The Ba’Aka Adventure – Part 1
We spent the first day in CAR buying goods such as rice in Bayanga that were needed for the camping trip. While waiting around in Bayanga, I saw a number of duikers go by in baskets that had been purchased in the local market area. Duikers are small antelope that live in the rainforest and all of this bushmeat is adding up in an alarming rate. There is some legal hunting in the area, but all indications are that most if not all of this bushmeat is based on illegal hunting. The following morning we arrived at the village where Louis Sarno lives and we seemed to be greeted by dozens of Ba’Aka with a celebration including drumming and a mythical dancing character made out of leaves. Unfortunately, we soon learned that this was a death celebration for a woman that died a few days later in labor after giving birth to one of her twins. Ups and downs like this are just part of Ba’Aka life.
The Ba’Aka are forest people known as pygmies. The Ba’Aka tribe is just one of many tribes of forest people living in the Congo Basin in Cameroon, CAR, ROC, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to a lesser extent in Uganda and Rwanda. Two of the other tribes that I know about are the Baka in Cameroon and Mbuti in DRC who are a bit better known because of a book called Children of the Forest. “Children” is an appropriate term because these peoples are naïve to the world outside of the forest and they live lives that do not conform to our standards. I find them to be quite refreshing and do not see the moniker as being negative. The sad part of their naivety is that it does not suit them well for living outside of the forest in the modern world and it results in their abuse by the surrounding Bantu people in such ways as making them almost slaves to the Bantu and hunting for the Bantu where hunting is not allowed.
Although the stature of the Ba’Aka is short, they certainly are not midgets. Most of the men are about my height (165 cm) although there are definitely many in the 150 cm range. One distinguishing feature is that they have short and very wide feet. Their height and shape of their feet is definitely an evolutionary adjustment for better living in the dense forest. More importantly these men and women are built strong. All of them are lean and loaded with muscle and they demonstrate their strength regularly by carrying very heavy loads, literally running through the forest and they have an amazing ability to work very long days with little sleep.
OK, so none of this sounds so impressive so far and does not answer why we are here in CAR so far from the rest of the world. Well, these forest tribes are some of the last of the hunters and gathers of Africa. It is quite possible these people are related to the oldest groups of humans on the continent where we all came from. Furthermore, if you prescribe to the theories of human evolution and I definitely do then you understand that we originated in the rainforests in Central Africa in trees like chimpanzees and we came out of those trees as the forest started to disappear with most of us heading into the East African savannahs and beyond. Much of that migration has to do with humans being bipedal, but there was also compelling reasons for some of the early humans to remain in the rainforest. Whereas most of the peoples outside of the rainforests became agriculturists and pastoralists, the peoples in the rainforest remained as hunters and gathers. Seeing the Ba’Aka in their native forest setting today is almost like going back in time to see what we were like thousands of years ago. My simplistic story will probably have “The Anthrobogogist” riled (see previous comment on Ethiopia stories), but I think anyone would agree that the Ba’Aka represent an ancient culture of hunters and gathers and are quite different from who we are today.
So after getting to the village and learning about the death celebration, we started to gather behind Louis’ home. As I have told people after my first trip to Africa, Louis Sarno, an American from New Jersey, is the most interesting person I have met in Africa. Now into my third visit to this continent, Louis still holds the title. I was looking forward to meeting him again. Louis came to the Congo area in the mid-1980s due to his interest in music. He eventually settled in this remote (and much more so then) area of CAR living with the Ba’Aka. His devotion to these people is unwavering and he seems to be as much of the community as any of the Ba’Aka and is considered as an elder. The mutual respect is quite evident. Louis and Rod developed this trip to try and bring some benefits to this ignored village. The Ba’Aka way of life is under assault due to the disappearing forest yet they are not given much aid by their government or the international community or support from the WWF who are supposedly saving this area for the wildlife, but don’t seem to recognize that the most important residents in the forest walk on two legs. We all agree that the best route for them is to try and retain as much of their way of life as possible while gaining benefits such as education and health care from the modern world. This program was developed to provide funds straight to the Ba’Aka so that they can do just that.
By time our team including about forty adult Ba’Aka, eight infants and a few children had amassed, there were upwards of 140 more villagers there to see us off! Louis thought it would be good to walk out of the village and straight into the forest as the Ba’Aka do each time they enter their forest. While this plan presented some logistical issues, I have to agree that it was exciting to have so much energy backing our team and it was good to go from village into slash-and-burn plantation area, into marginal forest, into second-growth forest and finally into ancient, primordial rainforest. The Ba’Aka were headed home and they soon transformed from awkward village people into their natural forest people state gliding through the undergrowth with huge loads of cassava, cooking items, hunting equipment and babies in their arms, strapped to their heads and on their backs. Our first hike in was about three hours where we set up a temporary campsite just for the night with the intention to get further into the forest the next day.
After reaching camp, these hunters and gathers soon did just that with a net hunt and gathering of forest foods such as mushrooms, nuts and leaves. A net hunt involves hanging a series of nets made from the bark of a vine to form a barrier. The Ba’Aka men and women then move as a team through the forest making noise to get the animals running towards the net. When they see an animal they yell and chant in ways that coordinate the hunters to force the animal towards the net. The Ba’Aka are quite loud in the forest presumably to make sure large animals like elephant and gorilla hear them and clear out of the way, but the same loud sounds also aid in chasing out the duikers and porcupines who normally hunker down hiding rather than flee. The first hunt was rather unsuccessful (I forget the exact number of animals taken, but there was more effort applied than protein garnered.) and much of this was blamed on poachers having over-hunted the area. The poachers who are mainly Bantu are not thought well of by the Ba’Aka who are seeing their forests decimated by logging and poaching. We saw plenty of evidence of hunting including camps where game was smoked and empty shotgun casings each day that we were in the forest. There was also one incident on this first hunt where someone came across a sleeping duiker and called for help and a spear. The first man on the scene did not have a spear. He did wear a red shirt though and he was ridiculed during the following break for causing the animal to wake and flee due to this red shirt. They were all laughing at him as they laugh all of the time, but I could also detect some seriousness in their discussion needing to place blame on something to explain their lost opportunities for food. For me, it was a good experience being reminded how serious this business of hunting is when your survival depends on it. It is also obvious that the Ba’Aka can see their home being destroyed and it is stressful for them.
At one time, the Ba’Aka had access to all surrounding forest. Of course, they had no land deeds so most of it has been taken from them. In this area in southern CAR, the Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve allows traditional hunting by the Ba’Aka. Traditional hunting includes nets, spears and cross-bows. The Dzanga-Ndoki NP is off limits to any hunting. Furthermore, the Ba’Aka agreed to not hunt elephants and gorillas as they did in their pre-protected area days. Hunting in the Special Reserve by other groups is forbidden and no one is allowed to hunt with guns, snares or at night. We already know that the anti-poaching efforts of the government and WWF are failing and we will see more evidence of this during the days to come.
Louis told us there would probably be a couple of celebrations coming up. The first night after the Ba’Aka had their cassava dinners supplemented with the little meat hunted and the cola leaves and nuts that had been collected during the day outing, the Ba’Aka started to gather in a group around a fire and sing and play music. The women were on one side and the men on the other as we witnessed many times to come. There is usually a lead singer with call-and-response. Also, the women are great yodelers. Their instruments on this trip consisted of drums (pots and pans and Jerri jugs) and a harp-zither which was made from wood in the forest and fishing line that had been brought along. Being in the deep forest at night listening to their haunting music was amazing, but it would only get more fantastic when we started to hear the forest spirits. In the shadows we could see movement and as the spirits came closer we were able to make out shapes because they were glowing. The forest spirits were decorated with branches and leaves as well as pieces of detritus covered with a phosphorescent substance – maybe mold or algae. This glowing matter is all over the ground and it only can be seen when it gets very dark. So, the very beautiful and haunting music is going around and around and we are getting visits from spirits – all quite amazing. We learned this evening that the Ba’Aka have a lot more energy than the mzungu as we went to bed and they continued well into the early morning. I had wild dreams that night waking to their chants and later to the harp-zither which is often played in the middle of the night to be heard in your dreams. I guess they may have eventually gone to bed, but that is questionable since they were up for a second celebration well before sunrise. This was a more serious celebration where they curse the village life they have just left. They had a fire at the base of a tree and they yelled out everything they hate about life outside of the forest. Of course, it eventually turned into fun and laughter because they were not in the village and they had returned to their home and were going deeper into it that morning.
We learned by this second morning that the Ba’Aka go from chaotic order to ready to depart in the blink of an eye and we had to anticipate this change. At this temporary camp, the Ba’Aka slept outside and they did not set up much by way of living sites. We had our tents set up and our mzungu stuff all out. The Ba’Aka had their celebration and were eating breakfast and suddenly we look up and they were all ready to go and staring at us. Ba’Aka like to stare. I’m used to being the freak show and Ethiopia certainly provided enough staring at me doing normal activities like eating, but the Ba’Aka take it to another level. Each time I got the feeling of many eyes on me and I looked up to see them staring, I would just smile and they would always smile, too. As mzungu we brought lots of crap that the Ba’Aka do not need, but they certainly showed interest in our whiz-bang stuff. The Ba’Aka homes are made from branches and leaves in the shape of igloos so our popup tents were quite a good match and they found them to be fascinating. Plus each of our tents was a different model (Ba’Aka homes basically come in one design) and we had bright colors like orange and blue to break up the monotony of green. I used a steri-pen to purify drinking water with UV light and the Ba’Aka definitely liked seeing this glowing implement of incomprehensible utility.
So we finally got our act together and the Ba’Aka led us at their zippy speed onto the site where we would camp the rest of the week. The forest got better the deeper in that we went although we were still seeing a lot of evidence of poacher activity. The trails were not totally obvious and machetes were used by the lead Ba’Aka to open them up. We all became amazed with the ability of the Ba’Aka to orienteer their way. Even the kids had no problems sticking to the right trail. All mzungu would get hopelessly lost if we were left on our own for a short period. Through the week I was at a loss for explaining how the Ba’Aka could determine direction in such dense forest without the aid of the sun or vistas. I have a good sense of direction and I admit that I was lost on each outing. It actually scared me and I never fell more than a few steps behind a Ba’Aka on our hikes regardless of how fast they were traveling. When someone gets a few paces ahead in this forest, they can suddenly disappear in the growth and that is very disconcerting. Rod had us bring whistles that were never used, but we did not dare go out without them. I also usually chose Ba’Aka to follow who wore something bright because the ones wearing no shorts disappeared that much quicker due to their skin color blending so well into the forest colors – more like lack of colors.
Getting lost in the forest is one concern, but even more frightening is happening upon an elephant, leopard, buffalo, bongo, gorilla or snake. The Ba’Aka always make noise (as far as I can tell, Ba’Aka are always making noise even when not in the forest!) while hiking unless they are spear or cross-bow hunting when they are trying to be stealth. They have a very healthy fear of some of the animals in the forest and I respect their fear a lot. We were told three specific Ba’Aka stories of bad run-ins with these animals. One Ba’Aka was attacked by a leopard from behind. As it had the man’s head in its clutches, he was able to smash one leg against a tree until it broke. When the leopard let go, he smashed its head with his cross-bow. The man barely survived after receiving weeks of antibiotic treatments. A search party found the dead leopard the next day. Another man in our party was attacked by a gorilla and one of his arms was missing a lot of muscle mass due to that attack. Louis said the man had probably been hunting the gorilla and basically lost although he was fortunate to be alive. Lastly, a Ba’Aka was hunting a bongo (beautiful forest antelope that I have failed to see on both trips) when the bongo attacked him and skewered him with its horns. The man did not survive. We would have our close calls with some of these animals in days to come. Let’s tell the rest of this story in another entry since this one has already worn us out.
Tags: Africa, central african republic, Travel
vagabondrick
i thought you might find this concise critique of 100 years of post-colonial kenyan politics interesting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,2253647,00.html
ben
Dear Rick, I loved your report. I was especially interested that they might representative of the oldest mankind – and the short but wide feet would certainly back this. I am so glad that you and Louis were able to hook up together for this adventure!
Best wishes on your travels. I write to inform you of air strikes and animal mounted invaders striking Sudan the Chad side. The articals seem to say herion muslium runners are the cause of this clensing. So far only men have arived at refuge camps in Chad. The UN left Darfur and its security councile has reported a “dramitic deterioration” through out Sudan.
15 wounded military men from Chad were flowen to Libya for medical treatment
Your buddy,
Randy