Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites on earth. This steep-sided ravine in the eastern Serengeti Plain is where Louis and Mary Leakey unearthed fossils of early hominids in the 1950s and 60s, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of human evolution. The gorge formed when a river cut through layers of volcanic ash and sediment, exposing nearly two million years of geological and human history.
Most visitors stop at the small on-site museum on their way between the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. The museum displays casts of key fossil finds and stone tools, and a guide will walk you through the story of the excavations. It is a brief visit — an hour is plenty — but standing at the rim of the gorge knowing what was found here is genuinely moving.