Journey to Kenya, and the cradle of man

To the Turkana people it is Anam Ka’alakol, the Sea of Many Fish. To most Kenyans it is Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake, in the badlands of the northern frontier. To generations of hominid fossil hunters, it is simply where it all began.

Picture the Mediterranean transplanted to a Martian landscape, and you’ll get an inkling of the intense, brooding beauty of Lake Turkana, whipped by winds, pounded by a jack-hammer sun and bounded by folds of pink volcanic rock. At 250km…