo ogni controllo su di essi, che diventavano una specie di immagine riflessa, come su uno specchio o sull'acqua, del mondo spaziale in cui si muovevano le membra esterne. Ma anche in quell'altro mondo avevo un corpo: un corpo ombra, che talvolta sfrecciava da un punto all'altro a cento chilometri all'ora, e altre volte sembrava radicato al terreno, quando volevo disperatamente scappare per salvarmi da un leone. Non era sufficiente liquidare tutto ciò come sogno, perché faceva parte della realtà con altrettanta concretezza della mia ascia di selce. Una cosa che succedeva. Imprevedibile e spaventoso era il mondo esterno; ancora di più lo era quello interiore.

Una notte, ad esempio, nella terra dei sogni, un leone mi inseguì per ore e ore, e alla fine riuscì a mettermi con le spalle al muro. Disperato, gli scagliai contro la lancia… ed eccola diventata una leggerissima canna! Pure, vola rapida nell'aria e trafigge il leone come se fosse il gibbone che avevo mangiato arrosto la sera. In qualche modo assurdo, inoltre, il leone era il gibbone. E proprio in quella il leone disse allegramente: «Finalmente, Ernest, hai fatto qualcosa per la specie! Hai sconfitto il re degli animali. Ora le possibilità sono magnifiche: ben sfruttate, condurranno la subumanità ai vertici dell'evoluzione.» «Gloria, gloria, alleluia! I miei occhi vedono la fine del Pleistocene!». Mi svegliai tutto sudato e tremante, sotto le stelle, con la voce di papà che mi risuonava nelle orecchie. “

Roy Lewis, Il più grande uomo scimmia del Pleistocene, traduzione di Carlo Brera, Adelphi (collana Gli Adelphi n° 185), 2003⁴, pp. 129-130.

[Edizione originale: The Evolution Man, 1960]

[colorsoutofearth]

Lake Natron, Rift Valley, Tanzania

Photo by Juan Carlos Munoz

[paintartai]

Rift Valley Africa - 2023

[kenyatta]

The cave sits in a unique spot, an ecotone where grassland and coastal tropical forest meet. Because of that, occupants of the cave could exploit the resources from both environments. The location also spared the cave from climatic fluctuations over the centuries. While drought may have impacted the savannah or the forest at certain times, the international and interdisciplinary team of researchers found the site of Panga ya Saidi seems to have received plenty of precipitation. That may explain why humans decided to stick around more or less continuously since finding the spot.

The oldest artifacts found in the cave are Middle Stone Age toolkits dating back around 78,000 years. A distinct change occurs in newer layers that emerged 67,000 year ago in the Later Stone Age, where toolkits become much smaller, showing a switch in technologies. However, following layers dating back 60,000-50,000 years reveal a mix of tool types, which pushes back against the idea posited by archaeologists that change happens during technological “revolutions” where a new technology is quickly and widely adopted.

The jewelry that the cave dwellers wore tells its own story of change. The earliest bead ever discovered in Kenya, dating between 67,000 and 63,000 years ago, comes from the cave. Beginning 33,000 years ago beads made from shells plucked from beaches along the Indian Ocean about 9 miles away became the accessory of choice. Around 25,000 years ago, ostrich shell beads became all the rage, before the seashells came back into vogue around 10,000 years ago. Other decorative or ritual objects such as carved bones and chunks of red ochre were found throughout the layers, which also indicate that there were no significant cultural or cognitive “revolutions” at the Panga ya Saidi site. Taken together, the tools and decorative artifacts paint a picture of a culture that changed slowly over time.

Another important find at the cave is what wasn’t there—lots of seafood. “Despite being relatively close to the coast, we do not have evidence that the hunter-gatherer populations occupying the cave were in any way dependent on coastal resources,” co-author Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History tells Schuster. “Instead, they were reliant on inland, terrestrial resources in their tropical forest and grassland ecosystem.”

[hinterwilds]

[rememberthegoat]

The Great East African Rift Valley

As seen from near Porro. About an hours drive north from Maralal in Samburu County. I think this is my favourite place to view the Rift Valley, a spectacular 1000m drop. Sadly it has been plagued by conflict for as long as I have known it, which hampers its obvious tourism potential.

[kaelula-sungwis]

Black-backed jackal (silver-backed jackal), Samburu County, Samburu National Reserve, Kenya by Eric Lafforgue Via Flickr: © Eric Lafforgue www.ericlafforgue.com

[askaniatravel]

Entdecken Sie die Magie Afrikas auf Schienen

Entdecken Sie Afrikas unberührte Schönheit auf einer exklusiven Zugreise! Begleitet von deutschsprachigen Reiseleitern erleben Sie unvergessliche Abenteuer. Jetzt hier entdecken... #Afrika #Zugreise #Abenteuer

Bildrechte: Lernidee Erlebnisreisen, Berlin – Der African Explorer – (11) – Credit Jose Ramalho.JPG Stellen Sie sich vor, Sie reisen durch die atemberaubende Landschaft Afrikas in einem luxuriösen Zug aus den 1920er Jahren. Die Fenster sind weit geöffnet, und Sie können die frische Luft und die Geräusche der Wildnis einatmen. Dieser Traum kann wahr werden, wenn Sie sich für die exklusive…

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The theory is that rapidly changing climatic conditions in the Rift Valley at these specific times played an important role in driving the increases in brain size.

"Human Universe" - Professor Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen

[travelella]

Amboseli National Park, Loitoktok District, Rift Valley, Kenya

Vladan Raznatovic

[afrotumble]

📷 Arcadius

[filosofablogger]

Good People Doing Good Things -- Peter Tabichi

I apologize in advance for a repeat of one of my good people posts from April 2019, but this guy is well-deserving of being so honoured a second time, and I think you’ll agree! I would like to introduce you to Peter Tabichi.  Peter is a Kenyan science teacher and Franciscan friar at the Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village in a remote part of Kenya’s Rift Valley.  More than 90% of…