Meeting the bushmen of Africa! or Vegans go hunting!

Vegans go hunting

Following our viewing of wildlife, Carol and I took a 60km drive with our guides and our cook. (We travel with many staff here- it felt quite odd to have 2 guides and a cook!) The 60km was all on a very bumpy bad road. The Landcruiser handled it just fine but our butts went numb. It took a couple hours to drive this distance. When we arrived we were greeted by some local kids who set up our tent for us at bush camp.(as if we didn't have enough help all ready- mzungu- white person- need a lot of help apparently). After being served a delicious dinner by our cook, Emmanuelle, we got a good nights sleep- well not all that good due to windy weather and our tent flapping in the wind- but good enough.
We awoke at 630am had coffee- fine Africafe instant coffee- and left by 7pm for another 30 or 40 minutes of bumpy ride further into the bush to meet the Hadzabe people. We parked our landcruiser with no humans in sight and walked a few yards where we learned the true meaning of bushmen- they actually sleep in bushes to keep warm at night. Not much to see but some big bushes with some canvas laid down in the bush to sleep on and a few pots and pans for cooking the poison that they put on their arrows for hunting the bigger animals.
We then were greeted by their chief of the family and he introduced us to his sons and daughters and wife or wives. The men do marry many wives. I wasn't sure which or how many wives this chief had.
At their campsite (for lack of a better term) they had skins of many animals hung out to dry ...many of which we had seen the day before alive. They had skin of a dik-dik, an impala, and a few other unidentifiable skins. ...and then we saw skin of a big animal- the leopard! It was beautiful skin to see and touch. Weird to see it off of the body. WE had the great fortune of seeing one alive a few days earlier. The men proudly posed with the leopard skin for a photo. They also showed us the arrows they used for hunting. They do all their hunting w/ bows and arrows. They have wooden arrows sharpened with a knife to hunt small animals like birds or rats. They put a metal arrow on the end of wood for hunting larger animals like impala, baboons, or leopard.
After a tour of camp, the chief motioned for us to follow him. We thought we might be meeting another family but quickly realized we were going out hunting with them. Carol had decided the night before that she would not go out hunting if offered and I was still unsure myself. Due to our own confusion about what was happening we were both out on the hunt with 4 of the Hadzabe men, our guide and a local guide who spoke the language of the Hadzabe- one of the few remaining tribes that speak a 'click' language. I call it that because that's a common sound you hear when they talk.
So we followed along as they hunted. First we watched them try to scare out a mongoose from a under the bush of a plant that we couldn't identify. Then we followed as they attempted to kill birds with their arrows. 3 of the men were much too quick for us to follow. The chief was kind enough to wait for us on several occasions. When they get separated they whistle aloud to find each other. The chief did that after an hour or so and one of the sons came back with the first catch of the day- a rat. Still alive hanging on the arrow. Thankfully the chief killed it by bonking it on its head and put it in his pocket. They found the other son who had caught a dove - also still alive hanging on the arrow. He didn't kill the dove until we sat down to prepare the kindling for the fire that they would cook the rat and dove on.
After preparing the kindling, we all walked back to the main camp where they started a fire with sticks rubbing together and just put both the rat and the dove right on the fire w/out skinning them. With small animals they don't bother to skin them. They just eat the whole thing as is. Both animals cooked fairly quick and they opened up the animals and fed some of the organs to their dogs who help them hunt and then shared the remains with the family. We were offered some rat but politely declined..as did our guides as well.
This was quite an experience! We were struck by how resourceful they are and were amazed by the fact that they do this day in day out. They hunt once in the morning and once in the evening to get their daily food. The women do gather roots and berries for eating as well. They do some trading with local tribes such as the Maasai or tatoga to get knives and some clothes. They were all wearing dirty western style shorts and some were wearing hides. They do make bracelets with materials they trade for with the Maasai. They get some money from doing these visits that they may buy knives or clothes with. They do not want or buy any food though. All their food comes from hunting. The only thing they do not eat is snakes. They see snakes as a god or goddess of sorts that will protect them and bring them good weather.
We spent the morning with them and then returned to our camp for lunch....and visited with another tribe after lunch- the Tatoga. See another posting for that story.