Lake Eyasi and the Hadzabe Visit

If you are interested in experiencing diverse tours and activities on top of vehicle based safaris or beach vacations during your trip to Tanzania, then Lake Eyasi could be one of the most exciting tours you can do on your Tanzania visit!

Where is Lake Eyasi?

Lake Eyasi is a soda lake at the southwestern end of the Ngorongoro Conservative Area. It is about 1 hour drive from Karatu town or about 4 hours from Arusha and it can be added to safari itineraries covering Northern Tanzania by adding a day to the plan.

Highlights of Eyasi

We all have read about the hunter-gatherers in our history books. But what if you could meet one today? The region near Lake Eyasi is home to one such tribe. The Hadzabes - the last hunter gatherer community of East Africa. You can gain an insight into how our ancestors used to live before the advent of agriculture and so much more.

If you are interested or if the time permits, you can also meet the semi-nomadic Datoga tribe that lives nearby.

The region is also famous for the variety of birds that it attracts and teh beautiful natural scenery.

Visiting Eyasi will definitely be quite a different experience from the safaris at Tarangire, Manyara, or Serengeti.

The Hadzabe

Who are they?

The Hadzabe are the last hunter-gatherer community in East Africa. Their practices have changed very little in over 10,000 years.

They do not engage in agriculture or domesticating livestock. Instead, each morning, the men head out with their handmade bows to catch animals and collect honey while the women and kids look for edible plants and items such as fruits, tubers, berries, figs and nuts.

The Hadzabe hold back from wearing modern clothes manufactured in factories, instead, they rely on animal skins for clothing.

What can you expect?

Your assigned tour guide will arrange a local guide who can speak the tribe’s language, Hadzane, and lead you to the bush to search for the tribe. Once you find them you are welcome to fully immerse yourself in the Hadzabe culture by following the men on their hunts or going along with the women to collect fruits. The hunting and gathering begins quite early in the morning so you will have to wake up at around 5 or 5:30 a.m.

Further, life in the wild has made the bushmen fit, and they are quick and nimble on their feet. They won’t stop for the tourists while they are following animal trails. So you will have to be quick to keep up with the men during the hunt. Once you get used to it however, things will begin to get easier and you might even be able to understand their hand and whistle signals. The men will also collect honey and larvae from the bee-hives in Baobab trees. They eat the salty tasting larvae along with honey.

If you find it difficult to keep up with the men on the hunt, you can choose to accompany the women as they gather fruit. They will show you the trees from which they collect berries and fruits. Tubers and tangy tasting baobab fruits are other items that they often collect.

Once the hunt is over, you can join the tribe around the campfire and get to know them with the help of guides. You may discuss hunting techniques, dance with the tribesmen, and learn to make bows, arrows, and jewellery with them. The Hadza might show you how to make arrows and give shooting lessons as well. You will notice that the language of the Hadzabe people is unique. It is one of the few languages that uses click sounds.

Things to consider before the visit

To have an authentic experience you will have to be prepared to get up really early in the morning for the hunt and get dusty. The Hadzabe live in caves with minimal possessions so they might not be able to offer you a clean stool or a mat to sit on. Even during the hunts you might be required to crouch or sit on the ground in the wild.

To add to that, if killing animals and cutting them open for cooking will make you uncomfortable then you should reconsider your visit to the Hadzabe camps. However, it must be noted that the animals will not be killed by the tribesmen simply for putting on a show for you. Hunting animals for food is a part of their lifestyle and they will kill and cook animals whether you are present there or not.

The Hadza visit will also be very different from a Maasai tour. A Maasai tour is not entirely authentic as during the tour you will not accompany them on their daily activities such as cattle grazing, farming, or collecting water. But the Hadza visit won’t be commercialised or staged. You will be accompanying Hadza people on their daily activities. They will engage in the same hunt, fruit collection, arrow making and other activities the next day when you are not there.

The experience will be interesting and quite unique then. After all, it is not every day that you come across a hunter-gatherer community in this modern world!

Want to learn more?

Being a hunter-gatherer community in the modern world, the Hadzabe are studied extensively and many papers, books, and articles are written on them. If you would like to learn more about them you might find books such as The Language of the Land by James Stephenson interesting. James spent months with the tribe, so the book recollects the experiences he had while staying with the tribe and its philosophies. One of the main philosophies of the Hadza is that man is not the master of the universe, rather he is one of the many creatures that helps the universe stay healthy and balanced.

The Hadza: Hunter-Gatherers of Tanzania by Frank Marlowe is another interesting book. It will cover religion, social structure, culture etcetera. But this book will also go into evolution and behavioural ecology

The Datoga

While the Hadzabe attract more tourists to Lake Eyasi, there is another tribe that lives nearby - The Datoga Tribe. They aren’t hunter-gatherers like the Hadza, however. They farm sheep and engage in agriculture. The Datoga are excellent metalworkers as well. They make weapons, jewellery, tools, and other useful items out of iron.

What to expect?

When you approach them, like the Maasai, they will warmly welcome you into their area by performing dances and leading you into their homes. Datoga speak in a language called Datooga, but the guides will be able to translate the language for you so that you can really get to know their lifestyle. They might even ask you to take part in rituals such as grinding corn or trying your hand at making arrows.

The Datoga like the Maasai might try to sell you some of their items but most of them will be small and affordable, and they won’t be as pushy as the Maasai. So the purchases can be seen as donations to the camp instead.

You can visit both the Hadzabe and the Datoga within the same day if you start early in the morning. With the Hadzabe you will be going on hunts and fruit collection, but with the Datoga, it will simply be visiting their houses, seeing a bunch of daily activities such as ironwork and chatting with them.

How many birds can you spot?

Besides the tribes, Lake Eyasi has a variety of birds to offer. If you are someone who takes a great deal of interest in birds, then you must visit Eyasi. The salty, shallow waters of the lake attract hundreds of birds such as flamingoes, pelicans, Fischer’s lovebirds, weavers, and storks. Your guide can help you spot and identify these birds standing near the shores of the lake or resting in the palm trees nearby. So make sure you carry your binoculars with you.

Along with the birds, however, your guide can help you spot other animals. You might be able to see hippopotamuses submerged in the lake, or ungulates such as dik-diks, giraffes and zebras in the bushes close to the lake.