Recently I discovered the ‘Out of Eden’ walk from National Geographic. This walk virtually documents Paul Salopek’s 21,000-mile journey in which he walks the pathways of the first humans who migrated out of Africa. Every hundred miles Salopek records the landscape and a person that he meets. The documented journey has many different chapters with stories inside of each. In this blog post, I will highlight 3 interesting points from the walk I found and talk about how to utilize this virtual walk in the classroom.
Herto Bouri
The first milestone that Paul Salopek documents is Herto Bouri, Ethiopia.
Salopek interviews a person at every milestone. For this milestone, he talked to Idoli Mohamed. Mohamed is 40 years old and a pastoralist. He says he wants his sons to go to school and live a better life than he does.
In the panorama section of the page, you are able to move your mouse to see what Salopek saw. You can also turn on audio and hear what he heard. This really allows you to deeper explore the journey.
From Cairo to Mecca
The next point from Paul Salopek’s journey that I would like to highlight comes from Chapter 2: Holy Lands, milestone 15.
During this milestone, Salopek did not encounter anyone to interview so this just documents his surroundings.
I found this milestone interesting because it looked very peaceful. It was miles of desert and sand. Salopek was able to enjoy nature on this part of the walk. He classified this part as ‘the empty’ because there was no one around.
Azuram, Manipur, India
For the third point of the journey to highlight, I choose a more recent milestone. This took place on February 13, 2020, in Azuram, Manipur, India. This milestone is from Chapter 5 of his journey, which is still in progress. Pictures from this chapter really stuck out to me with their beauty.
Salopek quotes in an article about this portion of his journey, “Late last summer, I walked for nearly three months through the hills of northeastern India. They shimmered under the sun like the green velvet lining of a jewelry box. They held treasures of vanishing sound”. This really shows the beauty of what he was able to experience. Salopek’s pictures and words allow us to experience that same beauty as well.
Salopek also shares a beautiful walkthrough video.
Overall, this part of his journey was my favorite to explore because of the beautiful pictures and the vivid walkthrough of the journey he gave.
In the Classroom
The ‘Out of Eden’ walk can be used in the classroom as a virtual field trip. This allows students to go on the trip without leaving their classrooms. For younger students, the teacher can guide them through it together and explain everything but for older students, I think its best if they explore on their own. All students can reflect and tie into social studies lessons. Overall, I think it is great for people of all ages to take this amazing virtual journey with Paul Salopek.
Keep up with Paul Salopek and his latest milestones here.
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