A valiant posture with the bow and arrow,

Robust bodies immune to poison,

Their live’s mission is to hunt and to survive.

Expressing in clicks and sounds,

Covered in animal skin, beads and dust,

The sun is their time-keeper and nature their home.

They have not evolved.

We are in 21^st century where humans think of progression and future. In Tanzania, there exist close to a thousand nomads, the last hunter-gatherers of Africa whose only purpose is to forage for food and survive. Reminds you of the movie, Gods Must be Crazy?

Dwelling around Lake Eyasi in the Northern Safari Circuit, The Hadzabe are welcoming tribal nomads that invite travelers to explore their way of living. Being the last reminding hunters of the world, here is what will drive you to explore their life on your next African adventure.

How do you identify these wanderers in Tanzania?

A hadza, foraging for hunt, awakened by an animal sound

The Hadzabe have a unique personalities. They roam freely around the lake zone with their bow and arrow, often foraging for food, mostly fruits or wild animals. One can recognize them with nude figures barely covered in animal skin and colorful beads, their dust layered physique, keen to every sight and sound around.

Walking into a day of the Hadzabe

The role of men and women in the Hadzabe tribe

An interesting fact about these nomads- they are unaware of time and dates. When the sun rises, the entire group of 20-30 starts moving together or sometimes it is only the men, hunting for food. Their arrows and bows smeared in poison, the Hadzas searching for anything edible including squirrels and birds to large animals-snakes being the only exceptions.

The women often stayed back, digging roots for medicine and making beads and jewelry from porcupine thorns. Once the men are back, they eat their meat cooked on a bonfire and gave me some.

The life of the hadza is simple yet bewildering. They will eat roots when ill, children smoke weed and exchanging partners is not something astonishing.

The sound of click is their language

A local woman expressing in the click language

The hadzabe have not evolved and do not identify with the modern man. Their expressions are limited to a unique click language, only understood by their groups. One may wonder, how would the sounds of click help them communicate clearly and efficiently? For the Hadzabe, it is only about survival each day. What to eat, how to hunt and how to survive? Their expressions and interactions are centered on their simplistic lifestyle. Men are mostly seen fighting for their special arrows. They share intimacy during special nights when they try to impress women, however there is no daily bonding or any defined relation. They chat in clicks and prefer to interact with the people moving in their group.

Foraging is the top-most priority for their survival

Are there any other unusual habits that are linked to this tribe?

The Hadzabe never bathe and their bodies are often covered with dust.
Water is not considered essential for survival and they do not look for sources to quench their thirst or clean themselves.
They can hunt down almost any animal with their poisonous arrows made from tree-bark and their bodies are immune to these poisons and what may seem harmful for a normal human being.
They sleep on animal skin and cover themselves with the same, sometimes adorned with colorful beads.
They may seem to lack an IQ, however, their survival skills are impressive.

What is the most astonishing aspect of the Hadza life?

Hadza men get together at dusk

The Hadza live a stress-free life. Unlike us evolved humans who get worried and get excited by just with a charger that we left back home, the Hadzas are not tempted by materialistic possessions. Even If they do not find food, they do not get restless and are patient with nature. They live for the moment and survival is their only motive.

The Hadzabe is becoming an extinct tribe and with a few thousands of them remaining, it is likely their presence become history in few years. Wouldn’t it fascinating to spend some time with them now? Write to us and we will plan a special tour for you to the Hadzabe, during your Northern Circuit Safari.