Eastern Africa
Baobab seeds and pulp porridge
Baobab seeds and vine roots are staple foods for remotely living Hadza in Tanzania. This article already presented the collection and preparation of vine roots. In the following, we will discuss how to prepare Baobab seeds and their surrounding dry…
Sweat Bees – not a danger, but a nuisance
Real Sweat Bees are Halictid Bees, a very large and diverse family of bees. These small to medium-sized bees are often the most common flower visitors and, therefore, essential pollinators. About one-third of all bee species in East Africa are…
Stingless bee honey collected by Hadza people
The Hadzabe eagerly collect stingless bee honey all year long. They do this destructively by cutting open the hives in tree hollows, and both honey and brood are harvested and eaten. Foraging on these insects has not significantly affected the…
Traditional huts of the Hadza people
The huts of the Hadza people, who live away from governmental infrastructure, built-up villages, and the tourist entertainment circus, instill an archaic feeling in the eyes and hearts of an observer—single, low-sized, grass-thatched dens amongst the vegetation. Suddenly, fierce-looking men…
Hottentotta trilineatus scorpions at Yaeda South in Tanzania
We found Hottentotta trilineatus scorpions when camping on a rocky ridge in the Yaeda South area. The place where we put up our tent was about 2 km / 1.2 miles from the next Hadza grass shelter and in the…
Hadza water sources
The Hadzabe (plural of Hadza) natural environments are the escarpments and rocky, wooded hills that form the watersheds for Lake Eyasi and Yaeda Swamp in Tanzania. In this Rift Valley environment, seasonal rainfall changes and surface water availability from runoff…
Climbing a Baobab tree
A Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is characteristic of African Savannah biomes. In Tanzania, the Hadza people in the mountainous southern area of Lake Eyasi taught us to climb these trees. Although it is not difficult, knowing the techniques for a…
Wild Sweetpea tubers as food for Hadza people
Wild Sweetpea (Vigna frutescens) tubers are a staple source of starchy food for the Hadza people in Tanzania. The plant’s common name in the Hadza language is //ekwa. To collect them, groups of Hadza women regularly head out into the…
Vine snakes of Africa
Vine Snakes (previously called Twig or Bird Snakes) are widespread across Africa and are usually found in warm savannas and forested areas. There are currently four species and one subspecies of Vine Snake in Africa. The status and distinguishing features…
Batwa pygmies traditional fire lighting method
The Batwa people live in the area around Bwindi Mgahinga National Park in Uganda. This park is significant because it houses half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. The Batwa were the last tribe permitted to hunt in this national…