Laetoli

Northern Tanzania


About 45km south of Oldupai Gorge at remote Laetoli is a 27m-long trail of 3.7-million-year-old hominid footprints, probably made by Australopithecus afarensis. Discovered by Mary Leakey's team in 1976 and excavated two years later, it's an extraordinarily evocative and remote site. An EU-funded museum (still under construction) is planned, but there's a small temporary museum on the site, with only copies of the prints currently visible. Cast copies of the prints are in Oldupai Museum.

An extremely rough, 4WD-only track connects Oldupai Museum with Laetoli via Noorkisaruni Kopje and Endulen. A far better road runs to Endulen from Kimba on the Ngorongoro Crater rim along the southern side of Makarot. Via either route, Laetoli lies 9km from Endulen.