Serengeti, Serona Valley

The small rodent looking animal is a mongoose. Black and white bird, Secretary Bird. Wart hog. Lion w/ dead water buffalo. Hyena (never did get a full frontal of this guy). The cage is where they fed us lunch. "Lunch will be served in the cage today." We got a kick out of that....

When I was in Zanzibar, my guide Kassim, gave me the idea to bring sweets to the kids we saw along the way. So we bought bags of hard candy and suckers and would throw them out the window of the jeep when we would pass by the villages. All of the kids run up to the road and wave and are so excited if you wave back, much less get a candy out of the passing car. It was like being on a float in a parade, being able to throw candy to the kids. Come to think of it, parades don't allow people to throw candy from the floats bc kids can get run over, also many parades have outlawed horses bc they spook and trample. Too bad. The Happy Apple Day Parade, can't throw candy.....
So we were a one safari jeep float throwing candy out the window and the kids loved it and we loved it.

We took pictures from the roof of the jeep and we had to conserve our batteries the first two days bc we weren't near an outlet.

The pictures of the animals speak for themselves.

The bottle of juice that Travis is holding is actually Gin and juice. I haven't drank gin since that one night in college I had a bartenders "special" drink loaded w/ gin and puked all night long. But, well again, the African liquor of choice is gin. So Travis bought some local spirits and we added it to some mixed juice and voila!! Couldn't even taste it, we ran out of that pretty quick actually, all of drinkin' and safarin'.....

Shauna eats more gum than anyone I have ever met, so at one of our stops, I bought some fabulous looking green gum. However, this gum is from the Middle East and everyone thought it tasted like Draino. We joked how that will be the wave of the future, terrorist gum, killing us piece by piece. Shauna wouldn't eat it.....and they wouldn't give me any of their good gum until I ate all of my terrorist gum. Mean cousins.

Hadzabe Tribe and Mr. Pickles the goat

Ok,so this is the story.....

Our first outing was with the Hadzabe tribe for the hunt, and like I said before, they hadn't had a successful kill the prior day. Our guide suggested to us, would we be interested in buying the tribe a goat for their dinner. To help feed them.

At first this was a very foreign idea to us. Buy a goat? What do you mean buy a goat? We would have to go back to town, purchase one from the goat herder and bring back to the Hadzabe tribe. Now the roads are DUSTY! very rocky, pot holes, really bad roads, we are bounced around all over the place much less riding around with a goat in the jeep. Then the idea started to grow on us...what the hell? We're in Africa, why not buy a goat?

We all pitched in and purchased the goat for $40, (40 thousand shillings)....
Missy was dying to name this little guy, so even before we purchased him, she named him Mr. Pickles.

Now I know these pictures may be graphic for the animal lovers, which I am as well, but we had to have a sense of humor as well as knowing it was going to a good cause, so the story of Mr. Pickles is quite funny if you aren't too emotionally scarred from the photos.

Who in the world would ride around in Africa with a freakin' goat in a safari jeep drinking beer?! We would. So then we had to go on a beer run to the local liquor store. Now if you buy beer in bottles, you have to return the bottles. If you buy cans, you can keep the cans, but they are the same price as the bottled beers, but the cans are smaller than bottles, so we buy bottles. Bc we want more beer. Got it?

So Missy and I sat in the back of the jeep with Mr. Pickles while everyone else went in to buy beer. We could not stop laughing!! It was like SPIRNGBREAK AFRICA! wooo hooo!! from college days, "hey dude, we need some more beer! Here's our money, can you run in and get it, get the beer in bottles so we can drink more, we'll just stay in the jeep w/ the goat."

It looked like Mr. Pickles had dressed up for the occassion, his hair was parted so nicely, he was relatively clean, beard was trimmed, he looked nice. We were going to take Mr. Pickles to the Hadzabe, have a few beers, have a few laughs, reminisce about the good ol' days and then leave before the goat bbq, but it didn't quite work out that way.

We return to Hadzabe camp and the women come out to greet us, excitedly shaking our hands and thanking us. The men were out on the evening hunt, back at the porcupine hole trying to scare it out. We followed the women back to camp and they tied up Mr. Pickles. They also brought out their best leopard skin for us to sit on, we were special guests and it was a very gracious gesture. Like bringing out the fine china for special occassions. We chatted a little w/ the women, I tried to play pattycake w/ the little girl. The guides were sharpening their knives.

One man was sitting alone the whole time and we found out he was sick, horrible cough. I had cough drops but Shauna and Missy didn't think he would take them.

The men returned, no porcupine. They worked on getting the fire started.

Mostly the women and our guides were the ones who went to town on Mr. Pickles.

Now, I have never been hunting. I have never killed an animal. I have never seen an animal killed. I am not against hunting, I just don't do it. We had to put Muffy, my grandma's dog down when he got too old, but that's pretty much the extent of my experience. On the way to bringing Mr. Pickles to the Hadzabe I had no interest in sticking around. But then when I saw how appreciative they were, how they needed this animal for survival, my curiosity got the best of me and I was front row-center for these pictures. Joel had to hold his feet and head, and unfortunately the knife could have been sharper. It wasn't the swiftest slice of the jugular according to Travis and there was one last long bleat from little Mr. Pickles. He really took one for the team.

The good news is the Hadzabe use every part of the animal. They eat the meat, no leftovers, they skin it and use the hide for clothing, the blood and intestines are made into soup. Their teamwork was impressive and efficient.

Our guide put the heart on a stick over the fire to roast which for us to eat as an honor. I actually thought it was one of Mr. Pickles balls, they were quite large as Shauna found out when she tried to milk his udder in the jeep on the way over. (sorry girl, had to include that part).

While the meat cooked, Missy, Travis, Shauna and I just on our leopard skin and drank our Kilimanjaro beers, talked and watched. Mr. Pickles became our mascot and that is where we founded the MPSC. Mr. Pickles Safari Club. The message is to be spread to goats worldwide. How to really give back.

Gonga was a popular item w/ the Hadzabe, they offered it to us, but we all politely declined. The men and women smoked it together, Shauna tried to counsel them on the "Just Say No" policy but that wasn't very effective.

Baboon man put a guinea feather in our hair from the morning's hunt then got to Travis and took his hat and wore it around. He was giddy and happy. All of them were.

Joel cut off slices of the heart, we sampled, and I could barely stomach it, I was still not convinced it wasn't the testicle.

The best part of the whole evening was the song and dance. All the Hadzabe started to sing for us and formed a circle. They invited us to join and sing and dance w/ them. Travis got it on video. We had to go boy-girl-boy-girl in the circle. We would march forward a few steps, stop, turn into the circle, stomp a few times and clap, then resume our lightfooted march. We didn't know the words of course, but we didn't care, one man would lead Shauna by the hand into the middle every time and the woman behind me would steer me by grabbing my arm and pushing me in the correct direction. Their singing was beautiful and upbeat.

The four of us white kids from the U.S. got to hunt with the Hadzabe tribe, eat with them, bring a goat to them, sing and dance with them, hug them, laugh with them and even drink a beer on the side. It was an enriching experience to be a part of this, especially in the golden African sunset.

It was truly an amazing moment and an experience of a lifetime that we will never forget. The four of us were very touched. THANK YOU HADZABE.

Tatoga Tribe, Lake Eyasi, Tanzania

This was the second tribe we visited, the Tatoga tribe. They are not as basic as the Hadzabe. These people herd goats, built homes and are NOT nomadic. The men were out herding the goats and can be gone for months at a time. The women were VERY welcoming and friendly. I just felt that they had a really good nature and good hearts. Even though the Tatoga tribe is about 20 miles or so from the Hadzabe, they are very different. The men can marry several women. These women were all the wives of one man. When he returns from the herd, he will rotate his sleeping arrangement every night. The women sleep in the same place every night. The husband is the one that will change beds. The life expectancy is much longer for this tribe. One reason for that is that they drink milk, probably from their goats. The gords hang in the house to hold water and milk. They have more of the fundamental needs being met, having a roof over their heads, plentiful source of food and income w/ the goats, ability to cultivate crops bc they can stay in one place etc.

The houses are made of wood and cow dung. Dung helps to keep it cool, smells a little shitty but at least it's cool. :) Also, the houses seem to be quite solid, I was surprised actually. The roofs need to be replaced every 3 years (I think, can't remember if it was this tribe or not).....

The women were the grandmothers of these babies, I never did figure out where the daughters were. Similar to Hadzabe, all chores are shared, children responsibilities etc. We all sat in the house and we were able to exchange questions w/ these women through our guide/translator. Amongst several questions, I asked how old the women were. The women weren't exactly sure how old they were, they estimated about 40 years old, one woman said she was little when so-and-so president was in office. UNLIKE the Hadzabe, these women had several questions for us.
Was anyone married? Travis and Shauna. Did Missy and I have husbands? No. No? How about boyfriends? yes. Will Travis marry another in case Shauna gets sick? Uh, no. I don't think Shauna would dig that. Where were we from? America.

Now I think I have this story straight, but when a man wants a wife, he takes goats or cattle to the father as a gesture. Even if the girl does not want to marry, she has to go. Some go kicking and screaming, some are ready. A thick gold bracelet is worn by the women as a symbol of marriage. Interestingly, these bracelets are made from discarded padlocks, pieces of pipe, soft metal that can be melted in the fire, shaped, designed.

The clothing is made from cow hide and the deep brown color is from the cow urine, it sort of seals the fabric. Smells!! There is a frayed skirt the married woman will wear under her dress. She NEVER takes this off, even to bathe. When she bathes, she will wash mostly her upper body. It reminded me of a chastity belt that you can't take off. The bead work these women make on their dresses is stunning. I hope the photo captured the detail, it truly is beautiful.

Their earrings are for fashion and personal preference, no symbolism behind it.

One woman had a tattooed face. The skin is cut and cow dung is used to make the color. This is for decoration and viewed as beauty by the tribe. Unlike the Maori in New Zealand where tattoos are worn when the individual accomplishes a great feat, these are purely for aesthetic purposes.

Missy and I both purchased a wedding bracelet. Actually, they were more of a smaller version and more for decoration than the real thing, but we liked them.

I really liked our visit with these women, they were so gracious and accommodating.