Nomads of the Serengeti (2015): Season 1, Episode 5 - Cradle of Mankind - full transcript

Wildlife Expert and Safari Guide
Jean du Plessis explores the

Serengeti's link to
humans' distant past.

This area is often referred
to as the Cradle of Mankind.

From there, he visits our
closest living relatives.

It's always incredible to
see chimpanzees.

They're so close to ourselves.

They just view us as another
primate species that lives

side-by-side.

And he visits Serengeti's
Nomadic people,

the Maasai.

Do you think we can maybe
go visit your village?



You definitely need to
be born in this culture

to appreciate that.

NOMADS OF THE SERENGETI - SEASON 1
EP - 5 - Cradle of Mankind

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This is the Greater
Serengeti in Tanzania.

It's one of the most
biologically diverse places on

the Planet.

It's home to over 70 species of
mammals and it's the site of the

wildebeest migration - the
largest mass movement of animals

on earth.

But there's more to the
Serengeti than it's wildlife.



It's also one of the most
important paleo-anthropological

sites in the world.

On the Southern Serengeti
plains in Olduvai Gorge,

famed Paleontologists Louis and
Mary Leakey made some of their

most important
fossil discoveries.

Discoveries that have been
central to our understanding of

early human
origins and evolution.

I'm standing on the
edge of Olduvai Gorge,

which is a really prominent site
within the Great Rift Valley.

This area is often referred to
as the Cradle of Mankind because

the Leakey's discovered two
very prominent skulls here.

Those skulls of zinjanthropus
and Homo habilis date back to

about 2 million years.

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The reason Olduvai Gorge is
so unique is the fact that this

used to be a massive lake a
couple of million years ago

where these hunter-gatherers
or early hominids formed

homesteads.

It was the perfect environment
to live close to a food source.

What's really interesting is the
fact that Homo habilis or the

handyman was discovered
not more than 20 meters from

Australopithecus, living
side-by-side during the same

time era.

It might sound strange to
have two ape-like species living

close together like that,
but today is no different.

Further South in the
Great Rift Valley

are apes still living, and
in other areas in Africa,

there are species such as
bonobos and gorillas

all living same as us humans
in the Great Rift Valley.

Tanzania has several
populations of chimpanzees.

The most well-known is in Gombe
National Park where Jane Goodall

did her famous studies.

But the most significant
population is actually further

South in Tanzania's
Mahale Mountains.

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I've just arrived onto Mahale
airstrip and we are getting to

an old dhow that's going to
take us into the national parks.

This is one of those unique
parks where there's no roads.

Jean wants to see Mahale's
wild chimpanzees close up,

where he can observe their
behavior, and to do that he's

headed to Greystoke, a lodge on
the shores of Lake Tanganyika

that is only reachable by boat.

I'm on Lake Tanganyika which
is just one of the most
spectacular

lakes I've ever seen. The
largest body of unpolluted fresh

water on the planet.

Behind me is Mahale
Mountain National Park,

and this is one of the few
parks where one can find viable

populations of chimpanzees.

On this side of the lake are
very much two chimp populations

referred to as the M-group and
the K-group, where in the 80s

the M-group pretty much over
threw and almost completely

demolished the K-group.

In modern day K-group is
starting to come back,

but it's a new population of
chimpanzees that's very skittish

and hard to see.

It's estimated that the
entire park has between 700 and
1,000

chimpanzees.

Mahale Mountain's National
Park is open to tourists.

But the lodges are
all small occupancy.

That, along with the fact that
the area is remote and hard to

get to keeps it from being
too overrun by tourists.

And in a fragile ecosystem,
that's a good thing.

Here we are arriving at camp.

It's always a very
impressive site.

Hi.

Jeff and Kerrie, the managers
at Greystoke along with the
staff

and resident pelican
come out to greet Jean.

Jean settles down in
camp for the night.

They will begin
trekking in the morning.

Another really hard
day in the office.

The chimpanzees live in the
mountains around Greystoke.

Researchers had been
studying them for decades,

so they're habituated to humans.

This means Jean should be
able to sit and observe them.

But first, he has to find them!

The home range of M-group
spans a very large area.

This is mountainous terrain.

For Jean, it will mean a tough
steep hike through dense bush.

Jean's guide is Mwiga Mambo,
head guide and a primate expert

at Greystoke.

Mwiga is the second generation
in his family to work with the

chimps.

His father worked on a
research project in Mahale.

This is our first morning and
we are about to head off into
the

forest to see if we
can find these chimps.

What can we expect
this time of year?

Is it going to be easy, hard?

What do you think?

Yeah.

It's hard walking.

Really.

Honestly, very hard walking.

Okay.

With limited time, Jean
is keen to get started.

The chimps are wild animals
and aren't on his schedule.

There is still no up taking
from the trekkers in terms of

locating the chimpanzees
this morning,

but instead of
sitting here on the beach,

we are heading off into the
forest to go and explore the

lower regions of the forest.

The chimps are often easily
found in the low lying areas

around the camp.

Just keep on walking.

But a recent shift in weather
has sent the chimps higher up

into the mountains
in search of food.

This means some serious
climbing ahead for Jean with no

guarantees.

The chimps can get to areas
that are inaccessible to humans.

So the trio begins to
head into the forest,

and up the mountain.

What's this?

Stracnus Nakuwa.

They must clearly eat the inside
part that is soft and smelling

very citrus-like.

Chimpanzee, they have canine
and then they have strong jaw.

Okay.

So they can break it.

Yeah.

They can break it.

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What can we expect?

Is it going to be easy, hard?

Yeah, it's hard walking.

Really?

Honestly.

Jean du Plessis is in the
Mahale mountains where he and
head

Greystoke guide Mwiga Mambo
are on a quest to observe the

social life of the chimpanzee.

We're biologically cousins to
chimps and gorillas,

and share 98% of the
same genetic makeup.

What separates us from our hairy
relatives is our large brains,

our capacity for language and
the ability to create and use

complex tools.

Is this a termite mound?

Yes.

I know in Gombe
with Jane Goodall's project,

they discovered that they
fish for termites with sticks.

Do they do the same here?

No.

Here they didn't fish
from termite mound,

but they fish from the trees.

There is ant
called carpenter ants.

They use tools too.

So here they don't use those
sticks to fish for termites.

What's quite fascinating is
that it's all learned behavior.

Obviously some chimp in Gombe
did that by accident and there

was a termite on, and
that's how they learned it,

and here in Mahale maybe one of
them was playing around with a

stick in a tree and
caught the carpenter ant.

So it's more matter of a
learned behavior that's brought

over from generation to
generation and by chance,

it haven't happened here that
they are fishing for termite.

Science has learned lot
from studying chimp behavior.

Researchers and scientists have
discovered medical treatments

for diseases like Malaria,
diarrhea and even anti-tumor

medication that can
be used by humans.

We have been hiking now
for most of the morning.

The trekkers came out at 7
o'clock this morning to try and

find the chimpanzees, but this
time looking at the high up in

the mountains and in the valleys
because that's where the only

viable food source will be.

Finally, after
several hours of hiking,

Jean makes his first sighting.

It's 1 o'clock now, and we
just came across a group of
females

and infants.

I'm wearing this face mask
because a few years ago,

there was a flu virus that
was introduced to this group of

chimpanzees, and there was a
dramatic decrease in chimpanzee

numbers here in Mahale.

So as a precaution, all guests
coming into contact of chimps

must wear these face
masks at all times.

Just down from me is two
females sitting with an infant

that's younger than a year.

One can see they're younger than
a year because they... they've

got this little fluff of
white on their backsides.

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It's always incredible to
see chimpanzees.

They're so close to ourselves.

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They're having a
proper game here,

the young ones
chasing each other.

So what was all that about?

What happened is two
mothers fighting because of

their children.

It's very much just
like humans would.

Yes.

Two kids fighting and then
the mothers end up fighting.

Exactly.

Although not overly disturbed
by the presence of humans,

the mothers are
understandably protective.

And it seems like they are
still having a little bit of
squabbles

as they move up the hills, so
we're just gonna try and stay

behind them.

Yeah.

And this is hard to keep
up with them. It's very

easy for them obviously moving
through this under growth is

extremely hard for us.

It's the time of
day I spent there.

We'll go pass out a
bit and take it easy.

Although this group of
females is off on their own,

chimps' society has both a
patriarchy and a hierarchy.

To get a fuller picture
of their social structure,

Jean will need to
find the males.

Who is now number one?

Alofu?

Number one is Primus, and
then he was challenged alpha

male on that time calling
Pim, and then Orion went up to

be number three.

So he needed to support
Alofu to took all that,

to resume his position,
Pim gets scared him.

So Pim, he was needed support
from Primus number three.

Primus challenged Alofu, and
then Alofu gets scared of him,

he disappeared with a
one female calling Inebe.

It's very complicated.

There's there's a big
power struggle going on.

It's amazing.

Seems like you are
part of this politics.

Yes.

Because...

Like a soap opera for you.

Yeah.

These females we've been
tracking the whole day are part

of a much larger
group of between 16,

17 individuals, and hopefully
these call these little domestic

and conflicts within this small
group will draw the main group

this way, and yeah, hopefully,
there is dominant males who are

coming to see what
the trouble is here.

The M-group of chimps is
broken down into several smaller

groups.

While there are still some males
to be seen through the brush,

Jean is still looking for the
main group and the dominant

males.

These kinds of calls are
partly contact calls because

the group is all
over this valley,

they are communicating
with each other,

and hopefully, some of the
ranking males will come and see

where these females are, and we
might run into them tomorrow.

Yeah, it'd also be nice for you
to go there and see what's going

on 'cause it seems like it's
changing in a daily basis.

Yeah.

It's getting late, so
they call it a day.

Mwiga leads Jean back
down to Greystoke Lodge.

Back at the lodge, the resident
Pelican is more forthcoming than

the male chimpanzees.

This Pelican is incredible.

This pelican has
become a fixture here,

and Manager Jeff from
Greystoke fills in Jean on his

back story.

So what's the
deal with this bird?

Yeah, the bird he swam in
off the lake about 8 months ago.

There had been a big storm
and the next thing we knew the

bird was swimming ashore and
started chatting to our guests.

I mean, you know, there's a bit
of a daily routine to the guy.

Yeah.

It's quite a
relaxed daily routine.

He landed on the right beach.

That's for sure.

It's nice to seeing him out
in the kayak with you.

He loves it.

He loves kayaking.
He really wants to fish.

But as a solo bird,
it's a real challenge.

And they normally
fish as a flock,

so they corral the fish and
then they all scoop with their

huge pouches and then they
filter the water out and that's

how they feed.

As a solo bird, he
doesn't stand a chance.

An isolated pelican in
the wild is vulnerable.

This one is lucky.

Jean hopes some of that luck
will rub off on him as he heads

into day two of his quest.

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Wildlife Expert and Safari
Guide Jean du Plessis is in the
remote

Mahale Mountains National Park.

The park has the largest number
of wild chimpanzees in Tanzania.

And Jean is hoping he can
get close enough to watch the

chimp's social
structure in action.

From his base at
the Greystoke Lodge,

Jean has put himself in the
hands of it's Chief Guide and

primate expert, Mwiga Mambo.

It's day two, and they've just
come across a male and a

female.

Mwiga ID's him as Darwin, the
third ranked male chimpanzee.

He, and this female
climbed up this big tree,

and they are feeding on Ficus.

It's really hard this time of
the year for them to find a

viable food source.

They really need to
eat when they see food.

What they will do is they will
pick with their hands and stuff

their mouth full of figs.

And one by one, they would run
these figs through their teeth.

And that way they don't need
their hands for the actual

feeding anymore.

Darwin is the number three
ranked male in this group of

chimpanzees and that gives him
the authority to take a female

away for a couple of days while
in his case he has been away

with female for 3 weeks.

She is in estrous that gives him
the opportunity to completely

monopolize her and be
with her all the time.

If they are in a big group he is
going to have to share a female

in estrous with some of
the other ranked males,

especially the males
that's ranked higher than him.

It's a time of the day where
they kind of lie down and take

a bit of a siesta this, but it's
also a time for grooming.

?

So he is never joining up
with the main group in the last

couple of weeks.

No, that's why you can see
big group down the mountains;

Darwin is here mean
that he don't like to share.

So what do you think
what's up to Darwin now?

Where is he... what's his plans?

Does he just kind of go up and
down and try to avoid the main

group the whole time?

Yes.

There's no real plan that
you think he's after today.

Also, their plan, if you
see male doing like that,

it mean that's he
needed to be on higher end.

To be able to steal a female?

Yes.

Because he won't do that if
he is in low rank like number

seven and like that,
he won't do that.

So we are going to leave Darwin.

With Darwin fully occupied by
his fig tree and the female,

it's time to move on.

We just news from the
truckers that they found the

main group.

It's quite far from here
high up in the mountains.

So we need to take a boat to
go around to an easier place to

launch from.

We are on the boat now just to
go around to the next beach,

but I expect this is going
to be a very hard hike.

We go there, right here.

We will start from here to find
the trail behind this camp to

head up into the hills.

The main group of chimps has
been spotted even further up the

mountain.

Jean and the crew have to start
again at beach level and they

have a long, tough
climb ahead of them.

So M-group is by far the most
dominant group in Mahale and it

seemed like there is a lot of
politics at play inside this

M-group.

Yeah.

That might make this a little
bit unstable for the rest of the

group as well.

The alpha male lose his
power, mean that if he gets

sick, and then others
number two, he can take that

opportunity to hit him badly.

Now in-charge is Primus
and then I hope Darwin or Orion,

he would take over.

Is this kind of behavior
everyday type of things?

Are we likely to see?

Any time it can happen.

So we can expect
some excitement.

Exactly!

The hike is a tough one -
steep, rocky and they have to go

through a lot of brush.

But after two hours,
the hard work pays off.

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We just found the main group
after a grueling hike up this

mountain, and this is primus,
the alpha male that's lying in

front of me here.

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Primus, the alfa male, is
clutching an enviable prize,

the carcass of a colobus monkey.
It's more than the little ones

can resist.

Look, look, look.

Oh, dropped it.

?

He had a piece of meat, what
looks like a Colobus monkey,

a red colobus and a young infant
basically took it from him.

That created a bit of a
commotion between the infants.

red colobus
monkeys.

And it was interesting to see
the two infants fight down up in

the trees and there was a
mother sitting down here almost

shouting instructions
up to them to stop it,

stop it, stop it, but eventually
she went up and then it got all

out of hand and then suddenly
Alofu appeared who is the second

ranking male to come and
sort out all this trouble.

?

It's quite common for
chimpanzees to eat meat and it's

kind of a delicacy for them.

They really like it, but very
hard to obtain because it's

generally red colobus monkeys
that they would catch and these

monkeys are very nimble up in
the high canopy where obviously

chimpanzees struggle
to move around so fast,

so it's a massive team effort
and a hunting party that will

go out and chase all these
colobus high up into the canopy,

and yes, with a lot
of aggression, and

movement and shaking of bushes,
maybe one of them will fall

and they will catch
them on the ground.

?

For now, the excitement
seems to be over.

Jean du Plessis is on his
second day of his quest to find

the M-group of chimpanzees

in the Mahale Mountains
National Park.

After a difficult hike, Jean
and head Greystoke guide Mwiga

Mambo have found the core group
that includes the ranking males

high up in the mountains.

And they've located Primus,
the Alpha male who Mwiga says is

also the most unstable.

Who's the most
aggressive in the group?

Primus and Orion.

Right.

These guys are crazy.

Primus is alpha male now,
and he like fighting a lot.

Primus is alpha male now,
and he like fighting a lot.

Because he has a bad
behavior, most of the chimps,

they don't like him.

That's why you can see
he will use like a force.

Yeah.

Maybe one years to come
he will lose his power.

And who is the... who do you
think will be coming up next?

It could be Darwin because
he did such good things,

and Orion.

Who is the oldest
chimpanzee in the group?

It's Kalunde.

Right.

He is 55 years old.

Kalunde, he is kingmaker.

Right.

If he decided to support you,
most of majority of chimps,

they are going to listen to
him, and then they are going to

support.

So who is he supporting now?

Who, who is he...?

Now, he is working
with Alofu many time,

so seems like he needed to
support Alofu to resume his

position.

And he has been alfa?

Yeah he was alfa male
in 1991 for 1 year only.

Okay.

Why do you hope that
Darwin would become alpha?

Because he has a
lot of support also,

even Alofu, he supports him
and then a lot of females also,

they like him.

He is peaceful,
but Orion is angry.

He wants to take
over from number one.

So when he do that, he
convinced the female, the female

agree and then he is
going to those number three,

four, and five.

When they agree, they are
going to try to challenge the

alpha male.

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Oh, man!

Sitting in between a group of
ranking males and females and it

is quiet a time for the time
being where they are grooming

each other.

It shows respect and strengthen
bonds between individuals.

It's quite amazing that I can
just sit here... and I kind of

wonder if they just view us as
another primate species that

live side by side to them and
don't have any negative effect

on them.

?

After spending time with the
chimps, it's time for Jean to

move on.

But all the difficult
hiking has paid off.

Jean's had a chance to observe
the chimp's dynamic social

structure up close.

It's always in constant change
as lower ranking males vie to

move up in the hierarchy.

Perhaps, not so different from
the way human societies work.

Now Jean heads back to
the Greater Serengeti.

He's heading to Lake Natron
in the Great Rift Valley.

Here, in the shadow of the
sacred Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano

is the centre of
the Maasai Culture.

The Serengeti plains is known
for it's relatively undisturbed

ecosystem, it's rich wildlife,
and the wildebeest migration.

But it is also one of the key
places where our species, homo

sapiens evolved.

We know that hominids have lived
in the Serengeti for a long

time, but a recent discovery
on the shores of Lake Natron is

helping rewrite the
story of modern humans.

Now this looks like
an adult, maybe

a bit smaller.

Yeah, it's a baby.

Yeah, I've got a few
sets of footprints here,

seems like these people
were walking from over there,

going down this way, and
they were all walking barefoot.

In Southern Serengeti or more
in the Ngorongoro Conservation

Area, there is
another set of footprints,

those are called the footprints
of Laetoli, that's the -

the oldest proof of walking on
two legs and that humanoid was

called homo-erectus.

These footprints provide a
link to humanity's distant past,

but the area around Lake Natron
and the Eastern side of the

Serengeti is currently home
to the Maasai.

This series of footprints are
referred to as the Ngare Sero

Footprints, and it's very
interesting because it's the

oldest footprints of the homo
sapiens in East Africa dating

back to a 120,000 years.

The significance of these
footprints are that it's a clear

indication that modern day homo
sapiens lived in this area for

a very long time, even a little
bit longer then what was

originally thought.

The Maasai settled in the
Serengeti around the15th century

and developed a very distinct
culture that they have held onto

in spite of pressures
from the modern world.

Little has changed in their
lifestyle or culture in that

time.

They are still a tribe of
semi-nomadic pastoralists.

There are two things that define
life for the Maasai-their

cattle and their
spiritual beliefs.

The Maasai believe in a single
God who influences their daily

life.

And there are a number of places
around the Greater Serengeti

that they consider sacred.

The most sacred is Ol Doinyo
Lengai an active volcano that

the Maasai believe is their God.

Ol Doinyo Lengai is very famous.

Two years ago, we've had
really trouble with dry season.

Many, many cattle
died around here,

also Kenya.

So I saw Maasai from Kenya,
they are joining with the Maasai

an old man or an old woman
in this place and they joined

together and they make a
safari in about two days,

they went to the top.

And then it started raining.

Yeah, I mean it was about
after that few months coming,

it's raining and we
have a big rain right now.

Yes.

According to the Peter, some of
these families actually packed

up and they left the area
altogether in fear of bigger

eruptions.

So do you think people were
doing something wrong to make

the god angry?

Yeah, it's a big, big
eruption until people,

they moved from the same
place to another place.

Where did the ash go?

It goes to Ngorongoro direction.

The ash from Lengai gets
picked up by the wind.

It's this nutrient rich ash from
these volcanoes that constantly

replenishes the Serengeti.

In one area, the ash has
collected into a sand dune.

It is one of the
Massai's sacred sites.

I'm heading to the shifting
sands which is one of very few

sacred places to the Massai
tribe and it's out here on

extremely barren terrain.

The area I am in is inside the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Massai live here for
a couple of hundred years.

It's a great example of the
way people and wildlife can live

side-by-side.

The Massai traditionally
are not hunters,

so they are a prime example of a
tribe that can live in harmony

with wildlife.

There's quite a few
Massai sheep herds around.

Jean arrives at the
Massai sacred site and finds

a welcoming committee.

There's different kind of
greetings for men and women

in Massai.

The language is called Maa and
they say different things when

you greet a woman
or younger woman,

older woman, or different
age set of male as well.

Massai culture is patriarchal
and sharply divided along gender

lines.

?

The Massai take Jean to
see the sacred sand dune.

The sand dune was created by
a volcanic eruption out of Ol

Doinyo Lengai that's off in
that direction and has now been

moving downwind in approximately
25 meters every year.

There's definitely some
magnetic qualities to the sand

that keeps it sticking together.

Here you can see the sand
falling over on itself and this

is essentially just
a normal sand dune,

made up out of volcanic ash that
have some magnetic qualities

that kind of keep it together a
little bit and it just keeps on

falling over on itself
like this.

It's pretty cool.

These shifting sands have some
religious value to the Massai

tribe and it's believed that
if a woman cannot conceive that

they need to come and sleep in
this vortex and that will help

them to become pregnant.

?

The women are raised to
become wives and mothers and
the men

are Massai warriors.

These roles have been in place
since the Massai settled here

in the 15th century.

Wildlife Expert and Safari
Guide Jean du Plessis is at Lake

Natron in the Great Rift Valley.

It's the cultural centre
of the Massai People.

I'm at the Warden Safari's Lake
Natron camp and this is Mwengi

who is going to be
my Massai guide.

?

These cows have now been taken
out into the field by the young

boys who are called Layoni where
they will go to pastures and

just be out there for the whole
day and be led back around six

o'clock in the evening.

The Massai men are
warriors called Morani.

I always wonder what is
the responsibility of the Morani

because 50 years ago, there was
a lot more trouble with maybe

lions and other tribes and
things like that and then the

Morani were like the warriors
and they were protecting the

tribe.

But today there is not so much
trouble with warfare and you

don't need to go and
catch and steal cows.

So what does the
Morani do these days?

The function of Morani now to
do it is only to look for their

peace and love for their
community and also to make their

cows to be somewhere which
has enough grass or enough food

and enough water.

I find that very interesting
what you say is like now the new

function of them is to make sure
that there is peace and love in

the community.

Yeah.

Yeah, but of course, in the same
way it's also protecting the

culture.

Yeah.

So yeah, I think that's great.

This enclosure here
seems to be where they are

keeping the goats.

Yeah -

The baby goats.

What's interesting is that it's
a mini representation of how the

main Massai houses are being
constructed where they take the

branches from a Cordia tree and
then packing it with dung all

the way up the walls and even
on the inside and then they will

smoothen it out with mud on
the inside to give the nice,

red ochre type of look.

Besides all the modern
technology that surround the

Massai tribe, they still
choose to live in these very

traditional houses in a very
traditional lifestyle and I mean

you might have a watch and a
cell phone but you still-

That's one of those things that
I always admire about Massai is

they clung on to their culture.

Yeah.

It's really nice.

In spite of their
reputation as warriors,

the Massai are not hunters.

Their traditional diet includes
meat from the animals they

raise.

They also drink raw
cow blood and milk.

The Morani are going to draw
some blood from a cow's neck and

these are special tools that
they use to kind of get the

blood out.

It's like an arrow
that they shoot in.

Okay. Is that still really a
big part of the Massai diet?

Yeah.

Okay.

Sure.

The major part you think?

Yeah.

You cut it.

Yeah, that's very sharp.

It looks like a young one.

There's a little kid
with the calabash.

That's what they carry
the blood in.

Yeah.

So how much blood you
take from them?

We don't take much.

Okay.

They now are going to take this
calabash and get some fresh milk

in there.

So what if you don't
stir it, it goes hard,

it goes solid?

Oh, boy!

You definitely need to be born
in this culture to appreciate

that.

Lactose and protein intolerant.

How is it?

Just like coffee.

It's like coffee.

Sure.

I don't see my name on here.

Try getting this at Starbucks.

?

Jean is heading to the
Ngorongoro crater highlands
where Myzgio

Tented camp works with the local
Massai to give tourists some

insight into their traditions.

The Massai's semi-nomadic
lifestyle allows their

livestock to thrive despite
the relatively dry climate.

But the landscape provides other
economic opportunities as well.

The traditional role of the
warriors used to be to enrich

the tribe and that used to take
on the form of going at war with

your neighboring clans and
stealing their cows and in these

modern days, that's obviously
frowned upon a little bit.

So the more modern way to
do that is to get cash from

tourists and it's basically
just the evolution of the tribe.

Tourism is now a major source
of revenue for the Massai.

But the Massai don't
often open their homesteads.

Instead they use elements of
their traditions to create

attractions for the tourists.

Jean is at a
recreation of an Opul.

It's a ceremony involving a
feast of meat that is only for

the men.

A traditional Opul will take
place away from the village and

last two or three days.

Today we got a message that
you are coming so we prepare our

traditional food.

Normally our traditional food
is meat and milk and blood.

We took the blood without
killing from the neck of the

cow.

In a lot of ways the saving
grace for wildlife in Tanzania

is the fact that Massai can live
side by side with wild animals

and the reason is because it's
just not in their tradition to

kill wild animals for food where
most other tribes in Tanzania

will do that but
all of these areas,

that's boundary in Massai
village land is safe where one

can still go quality game
viewing as well, 'cause Massai

are not killing the
wild animals.

So why is that the Massai's
never went like other tribes

where they would hunt wildlife?

That's a good question.

You know the Massai
people, we believe in God,

one God for
everyone in the world,

white people, black people.

So our beliefs tell us that
we have a very special gift

coming from God as animals.

We are herd people.
We keep livestock;

cows, goat, sheep.

So Massai never
eat wild animals?

We never eat any game meat.

You can taste the barbeque here.

It'd be nice with
a bit of chili sauce,

but the chief here
say, not allowed;

only meat, no salt, no
chili, just like that,

and it's actually pretty good.

Okay, it's very goaty.

These Massai warriors who are
called Morani are now starting

to prepare a soup that's made
from boiled up goat intestines.

Nobody, the Massai people we
never use the soup without the

herbs and the herbs coming
from the different plants.

Enjoying an early evening snack.

Do you guys really eat this?

No?

Containing a lot of stomach
lining and heart and lung.

Wildlife Expert and Safari
Guide Jean du Plessis has been
getting

up close to both chimpanzees and
humans in his exploration of the

changing face of hominid
life on the Serengeti.

Humans lived here from

as far back as 30,000
to 40,000 years.

Now he's up early to survey the
landscape from above and to look

back even further.

Hominids have been living on the
Serengeti plains for millions of

years.

In fact, not too far from where
I am standing now are the famous

footsteps of Laetoli which date
back three million years and

those are the earliest form or
signs of humans walking on two

legs.

Since then up until now,
humans have utilized this great

wildlife expanse.

From Australopithecus to Homo
Sapiens, they all share the

common trait of walking
on two legs.

But it is the privilege
of humans alone to

survey this land from above,
to understand its past,

and, hopefully to
protect its future.

This morning we are taking to
the sky in this hot air balloon

to get a little bit of a new
perspective of this beautiful

countryside.

?

Okay, we are flying along the
Seronera Valley and this valley

collects water from open area
and takes that water to Grumeti

River.

Interesting seeing
this area from the air,

wondering how much has changed
over the last three million

years since homo-erectus
actually took his first steps.

I actually expect that it looked
a lot different here before the

eruption of Ngorongoro where
this massive ash cloud fell over

here and that's what gives this
area this great characteristic

of these open plains.

It's debatably hundreds of
meters of thick ash that covered

all these valleys.

I'm trying to follow the river.

?

Yeah, it's amazing up here.

Don't think we'll be doing
canoeing in this river.

Just flew over two
male lions, beautiful,

clearly the dominant
pair of this area.

Very undeterred by the balloons.

?

These open plains are not really
that conducive to the way humans

want to live.

Even though there's a huge
amount of game in the wet season

and in the dry season, it's
extremely barren and there's

very little to eat for anything,
from hominid all the way through

to predators.

So I would think that the area
was much more ideal for humans

to live and evolve prior to the
eruption of Ngorongoro crater.

?

These river systems
are like lifelines.

The Serengeti is a
remarkable feat of nature.

It was born in a catastrophic
eruption of the Ngorongoro

volcano millions of years
ago, creating lush plains that

sustain an incredible
range of wildlife.

It's where our distant ancestors
walked and evolved as part of a

self sustaining ecosystem where
every creature from the smallest

insect to the massive bull
elephant plays their unique

part.

It's the site of the world's
greatest mass migration of land

animals.

It's a window into what the
world looks like when it's in

balance.

How nature, humans and wildlife
can coexist and live in harmony,

as it was meant to be.

This is the Serengeti.