Morale is low. People are falling to the sickness left and right. More than half of the group has felt unwell during the trip so far. Most of my problems are cold-like symptoms, which were at their worst this morning. I think the general lack of sleep amongst the group has contributed to people not having time to recover.
Dr. Dominguez Rodrigo gave us a tour of the Olduvai Museum and a couple of sites in the gorge! I was feeling pretty badly during the tour, but I took a 15 minute nap and already felt a lot better. It was so interesting hearing about the history of excavations at Olduvai and the sites where significant discoveries were uncovered. One of the sites we saw was FLK Zinj, where the skull of Paranthropus was uncovered by the Leakeys!
On some of the stone tools at the museum, there are phytoliths of acacia trees on the edges of the blades, suggesting early woodworking.
Back at camp, I slept through lunch and visited the camp doctor. I’ve been drinking lots of water, which is definitely helping.
Sunday afternoons are rest days when the staff and researchers take the half day off. We drove about an hour to visit a nearby hotel lodge, which had a gorgeous lookout point over the surrounding Serengeti/Ngorongoro/Olduvai area. Our group and the researchers relaxed in the main lodge and enjoyed cold drinks. The architecture of the lodge incorporated the surrounding basalt rocks, which I thought was super pretty.
I’m so excited to recover and explore more of Olduvai. Kacey and I saw a snake in a tree next to us in the camp. The next time we looked over, there was a dead bird on the ground.
Looking forward to sleep,
Carina
