The longed-for Olduvai Valley - Symbols and Sacred Places: A monk Takahiro Ueda's round-the-world trip in Tanzania (7)
After the walking safari, we headed to the Olduvai Gorge, the biggest destination of the trip.
Olduvai Valley is located about an hour northwest of Ngorongoro Crater.
The land is dry in contrast to the lush greenery of the Ngorongoro Outer Rim.
This land is also said to be covered with bright green when the rainy season arrives.
Then, after a short distance on this road, the road splits in two.
One road leads to the Serengeti and the other to the Olduvai Valley.
Of course, I would choose the road to Olduvai Valley.
But the guide asks me this.
Why don't you go to the Serengeti this time? It's a very pleasant place.
... Yes, that's right.
Most tourists come to Tanzania on safari for the Serengeti.
The Serengeti is one of the largest plains in the world and is registered as a World Heritage site because of its biodiversity. (Incidentally, Ngorongoro is also a World Heritage Site.)
The Serengeti is famous for the great migration of gnus.
If you watch the African version of the "Wednesday Show," you will probably get an idea of what it is like. If you are interested, please check out the "Wednesday How's It Going" program.
Anyway, the Serengeti is a very famous and popular place in the world, and a place that safari fans around the world adore.
Unfortunately, I am not that much of a safari lover.
Besides, I want to see the Olduvai Valley.
The guide laughed and said.
I've never had a customer like that before."
To be honest, though, let's keep it between us that we had reached our financial limits.
Now, we have arrived at the entrance to Olduvai Gorge.
Tension rises.
Finally, we can see the Olduvai Valley.
The Olduvai Valley extends beyond this lookout.
My heart beats fast. At last I had come this far.
Now, how about that view?
This is the Olduvai Valley. This is where humanity began.
A reddish-brown sheer mountain rises in the foreground. I realize that this is the Olduvai Valley.
And the land stretches as far as the eye can see. The mountains far beyond are also beautiful.
So this is where mankind walked...
I suddenly imagine my ancestors desperately searching for the lion's place.
It would be difficult to find a place to escape in such open land.
If they had encountered a natural enemy, they would have met certain death.
I spent an hour or so gazing at this view in a daze. There must be something that attracts me.
And this reddish-brown mountain that you often see in pictures of Olduvai Valley.
I had assumed that human fossils were found here, but in fact they were found somewhere between the mountain in the upper left and this reddish-brown mountain.
If so, why is this reddish-brown mountain sitting here as the face of Olduvai Valley?
Why not take pictures of the places where fossils are found?
Let's look at this mountain again from another angle to consider this.
Yes, it's still beautiful. It's still beautiful.
But here's what I want you to imagine.
What if these reddish-brown mountains had never existed?
Perhaps it will be seen as just another land with little greenery.
It is just a hypothesis of mine, but if it were not for this mountain, Olduvai Valley would not be so famous as the birthplace of mankind.
That is how impactful this mountain is to the viewer.
This mountain is the birthplace of mankind.storysymbolizes thesymbolIt is.
Just by looking at this mountain, we can receive the story of how mankind began here.
The fossils were actually found in a different place.Facts."is not a problem.
Important."The facts themselves."It is not.
Of course, I am not lying because fossils have been found in this area. The Olduvai Valley represents the land in this area.
However, I actually believed that fossils had been found on the mountain, and I suspect that many people do, too.
Symbols tell a story to the viewer.
This is also true of sacred places in religion.
Just by looking at them, we receive an overwhelming amount of information and are emotionally moved.
For example, this photo shows a hall called Jogyo-samadō on the grounds of Enryaku-ji Temple on Mt.
It is known as the place where Shinran, the founder of Jodo Shinshu, practiced asceticism.
Those who study Shinran's teachings in depth can sense a vast amount of information about Shinran's life and teachings from this hall just by looking at this hall.
And they are emotionally charged.
This hall still functions today as a symbol of Shinran's training period.
That mountain in the Olduvai Valley also brought the story of the birthplace of mankind to my mind, and it moved me.
I think the existence of this mountain as a symbol would be of tremendous significance.
And when many people share the story, the place will become a sacred place.
There are many sacred religious sites in the countries we will visit.
It was truly a moving experience to see the Olduvai Valley at the beginning of the trip.
I am glad I came to Tanzania. I can say that from the bottom of my heart.
With a heavy heart, we headed back to our hotel in Arusha, a four-and-a-half-hour drive.
be unbroken
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