Recently I had a chance to sit down and talk about our upcoming 2018 Incredible Africa by Private Jet trip with my fascinating co-host, anthropologist Donald Johanson, and found his enthusiasm for the continent just as impressive as his landmark discovery of the hominid fossil ‘Lucy.’ This video captures the highlights of our conversation.
Play Video: A Conversation with Donald Johanson
Since discovering the hominid fossil ‘Lucy’ in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 1974, Donald Johanson has returned to Africa many times, and remains captivated by its singular diversity of habitats, cultures, and wildlife. He believes that being in Africa, more than any other continent, inspires a unique opportunity to reflect on who we are, where we have come from, and what responsibilities we carry as the most dominant creature on earth.
The Importance of the Great Rift Valley
He highlighted the significance of the Great Rift Valley, which forms a significant portion of our journey by private jet, noting that the massive geological structure samples a great length of time and latitudes, making it a laboratory for understanding the diversity of life in the past, the diversity there is today, and how we as humans have evolved and interact with our varied environments.
“People who come on this trip will return very changed. I think they’ll understand their place in the natural world better than before, and they will have visited their homeland” -Donald Johanson
The first version of this article was posted on 8 Jan 2018 at 1:14 PM.
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