The Bushmen...my people

Good Morning bushman people...or as I said..."click, click"
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Lake Eyasi/Magnati Tribe(Datuga)/Bushman Hunt

(Nick's story). This was the morning that I was most looking forward too.  You all know that I have never done hunting of any type but going out on a hunt with people who needed to eat was a different matter.

which is my bow?

So, we got there at 6:30am and the bushmen were just getting up and warming themselves by the fire.  I made my usual bad jokes about 'where is my bow?' and after they laughed, they gave me a lesson and my arrow fired outwards....I'm not certain what they said in their click talk but it did sound something like 'he couldn't hit a cows backside from 5ft!!'!!

aiming for a baboon..or just trying to get the arrow to fly!
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Next I built a fire....easy.....Survivor USA here I come!

Anyway, after a couple of big hits of ganja...not by me...2 men and 2 kids took us out on the hunt.

It was brilliant follwing them, hearing them communicate and then one of the ten year olds snuck up to a tree and fired his arrow....and out flew a bird...with an arrow through it's stomach.  How it flew I have no idea.  Him and I went searching for it and it had come down about 50 yards away.  He got hold of it, smacked it on the head to knock it out and then bit its neck to kill it!!

Man is here...build fire!!!
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20 minutes later we were making fire in the bush and cooking it.  The most amazing moment was when the lad walked up to us and cut some of the breast for us to eat.  They hadn'y eaten meat for ten days and I was going to have a big nosh up safari breakfast in two hours but the kindness was unreal.  Thye ate all the bird, head, feet, bones etc but I'll never ever forget how he gave us the best piece of meat.

Two hours later we were back at the temporary camp with only one other bird to eat.  We had gone through bush, over (through rivers) but couldn't find a big kill.

Ganja man!!
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Back at the camp we had a dance with the tribe and let in great spirits after the chief told our guide that we were welcome to stay overnight and visit anytime.  They were planning to move off the next day to try to find game.

(Ronnie's story)

On day four of our safari we drove to Lake Eyasi- the area of northern Tanzania where the Hadzabe tribe (the Bushman) and Magnati tribe live.  We arrived at our very basic campsite after a tough 4 hours in the jeep driving on some very bumpy roads. We met Gabriel- who would accompany and translate for us during our visits with two African tribes.

where did it go?
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That afternoon we drove to a village to meet the Magnati (Datuga) people. The village has no electricity or running water. This is an agricultural and cattle community. We first were introduced to the chief, who has 10 wives, and his brother. Then we went into one of their houses and met with the women. Their two room home was made of mud and had one bed where the several adult women slept with children sleeping on the ground.

There was a smile and openness from everyone we met. I was introduced to the chief's first wife, a lovely woman in 70's, and even though we could hardly communicate, I felt an instant connection with her. She taught me to grind the corn with one little rock on one big rock... that's hard work! Then she brought into the very dark second room to meet her 1 month old granddaughter (the mother did not look more than 14 years old). The grandmother motioned for me to hold the baby... what a great moment!

Shoot that poison arrow through my heart...shoot that poison arrow!
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We sat in their home and had a chance to ask each other questions. The oldest son wanted to know what country we were from, are ages, if we had any children and what we liked to eat. We wanted to know what they did for fun - "dance" and if they knew anything about United States or England- "no."

After our chat, the women sang and danced for us. Nick and I joined in the dancing (more like jumping- see pic's) What a fantastic experience... a definate highlight of my trip.

woman cook...man build fire!!
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That night we sat down to a fantastic meal that our chef, Dred, whipped up for us and went to bed early in anticipation of our morning hunt. I woke up at 200am and watched the stars for hour in an amazing African sky and then drifted back to sleep.

Then next day we met the Hazabe Tribe, also know as the Bushman, a nomatic tribe that survive only on hunting (no fishing or agriculture). Their favorite meat is baboon...yum. Our guide described them as a people that do not like religion, school or hospitals. Nick immediately asked if could join.

Cooking breakfast
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The men, women and children all greeted us with a smile and handshake... but you could tell they were all hungry. The Hadzabe are one of poorest tribes in Africa and the government does attempt to supply them with meat. My most meaningfull experience was on our hunt when the young boy offerred the best piece a meat to us( the bird was no bigger than the size of my palm and shared amoung two adult men, two boys, our guide, Nick and me)