Lake Eyasi – Safari Into the Past, People in a faraway place used to hunt and gather food for food thousands of years ago come to mind when you say the words “hunter-gatherer.” But at Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania, you can find a group of hunter-gatherer people who live the same way they have for thousands of years, without any modern technology.

Taking a break from your African safari, a side trip to the lake will lead you to the towns of the Hadzabe people, who have been living off of bow hunting and gathering fruit and honey in the area for 10,000 years.

The Tindiga people who live near this big salty lake at the bottom of the Great Rift Valley are the same way. The Datooga are also very good at making things. They trade their well-made swords with the Hadzbe for meat and animal skins.

Let’s take a break from the typical safari route and spend some time with these bush people. We can visit their towns, go on foot adventures with them, and see firsthand how well these hunter-gatherers use their survival skills.

The Hadzabe love having people visit their towns and showing off their way of life. You are welcome to join them as they gather local fruits. You can spend the night in the area and join them in their daily activities. You can even try your hand at one or two of their traditional dances.

The last hunter-gatherers in the world will let you see their cave homes and learn about their way of life. Even though the British and later the Tanzanian government taught the Hadzabe how to farm many times, they have always gone back to their more nomadic way of life and lived off the land.

Their way of life depends on hunting, so they make strong bows with giraffe fibers as the string. As they hunt, they will ask you to join them. This will give you a chance to see how our ancestors interacted with the animals in the area.

The Hadzabe people speak a language that is different from all the other languages in the area. Their language has a unique clicking sound that breaks up the words.

If you meet them, you’ll be in the company of a unique group of people who don’t really understand what it means to own an animal. A Hadzabe shooter will think of an animal as “fair game” if he sees it. These people really believe that everyone is equal. There are no chiefs and no differences in rank based on age or gender.

Spending a day or two at their camp is sure to open people’s eyes, make them happy, and calm them down.

You’ll quickly get used to how this peaceful society works. Take a walk to the different camps and along the shore of Lake Eyasi. There is a lot of bright birdlife there, which will make this picture perfect.

After a break, you’ll continue your northern Tanzania tour with a fresh view of the land, the animals, and the interesting people who live there. This gives us a chance to learn about the best of our species.