Eliye Springs, also known as Ille Springs, is a remote village on the western shore of

Lake Turkana Lake Turkana () is a saline lake in the Kenyan Rift Valley, in northern Kenya, with its far northern end crossing into Ethiopia. It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake. By volume it is the world ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, near the mouth of Turkwel River. It is located 50 kilometres east of Lodwar and 40 kilometres south of Kalokol. The local springs for which it is named produce lush

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

along its section of the otherwise barren lakeshore and support a community of about 5000 people with fresh drinking water. However, due to neglect, the spring's water has been found to have ''E. coli'' and other harmful agents. Hotel Room At Eliye Springs Resort On Lake Turkana

Hotel Room At Eliye Springs Resort On Lake Turkana

Around 1981, there was a hunting lodge on the side of the lake made up of a series of grass huts and very basic facilities. By 1982, this fell into disrepair and the owner left, but some staff members remained, hoping to collect unpaid wages. The huts provided refuge for intrepid travellers who enjoyed the clear, warm waters and sunsets. Food had to be bought in Lodwar, and the journey to Eliye Springs in 1982 took about 2 hours. The Lodge has since been placed under new management and attracts a growing clientele of tourists to the beautiful non-humid white sand beach. A sand surface airstrip nearby supports small chartered aircraft.

Early Human History and Cradle Of Mankind

A skull of very early human ancestry called "

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...

" and dating between 200,000 and 300,000 years old with Exhibit Item Number "Eliye Springs ES11693" can be found at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. In a preliminary report ( Bräuer & Leakey, 1986), the new fossil cranium KNM-ES-11693 from Eliye Springs at the western shore of Lake Turkana was presented as a further representative of archaic

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

: "The specimen comes from reworked deposits which exclude its being stratigraphically located. However, in spite of the dating problems, the well preserved and heavily mineralized fossil exhibits many morphological features by which it can be assigned to archaic Homo sapiens". ES-11693 is compared to African early and late archaic Homo sapiens. Although the new hominid presents a unique mosaic of archaic and modern features, it appears to have a closer relationship with the late archaic H. sapiens grade, in which such hominids as Omo 2 and Laetoli H. 18 can also be grouped.

References

Populated places in Rift Valley Province Lake Turkana {{EasternKE-geo-stub