Today marks your arrival in Johannesburg, South Africa where you will proceed straight through to South Africa’s flagship fossil landscape: The Cradle of Humankind.

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But first, welcome to Jozi – our multi-faceted city of Johannesburg.  ​Truly cosmopolitan, Johannesburg has a bit of it all – forested city, trees and concrete, urban, industrial and corporate trade, culture, entertainment, heritage sites, modern architecture, academics, the street-wise, and inhabitants from every corner of Africa, both poor and incredibly wealthy.

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You'll head straightaway to your accommodations, a lovely guesthouse nestled right in the Cradle of Humankind itself. Once settled, you'll enjoy a welcome dinner out with your fellow participants.

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Accommodation: Kromdraai Guest House, shared room.

Meals: Welcome Dinner

Rise and shine for your first day working at Kromdraai Cave at the Cradle of Humankind. We'll kick off our first day on-site  working alongside Prof José Braga who will provide insight into the workings of Kromdraai – a fundamental requirement for comprehending the diverse stages of the excavation process.

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Under his supervision, your 6 days of work in the field will encompass everything from excavating fossils to sampling and sieving sediments, meticulous cleaning, and learning about theodolite and photogrammetric measuring.

All participants who join this dig will be hands-on during the six days of excavation. Kromdraai is very rich in fossils and as a result, each participant has a 100% chance of finding hominid and/or animal fossils with a high potential for discovering significant specimens

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Read an article about what the Cradle of Humankind Human Origins Dig is like and see for yourself! 

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Your daily tasks will include:

• Excavation work takes place each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a 1-hour lunch break.

• Each participant is equipped with all tools needed, including a trowel, brush, shovel and bucket

• Fossils found in situ are carefully located using a laser theodolite to record the exact location of all finds.

• All removed sediment will be sieved to make sure that no fossils have been missed.

• You will also be invited to work in the on-site fossil preparation laboratory to sort and clean the finds made during the excavation. 

Accommodation: Kromdraai Guest House​

Meals: All Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners 

• Top Finds: Homo erectus, Australopithecus, Paranthropus robustus type specimen for the genus Paranthropus, P. boisei, large carnivores.

• Period: Early Quaternary (Pleistocene)

The Kromdraai archaeological site is one of the most prolific hominin-bearing sites in South Africa—and one of the most important. Here, some of the earliest known members of our human genus, as well as other closely related creatures referred to as paranthropines have been uncovered. This is a genus of extinct hominin which contains two widely accepted species: P. robustus and P. boisei. To date, almost 29 hominin specimens have been found, as well as bone/stone tools, and over 6,000 fossil assemblages of animals such as carnivores, antelopes, and birds. And indeed, to this day, Kromdraai continues to yield fossils.

As you work on this excavation, you will find it is akin to opening a time capsule that dates back around 2.3 million years, providing a glimpse into a period roughly 23,000 centuries ago during the Early Quaternary.

How you will contribute to science and why Kromdraai is important to researchers:

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As a UNESCO site, Kromdraai is deemed important for the protection and preservation of its cultural and natural heritage and is considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. In essence, Kromdraai belongs to everyone. Your work and financial contribution is essential to supporting the site and local initiatives, including by promoting employment for residents during the excavations.

The archaeological findings at Kromdraai are helping researchers to answer several intriguing questions. Firstly, the aim is to unravel the factors that set our human ancestors apart and made them distinct within the evolutionary timeline. Additionally, the investigation will reveal climatic shifts and other influences that might shed light on the emergence of the first humans during that ancient period.

On Friday evening, you'll take a much needed weekend break! We'll be driving two hours to Pilanesberg National Park, right in the midelst of it all at the Bakubung Bush Lodge.​​ Over the course of the weekend, you'll enjoy two game drives for your chance to spot the Big 5 of South Africa.

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Saturday afternoon is at your leisure (spa treatment, anyone?), followed by the ultimate South African experience: a boma/bush braai dinner.. 

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Sunday afternoon, we'll leave drive back to the Kromdraai Guest House to get ready for a even more time at the Cradle- this time at the world-renowned Sterkfontein Caves! 

Accommodation: Bakubung Lodge—Standard Room

Meals: All Breakfasts and Dinners; Saturday Lunch is on your own. 

Week two takes you to the incredible deep history of Sterkfontein Cave. Here, you'll be working under the close guidance of Prof. Matt Caruana, where you'll start out with an underground, in-depth tour of the dark and mysterious Sterkfontein Cave system, and learn about the cave's geology and paleontology. You'll see where famous hominid fossils were found, including Mrs. Ples and the Silberberg Grotto where work continues at the site where the almost complete Australopithecus fossil called Little Foot was unearthed.

Your time at Sterkfontein will be spent preparing fossils and sorting microfauna. This important work contributes to the collections, documentation and taphonomy identification process of monkey, antelope carnivore and hominid fossils. It also adds to our knowledge of the creatures that called this site home over the millennia. You'll also enjoy a lesson in stone tool knapping! Prof Caruana will bring materials and fun to show how our ancestors used the materials at hand to create the stone tools that were used to hunt and prepare food. 

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Your daily tasks will include:

• Work takes place each day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a 1-hour lunch break.

• Sorting microfauna found at the site.

• Preparing fossils from the site.

• ​Labwork including taphonomy identification process and documentation.

• Each participant is equipped with all tools and training needed.

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Details about excavation at Sterkfontein can be found here.

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Accommodation:  Kromdraai Guest House​

Meals: All Breakfasts, Lunches and DInners included.

• Top Finds:  Australopithecus, early Homo and Paranthropus, including the Australopithecus africanus specimens known as Mrs. Ples and Little Foot. ​

• Period: Early Quaternary (Pleistocene)

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The Sterkfontein Caves is one of the world’s richest fossil sites, with more fossils of early hominids than any other site on Earth. The hominids found here date back more than 4 million years and are the precursors of modern humans, the Homo sapiens. Sterkfontein has also yielded over 9,000 stone artefacts that are about 2-million years old, which are the oldest dated stone tools in Southern Africa. 

Researchers have concluded that this landscape played host to the birth of humanity. Studies here help us to understand the earliest ancestors of the human race, giving us an insight into how man and nature have existed and changed over millions of years.

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How you will contribute to science:

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By joining this current excavation, your work will add to the more than 500 hominid finds made thus far at Sterkfontein.

You will be working under the supervision of the paleontologists, but the tasks associated with working on an excavation can involve certain risks.

Although the distances are not long, you will be required to walk about .5 mile slightly uphill to reach the Kromdraai site, therefore the ability to walk this distance on a daily basis is required. Sterkfontein Caves has a series of steps to enter and exit. Although the cave is well-lit, you will need to crouch and walk on uneven cave surfaces for tours and activities. Excavation work in general may involve difficult conditions, uneven terrain, unanticipated natural hazards, use of digging equipment, and manual labor. A general level of fitness is necessary for excavations, and calls for walking up and down steps and inclines, kneeling, filling and carrying buckets of soil and stones. All outdoor activities are subject to the weather. 

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Kromdraai and Sterkfontein are at an altitude of 1470 meters, with a temperate climate with cool evenings. Please bring: 

• Comfortable clothes for the excavation.​

• Hiking or work boots

• Work/gardening gloves 

• Sun hat

• Sunscreen

• Camera

• Notebook

• Civil and medical liability insurance.

Your time excavating at The Cradle is complete and today brings a change of scenery as we depart for Johannesburg. We'll start the day with a visit to University of the Witwatersrand, the academic hub of palaeo studies in South Africa.

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Today will be spent at the iconic Evolutionary Studies Institute at WITS University where you'll meet up with Dr. Bernhard Zipfel, University Curator of Fossils and Rock Collections for a tour of the center’s fossil hominin collection. You’ll be introduced to the history of the collections and have the privilege of seeing  some of the world’s most important hominin fossils with an exclusive introduction to “The Vault.” These include the original Taung Skull-holotype of Australopithecus africanus (arguably the world’s most valuable fossil), selected specimens  from Sterkfontein eg. Little Foot, Malapa (Australopithisus sediba) and Rising Star (Homo naledi).

You'll break for a lunch together at the WITS Club's Olives & Plates Restaurant, whimsical and cozy, it's the perfect spot to enjoy the gourmet dining options along with your colleagues and WITS University researchers. 

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The afternoon is spent on a guided tour of the Origins Centre Museum – home to ancient stone tools and artefacts and visually striking rock art – led by Dr Tammy Hodgskiss, curator of the museum.

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Tonight you're off to your final accommodations in the heart of Sandton, right at Nelson Mandela Square. 

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Accommodation:  DaVinci Hotel, Sandton

Meals: Breakfast and Farewell Lunch. Dinner is on your own. 

On your final day together, it's time explore Johannesburg! After breakfast, You'll head to Soweto, where you will enjoy a unique drive through the back streets of Soweto on a tuk tuk tour. Soweto is an important hub of South African history, where apartheid, gold and Nobel Peace Prize winners all played an important part. ​​​​​​

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We'll enjoy other sights, ,sounds and food in the city today before heading back to Sandton. 

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Accommodation:  DaVinci Hotel, Sandton

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch. Dinner on your own. 

On this, your final morning, we'll have breakfast and then check out and transfer to the airport or other destinations.

There's so much more to see! If you opt to extend your visit to a vacation to experience more of Africa’s finest. The Cape Peninsula area has a newly designated route called the Cradle of Human Culture which includes archaeological sites and cultural stopping points. And of course, a trip to South Africa isn't complete without enjoying the beautiful city of Cape Town, the Kruger’s Big 5, the Garden Route, the Kalahari Desert. or anything else you have in mind! We are happy to assist with further travel plans to suit your interest. 

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Meals: Breakfast