Running free at the savannah, a journey back in time

Lucy, an Australopithecus wakes up in Ethiopia, attracted by the fresh smell of a carcass, which could be an easy meal opportunity… 3,2 million years later, Carry, an Homo Sapiens, is running by a carcass too, it’s a Cape Buffalo, while she is disgusted by the smell, she appreciates the uniqueness of this precious experience...

"It is an amazing connection to nature; an amazing sense of another time, perhaps…"

Lucy takes advantage of the situation and eats the carcass as quickly as she can. She mostly eats plants and fruits, but she knows when to seize an opportunity. Lions, leopards and hyenas are the ones haunting her thoughts. She remains alert,  ears open, she is ready to flee at any time. 

Carry is still running, she does it for the fun, enjoying the exotic sounds of the savannah that makes her forget the noisy city where she is from. 

She does not fear predators. Through evolution the homo sapiens brain has grown to 1350 cubic centimeters, allowing them to cooperate between individuals very finely.  

“ I was never afraid that I would become prey. The race organisation takes every precaution, including tracking the predators for days before the race, so that there’s no chance of running into lions. “

However Lucy with her 430 cubic centimeters’ brain isn’t that great at organizing complex collaboration with her tribe. Thankfully she has the physical strength to climb up  trees to protect herself.

Lucy isn’t really her name, she was called this way by the excavation team who found her skeleton in 1974. They were used to listening loudly at the expedition camp to the song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles. If you asked Lucy, she would rather be called by  her Ethiopian’s name ‘Dinqnesh’ which means you are wonderful.

Lucy, besides her beautiful name, looks more like a chimpanzee than nowadays women. She is 1.10 meter tall  (3 ft 7 in), and weighs about 29 kg (64 lb). Nevertheless he capacity to walk on two feets, provided her with the ability to spot predators coming from far. 

In any case, Carrie believes in God, and that gives her inner peace:”I also was not afraid because I’m a believer. God is in control of my life. If it’s my day to die, it doesn’t matter if I’m in a game reserve surrounded by wild animals or driving down a city street and get hit by a car. If it’s my day, it’s my day. If it’s not my day, it’s not my day. 

I imagine paratroopers must have a similar attitude.”

Lucy can not really develop such complex thought, but already she is using tools that she manufactures by herself. These tools are a great help and allow her to diversify her diet. She uses them to cut pieces of meat out of a fresh kill, these tools are the finest example of adaptation that will drastically extend her chances of survival.

Carrie is not really into surviving, while she runs she is focused on keeping her pace. Like all other Homo Sapiens, she runs on two feet, and that gives her the great advantage of enjoying the view. During the marathon, she spotted two rhinoceros grazing peacefully on the savannah.

"The animals are absolutely amazing, awesome, inspiring, graceful, beautiful. To see them in their natural habitat reinforced the awe of nature."

Lucy sees them too. Several times per day she has to carefully walk away from these very territorial animals. The Rhinoceros are thriving here, they are so well adapted to their environment that they barely have any predators.

Carrie is smiling, she is fully aware of her chance to observe these great animals in their natural habitats. In the early twentieth century they were on the verge of extinction. Nowadays, programs of protection have allowed their population to grow, but they are still suffering from habitat loss and extensive poaching.

“ my disbelief and disgust that poachers slaughter them with no care; made it very personally tragic that many of them are on the verge of extinction. “

Running at the Savannah, where our ancestors used to live in harmony with their environment, makes us more conscious of the fragility of this equilibrium. 

"Being in the midst of the reserve, in some parts of the course mostly alone, really impresses upon you how great nature is; how big nature is; and what a little tiny speck a human being is on the planet; how small I am compared to the Savannah, the continent, the planet, the universe."

We, Homo Sapiens, have a role to play to preserve the beautiful diversity of our planet we are living in. Lucy is now remembered through the ages as a human-like ape,  thriving in the middle of the wildlife. We need to think to ourselves, how do we want to be remembered?

 "Every moment of the trip was filled with personal reflection on my place and time in the universe, what a small blip I am in the history of time in the universe."

A unique adventure in South Africa, The Big Five Marathon, just by putting you out of your comfort zone, is showing you the way to embrace a deeper reflection about the sense of life. As Marcel Proust would say, we often believe that the discovery is in the new landscapes, but is in fact, in having new eyes!

"It’s truly, truly an amazing experience."

Learn more about the Big Five Marathon on their website.