Between the great wildlife sanctuaries of Ngorongoro and Serengeti lies
Olduvai Gorge, the «Cradle of Mankind». Under the direction
of dr. Louis Leakey, the gorge has abundant fossil material dating back
at least two million years and possibly much further. The remains of prehistoric
elephants, giant horned sheep and enormous ostriches have been unearthed
in this stone age site.
In 1959 the remains of the Nutcracker Man or «ZinjantropusBosei»,
whose skull is in the museum in Dar-es-Salaam, were discovered here. Nearby
is Laetoli, where the footprints of hominids (said to be over 3 millions
years old) were discovered by Mrs. Mary Leakey in 1979. Around these sites
of man's origin teem millions of wild animals.