Off the Grid in the middle of Tanzania

So where was I for the last week? That’s a very good question that I am not even sure the people I was with could show you on a map. For the past week we got to live with the Hazda Tribe which is a hunting and gathering tribe living in the Southern section of Western Ridge in the Mbulu district of Tanzania. Basically start in Arusha, Tanzania drive 8 hours into the valley and that’s where we were.

On Saturday our Kenyan Dad Njeou drove us from Karen, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania. He dropped us off with Simon, Hope, Kisana who work for Dorobo. Dorobo was founded by 3 American brothers who grew up in Tanzania since their parents were missionaries. They are the only company that the Hadza allows to come into their land with tourists. Dorobo does a number of different project to help the Hadza maintain their way of life as hunter and gathers in an ever changing world. They do pay the Hadza for their time which goes into a community bank account. The money is often time used for hospital bills when their traditional medicine is not enough such in the case of TB. We spend our first night at a camp by a waterfall which was beautiful. The next day we climbed 3 miles up a mountain to a ridge where safari cars picked us to take us the rest of the way to the Hadza. At the second camp we gather tubas and honey with the women. Tubas are a root plant that grows naturally in the earth and serves not only as a food sources but also a source of water in the very dry environment. The men taught us how to make bows and how to climb the boubou tree. We also had some time to ourselves which me and a couple of friends took to explore our sounding area climbing up to a rock that allowed us see for miles. At night we sang and danced around the fire with the Hadza. After two nights at the first camp we hiked 10 miles across the valley to the next camp. Along the way we saw first hand the impact that the pastoralist and their cows have had on the Hadza. Tanzania is a very peaceful country and the Hadza are a kind people letting pastoralist graze their cows on the land from July to January. In moderation the cows actually help the environment by eating grass that other animals wouldn’t. However ,one of the negative impacts we saw from the pastoralist being there was a huge area of land burned to a crisp from a pastoralist kid who let the fire get out of hand. One of my favorite parts of the 10 mile hike to the other camp was meeting some of these pastoralist kids at lunch. They came up to where we were sitting. Since I love kids I went right up to them to start talking. I was able to find out that the girl I met was named Ruthie and 11 and the boy her cousin was name Barack and 5. They saw me take a picture of the land and were amazed by the camera. I let them use my camera during lunch teaching them to take pictures and even got the girl to say “smile” when she took pictures of my friends. We reached the next camp by 4pm in the afternoon. At this camp their was giant rock (a mini mountain). Most of us gave up our tents and camped out on the rock for the 2 nights we were there. Never in my life have a seen so many shooting stars or stars for that mater. Waking up to the orange and red sky of the sunrise and being able to see for miles sounded by my friends is something I will never forget. I don’t know if we were just to tired from all the actives but rock was actually pretty comfortable, although we all slightly froze from the wind at night. At the third camp we also got to go hunting with the men. My guide was incredible being able to navigate the land, I for one would of been lost out of my mind! While we did not catch anything it was amazing to see him in his element walking quickly and silently for 6 hours as we covered 8 miles before noon. Other groups did catch some game meet such a high rocks which are little rodents that we all got to try. On the last night we got to do a Q&A with the Hadza using Simon and Hope as our translators. Below are the facts I found most interesting:

⁃ they pretty much all go to school but then choose to come back to the Hadza. They appreciate having formal education because it allows them to learn Swahili.

⁃ They have noticed a change in their environment such as rain season being different and less game to hunt however this has yet to affect their health. They also claim to never been affected by a drought or to of gone hungry.

⁃ They do not write or read for the most part and they past their history down from generation to generation

⁃ They do not have a leader but decided everything as a group. They also share everything for example if someone comes back with a kill everyone gets to enjoy it.

Over all this week was unbelievable. The Hadza welcomed us with open arms teaching us their incredible simple peaceful way of life. As a group we were complete off the grid detached from the 21st century which was a bonding experience like no other. We ate ever meal around the camp fire and got to just enjoy each other’s company. However, after no one being able to shower for 7 days we all had a thick layer of dirt caked to our legs.

The biggest lesson I am taking away from this trip is that I would like to share with you all is to live in the moment. The Hadza has lost 90% of their land since independence they are seeing a change in their environment and they are having to figure out how to live in both our world and their world. Yet, when you ask any of them if they are worried about the future they respond simply that they do not think about the future but only the present day. They live in the moment and are some of the happiest most relaxed people I have ever met. I think it would be wise to take a page from their book to live in the moment and not worry about the future and the things we can’t control.

Once again this is an experience I will never truly be able to explain but I hope that I was at least able to give you a glimpse of these strong loving people who deserve only our respect and support as they try to persevere their way of life.