At two o'clock in the morning on 19th July 2004, 38 Young Explorers, with nine Leaders arrived at their camp site in the shadow of Longido some one hundred kilometres to the east of Ol Doinyo Lengai. 

These Young Explorers were a BSES expedition who would walk across the savannah on the floor of the Rift Valley to Ol Doinyo Lengai then climb its steep flanks before trekking across the Crater Highlands to mankind's birthplace at Oldupai Gorge on the edge of the Serengeti plains.

Young Explorers

Since our safari to northern Tanzania and The Mountain of God in the summer of 2004, many of the Young Explorers have found places in University and some will visit other fascinating parts of the world.  I hope that this page will help us all keep in contact and look forward to information from you as you journey through life.

If you are a Young Explorer that was on the safari to Tanzania in 2004, and your name is not listed below, or you wish to update your information, please contact Hugh (HughA64@AOL.com) and pass on your details.

Science Report

Science Report from the Geoscience and Survey Fires involved in the BSES Expedition to the Ol Doinyo Lengai region of Tanzania in July and August 2004.

Geoscience Fire Leader      Ewan Laws

Survey Fire Leader             Hugh Anderson

Megan's Story ...

After a 6 hour, torch-light accent we were lost for words by the sight that met us, a white lunar landscape highlighted by the black streaks of new solidified lava. As we crossed the crater floor, which cracked like ice and crushed like snow, the drumming and swishing sounds of magma filled our ears like the continuous drums of Mordour.  Theses were our first steps on the summit of Ol Doinyo Lengai ...

BSES Expeditions 2004 Annual Report

The official BSES Expeditions Report for the Tanzania, Iceland and Svalbard expeditions.

To view this file you will require Acrobat Reader.  If you do not already have a copy, visit the Acrobat site to download the version for your operating system.

David wins prize in the Young Navigators' Competition

David’s entry for the Annual Young Navigators’ Competition run by The Royal Institute of Navigation won him a day out at RAF Cranwell, including a flight.

Digital Terrain Model Survey of Ol Doinyo Lengai Crater

Both the Survey and Geosciences Fires were involved in measuring points in the crater of Ol Doinyo Lengai to create a Digital Terrain Model (DTM). The points used to create a DTM of the crater were measure in 3D using a Leica TPS1205 Total Station. The Young Explorers measured over 3000 points to provide the raw data for modelling the crater, from three Instrument Stations. The survey data was processed in LSS to create the 3D model of the crater floor and hornitos with the ability to dynamically view the data.  LSS is a survey mapping software provided by the McCarthy Taylor Partnership in Birdlip, Gloucestershire (www.mccarthytaylor.com).

Differential GPS Measurements for Gravity Survey

A primary science activity for the Survey Fire was to provide accurate height information for a Gravity Meter Survey to be conducted by the Geosciences Fire.  In the event, both Fires worked together on this project. The most important consideration was the required accuracy of height measurements. The Gravity meter measures the pull of gravity and the last count on the dial is equivalent to a mere 0.03m in height so we needed to achieve relative heights between successive gravity reading of better than 0.1m with 0.03m as the goal. 

Geomatics and the Mountain of God

This article was published in Geomatics World  Issue No 2 : January/February 2005 : Volume 13

Geomatics World  January/February 2005

Young Explorers survey Tanzanian volcano -  Ol Doinyo Lengai

Issue 52 of The Reporter, the magazine for Leica Geosystems, featured this article, which tells the story of the BSES expedition to northern Tanzania in July and August 2004.  This expedition used Leica GPS500 and TPS700 and TPS1200 reflectorless Total Stations to carry out some of the science activities.

Map of Northern Tanzania visited by the BSES Young Explorers

Map with images of the Gregory Rift and Crater Highlands visited by the Young Explorers on a five week BSES expedition during July and August 2004. 

Four short videos from the summits of Ol Doinyo Lengai and Kerimasi

Four video extracts from video taken during the 2004 BSES expedition to Ol Doinyo Lengai and surrounding regions.

Each video is 5 Mb so may take some time to load.