our first day

Emerging from our tents this morning, we found ourselves confronted with a breathtaking view of the rift valley with the Gamo Highlands shimmering in the distance. It was slightly shocking to realize that there were houses where we thought was total darkness the night before and how close to the edge of the mountain we actually were. We walked down to the main camp area and assisted in setting up the research tent and organizing all of the supplies. We had noodles for breakfast/lunch then made our way down to the cave for the first time. Upon walking to the cave, we were struck by three thoughts –
1)the cave was much bigger than we expected
2)the cave was so beautiful! Especially with all the overhanging greenery and the trickling waterfall across the mouth
3)the overall wow factor – the sense that, yes, we really were here in Africa.

We spent the morning learning how to use the Total Station that we will be using for plotting artifacts and mapping the various stratigraphy levels and structures. In the afternoon we began the tedious task of removing the entire fill deposited at the end of the last dig season to protect the site.