| The area between Singida and the Irangi Hills contains one of the world's finest collections of prehistoric rock paintings, with an estimated 1600 individual paintings at almost two hundred different sites, the most accessible of which are in the Irangi Hills north of Kondoa. The most recent date from just a century or two ago, but the oldest are estimated to be between 19,000 and 30,000 years old, ranking them among the world's most ancient examples of human artistic expression. |
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| KAOLE RUINS |
| Kaole ruins are located about 5 km to the south of bagamoyo town. The ruins dating back to the 12 century include two mosques, one with a well and over 20 tombs. All the buildings, including a house, were built in carved coral stone blocks. In 15th century Kaole town was attacked by Portuguese and forced into decline. Today Kaole ruins are surrounded by fishing and farming villages. |
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| ISMILA STONE AGE SITE |
| Stone Age tools were discovered here in 1951. Many fossilized bones were also found in the area, among them those of a mammal related to the modern giraffe, but having a much shorter neck, and extinct hippopotamus with unusual periscope-like projections. |
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ENGARUKA RUINS |
| Mysterious ruins of complex irrigation systems span the area around Engaruka, the remnants of a highly developed but unknown civilisation that inhabited the area at least 500 years ago and then vanished without a trace. |
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MIKINDANI |
| Another central port in the Swahili Coast’s network of Indian Ocean trade, in the 15th century Mikindani’s reach extended as far as the African hinterlands of the Congo and Zambia. The area became a centre of German colonial administration in the 1880s and a chief exporter of sisal, coconuts, and slaves. |
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| NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA |
| Humans and their distant ancestors have been part of Ngorongoro’s landscape for millions of years. The earliest signs of mankind in the Conservation Area are at Laetoli, where hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years old. The story continues at Olduvai Gorge, a river canyon cut 100 m deep through the volcanic soil of the Serengeti Plains. Buried in the layers are the remains of animals and hominids that lived and died around a shallow lake amid grassy plains and woodlands. These remains date from two million years ago. Visitors can learn more details of this fascinating story by visiting the site, where guides give a fascinating on-site interpretation of the gorge. |
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