45 000 years ago, west of modern day Tarifa, Spain. Ug, Una and their first born son Og sat under a rock overhang to shelter from the strengthening autumn winds. They were forced to flee south after Ug unsuccessfully challenged Ag for the leadership of the southron Neanderthal tribe. Although Ug was bigger and stronger than Ag with vastly superior spear skills, Ug had not expected Ahn to side with Ag, he was lucky to get away with only a gash to his forearm. He fled into the darkness with Una following him carrying Og as they were chased by their blood thirsty pursuers up until the river. Here Ug guided them on a secret trail to a river crossing formed by a fallen moss covered pine tree, a trail their pursuers did not know. Ug remembered the shelter from last winter’s mammoth hunt, but Ug was worried, winter was coming and the mammoths were not migrating south and although bitterly cold, there was no snow. Ug wanted to tell Una that the world they knew was changing he knew this by instinct not by reason. He wanted to tell her but his species had not yet learnt to speak he could only communicate by a series of grunts and crude gestures, he took out his frustrations on Una by hitting her on her sloping forehead. Una was used to his outbursts knowing that he was the kindest of all the Neanderthal males in their tribe, she knew it would end soon and it did and Ug stormed away from the shelter with his loping gait disappearing into the darkness of the night. Ug climbed up the cliff face his thoughts were preoccupied with their future, they needed to join another tribe, and their survival depended on it. They could not hunt a mammoth on their own, this was a task that needed at least 10 adult males and no mammoth kill meant a very bleak winter, no meat for food and no furs to shield them from the cold. At the top of the cliff Ug stared out across the ocean contemplating his own, his mates and sons future when he spotted a glow on the opposite African shores some 15 km away. Ug wondered what this glow was, what he didn’t know was that he was looking upon the fires of a new species, Homo Sapiens, a superior species that knew how to control and use fire. A species that could communicate, that could coordinate their actions and plan their future, a species that in the next 5000 years would occupy and dominate the entirety of Europe and the planet. They would not only dominate their Neanderthal cousins but replace them. Ug was right to be concerned, in 20 000 years his species would be extinct and these smaller but more intelligent Homo Sapiens from Africa would be the most resourceful and resilient species that ever lived on planet Earth So when you ride your bike through the Cradle of Humankind look at the landscape through your modern eyes and imagine what it was like some 3,5 million years ago when three different hominid species roamed the plains between the Witwatersberg and Magiliesberg mountains. Think upon the fact that it was only 10 km south of the start that we have found evidence of the earliest controlled use of fire at Swartkrans. A technology discovered and mastered first by Homo Hablis some 1,3 million years ago, a technology that helped us to explore the mysterious moon that was Ug’s only source of light in the dark nights of Europe. But even closer, in fact 200m from the start line is evidence of an ancient hunting ground of Homo Hablis, the toolmaker, a veritable gathering place for the annual hunt dating back some 500 000 years ago. Better still why don’t you take some time out after your race to visit and view the displays in the underground attraction and see where we come from, discover your origins after all Maropeng means the place where I come from, a place of origin. See you at the start!
