Whilst providing welcome nesting for a variety of birds, our enormous fig tree was also the site the Louis and Mary Leakey chose to camp whilst surveying the area in search of the Proconsul Heseloni skull – the original ‘missing link’.  Mary was successful in her quest and discovered the skull not far from the lodge in 1948.  This led to great acclaim at the time and even today Rusinga Island is highly valued for its immense pre-historic value.  A team from the American Museum of Natural History is based at the lodge for periods throughout the year as they continue to research the area.  They are very happy to guide guests around the site where fossils over 18 million years old can be easily seen.  Rusinga’s guides also escort walks to these sites.