Yaeda Valley - Thurs March 5

Nice breakfast of eggs and bacon.

Walk with Hadza folks to their encampment. It was uphill and already hot, even though it was about 9 AM.

We tried the baobob tree nut. Toured their huts. Saw some frames of abandoned huts.

Pallanygo talked with a woman who had a child with a skin problem.

Walked some more to where the women were digging roots. The roots looked pretty woody. They then carried the ones they had dug to the shade of a baobob tree and started a fire. They heated the roots and chewed on them. We tried them. It tasted like potato but were woody. You toss the woody material.

The men sat in a different location from the men. They were starting a fire for their pipe. I got to try to start a fire. The put a thin piece of wood on their knife blade and then had a pointed stick to spin on top. I got enough embers to start the ball of grass they had.

Mom had been driven over by LeMaria. Dad went back in the Rover. Robin and I walked back. We had hot dogs for lunch and napped. We also took a shower.

In the afternoon we went up on a large boulder and watched the men make arrows. They first straightened the shafts and got the correct thickness. Then the pointed them (no arrow heads were used). They cut spirals in the point to make it stick a little better. They also put markings on the shaft. After cutting the grooves that put some grease from the kitchen in the groove and then ash from the fire. Finally then tied guinea hen feathers on.

I picked up the piece of wood and tried my had at doing what they were doing. I wish I had brought a better knife. Dad had pulled out his swiss army knife. They didn't have any problem using that. They even sharpened it before use.

They then went and tried the arrows out. Their bows were simple. They used a thin piese of nylon rope for the bowstring. They let Robin and I try shooting. The bow was very strong. I couldn't pull it back as far as they could.

After dinner the Hadza came out with an instrument and played some songs, sang, and danced. Robin and I danced a Rumba. We sang and old camp song too. They brought out the arrows and gave them to us.