BECOMING AN ANCESTOR

It's been three days since we've been stuck here. Neither food nor water is a problem; using the water from Lake Tanganyika, we can survive on this side. However, on the other side lies what will become the Congo, and I need to go there.

Originally, I planned to go to Angola first and then figure out a way to create large vessels to go to South America. But I realized I would need the Congo.

So, I decided to just find a place near the lake with good resources. One of the reasons is that I currently need to develop a better way to continue; pushing carts like an ox is not sustainable.

Other reasons include the need to train the Pilus to work and teach some of the group to take care of them properly. Additionally, there's the task of developing their intelligence in areas like agriculture and metalworking.

When I worked in my old forge, I worked alone, so nobody knows how to use metals. This is a great time to stop, rest, and improve.

But the question remains: How am I going to cross this lake?

Lake Tanganyika is one of the largest and deepest in the world, even today. It has a length of 673 km, a width of 72 km, and a depth of 1.4 km.

If it were earlier, it would be no problem; I'd just create some boats for everyone to cross, and that's it. But now, how am I going to cross this gigantic lake with almost three dozen animals that must weigh 3 tons?

I think I'll have to accelerate my plans for the ships, but the resources I have here are very limited. There's a forest nearby, so wood is not a problem, but for beings so large, wood will be the least of my concerns.

As a former engineer, although I didn't graduate in naval engineering, I learned some things. So, I have the theory, but building a functional ship to transport all the animals without sinking will be a great challenge.

...

It's been a whole month since we stopped here. The first few days were spent trying to tame the Pilus, and the rest were spent trying to figure out how to transport them.

The solution I found is to build a ship. It won't be a colossal ship or one for long journeys, but rather a raft.

Rafts are perfect for transporting from one end of the lake to the other, and with the Pilus together. My strategy is to spend a long time gathering materials, then a few weeks to build it. This will help improve the intelligence of the group and create a way to cross this lake whenever we want.

Besides figuring out a way to cross the lake, I also created a new job—now there are farmers. Since we'll have to spend a long time here, I decided to plant some ancestors of corn and rice

I discovered some Poaceae species, the cereal family, such as wheat, corn, rice, among many other types. I found three types, and they are indeed edible, so I decided to create plantations fed by the lake.

One looked like wheat, the other had kernels like corn, and the last one resembled rice. Perhaps they are ancestors, despite the location where I found them, but it's something for the discovery list.

After teaching the group how to cultivate, depending on the soil, we shouldn't have problems with food. From my study of the soil near the lake, it's suitable for planting, so waiting until the harvest should not be a problem.

Now, I have to get the materials to build the raft; this will take some time. So, I will create some small boats to cross the lake with a few warriors to map and understand the resources on the other side.

Despite the distance, I can see a forest in the distance and some hills on the other side. I hope to find some metals, despite already having iron and knowing where an iron vein is.

That iron vein, at most, had 1.5 tons, and I will need much more than that. Although the raft will be mostly made of wood, I'll need a lot of metals, much more than 1.5 tons.

I hope to find many ore veins; it feels like the Iron Age is approaching for the group.