Does this really still exist?

Imagine you wake up at 6.00 am in the morning. You wash your face and take a cup of tea. Then guide Ginew comes to pick you up and brings you to a big baobab tree. Under this tree four Hazdabe bushmen are sitting around a small fire. They are half naked though it is cold in the early morning. They are accompanied by many dogs. Tanzanian dogs are good watchdogs but they also show a totally sweet character. Ginew shows you the place where one of them sleeps. It is not even a house. It is outside and there is some reed above their heads. 

In 20 minutes more men are gathering under the tree. They eat some fruits and smoke some tobacco. One of them is a child of 12 and you spot two teenagers. Everyone of them carries a personal designed bow and arrow.

P1120941Then they go on their way to hunt. And you follow them. It is not easy to keep up with them. You observe the way they walk, the firm steps and flexibility in their bodies. After half an hour they stop at a dry river. They point with their fingers and discuss with each other. It makes you feel you are in a story of Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. It seems they found the trail of a baboon. You continue the walk and they go faster. Then in one moment they start sprinting and spreading out. You run like crazy to keep up with them. You throw yourself through the bush, jump over rivers, climb up hills to follow their shouting voices. It leaves some scratches on your arms and legs. Finally you find them under a tree but the baboon is sheltered under the leaves high up in the tree. There is no way they can shoot it. On our way back they split again and surprisingly you see one teenager who shot an arrow straight through the heart of a Vervet monkey. It falls down and leaves this life. Proudly they carry their prey to the rest of the group. One of them starts making a fire. And soon the sweet looking monkey is burning in the fire with hair but without its tail. You do not know why they cut the tail of. All the time you trouble your mind with the question whether this monkey is really totally dead. The Tibetan monks learn us that the spirit needs time to get free of its body after dying. They start eating the meat and offer you a piece. One of them is eating some substance out of the skull. You maybe try a piece they offer you or you refuse. You are free in that. And you ask yourself: “wow is this really still existing”?

Allthough we have a great love and respect for animal life, this pure experience is really very special. So we would like to ask you the following question: “Would you like us to make this part of our Ngorongoro safari” ?

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.