In 2013 Paul Salopek began his journey, traveling in the paths of ancient migration patterns, titling it, The Out of Eden Walk. He documented his travels through writing, video, audio, and pictures. Every 100 miles he marks his recordings. In this post, I will discuss three of the locations Salopek documented.
Salopek began his journey in Africa, in the Ethiopian Rift. He provides a panorama view of his first milestone, showing a group of people, a vehicle, and the desert. Idoli Mohamed, an Afar pastoralist is the first encounter he writes about on his journey. He asks him three questions; who are you, where do you come from, and where are you going? Idoli answers he is a pastoralist however, he doesn’t want the same life for his children. He would prefer for his children to attend school. Idoli explains people say the Afar people are from Tadjoura, Djibouti. He says that if they can be educated they could go anywhere.
At every milestone, Salopek takes a picture of the earth and the sky. In his first milestone, he shows the pile of goat dung he stands on at mile 0 of his journey and the sky, showing how bright the sun is, describing it as a “blast furnace.” Even in the picture of the sky, it’s easy to see that there are very few clouds and there are no trees for shade. This shows how brutal the conditions are in the area.
On day 654 of his journey, Paul Salopek is near Mt. Subhan, Turkey. At this point, he has traveled 2600 miles. He wrote Mt. Subhan is an extinct volcano, “it’s cone arrowed 13,000 feet into space and was very stormy. You rarely saw the summit.” The panorama shows green grass-covered hills, their cargo horse, and his traveling partner. While there are some clouds that can be seen in his panorama, none are seen in his earth and sky picture, again showing how brutal the sun is.
Salopek encounters two young boys, Yusef (14) and Eyep (15). He asks the boys the same three questions; who are you, where are you from, where are you going? Eyep answers for both of them, they are cousins from Turkey, he wants to be a teacher and Yusef wants to become a geological engineer.
Milestone 74: Every Story Contains Silences
Milestone 74, 3184 days and 7550 miles into the journey, is Salopek’s most recent milestone, posted on October 26, 2021. In the introduction, Salopek explains that he had to put the trek on hold for 20 months due to the Covid-19 Pandemic due to closed borders. He explains that crossing the border into China became completely impossible when Myanmar’s army took power in a coup. In order to continue his journey, he needed to take a plane into China. This means he skipped 251 miles, and two milestones.
At this milestone, he meets flower farmer Jiang Ji Bing. Again, he asks the three questions. Jiang Ji Bing answers that he plants flowers that are used for medicinal purposes, he is from Tengchong, and once the flowers are picked he is going back home.
Jiang Ji Bing’s flower farm is pictured in this milestones panorama, as well as mountains and buildings. In the earth and sky pictures, Salopek is standing on a partly paved path, much different than the previous two milestones discussed in this post. This shows how different each area he visits is. Some are completely barren, some are in the middle of nowhere, and some are in the middle of cities or farms.
The Out of Eden Walk is a great resource for students. This could be used in a history classroom to discuss ancient migration patterns. The documented journey is also great for showing students the diversity of the world through people, cultures, and environments. Paul Salopek showcases his journey in a way that focuses on archaeology, culture, environments, and more. This is an important resource to educate students on the social and ecological aspects and difficulties of different people around the world.
The site also features an “In the Classroom” tab which provides resources for students and teachers about the Out of Eden Walk. It offers resources from National Geographic, the Out of Eden Walk homepage, and the Pulitzer Center. These sites provide outlines, lesson plans, and educator notes.
Below is an introduction video posted on Vimeo for the Out of Eden Walk.
Thank you for reading!
Samantha Pollina
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