Hadzabe

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Lake Eyasi is one of a series of salt lakes near the Ngorogoro highlands. The plan was to camp near the lake and visit the Hadzabe tribe, a group of people culturally similar to the San Bushman.

Our drive took us through some rough roads, which had James wishing (for the twentieth time) that he had brought his mountain bike. The campsite was fairly basic, but instead of bugs flying onto our plates, we had monkeys jumping onto our tent. Once again, camp was set up, we had lunch, then we set off to locate the Hadzabe.

Our guide/translator was from the nearby Datoga village and he trades with the Hadzabe tribe so speaks their language. We drove for half an hour to the valley where the Hadzabe live. They are nomadic so do move around, but had been at this location for a couple of months. When we arrived, we discovered that most of the men were out hunting so we were greeted by an ancient looking man (with a hacking smokers cough from all the marijuana he smoked) and a woman minding about 12 children. The man showed us how to start a fire and shoot a bow and arrow. The tribesmen still hunt with the bow and arrow and James was mortified to be shown up by a six year old boy.

The Hadzabe still live a traditional lifestyle, living in huts made from weaving together reeds and branches. Their sleeping mats are animal skins and their diet consists of the wild animals they hunt (gazelle, impala and baboons) and the fruits that the women gather. While we were there one of the women started making clay figurines for the children to play with.

The neighboring Datoga tribe have blacksmiths and make things like arrowheads, spoons, bracelets and even tweezers which they then trade with the Hadzabe. We visited a blacksmith and watched him working the bellows made from a cows stomach. While we were there, he melted down a brass pipe fitting which would later be formed into a bracelet.

We returned to the campsite and kicked back for a while, watching vervet monkeys jump all over our tent, before heading to an outcrop to watch the beautiful sunset over the lake, which was unfortunately obscured by clouds. Oh well. Dinner certainly made up for that - beef kebabs and roast potatoes. Fantastic!

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Photos

James attempts to hunt a tree
Although it was not moving, the tree proved an elusive target

Hadzabe Bushman
Creating fire, which he then used to light his hash pipe. Super traditional.

Coca Cola own everything in Africa
Sign on the way to Lake Eyasi