HUNTING WITH THE PYGMIES

If you feel like a spot of hunting in the jungles of Central Africa then a visit to Dzanga Sancha Park is a must. It is located in the south of the C.A.R., close to the border with the D.R.C. (formerly Zaire). Other than a 1st class tourist lodge, the other main accommodation option here is camping. There are cleared camping sites, complete with toilets and showers.

The park has a colony of gorillas and also a large herd of elephants. You can take a trek through the jungle and look for these animals. After a 6-hour walk one morning all I saw was a gorilla nest (empty) and a squirrel. My friends who went on the elephant trek did get to see a lot of elephants.

HUNTING FOR DUIKER

A highlight though, is to go hunting for duiker with the pygmies. Duiker are small deer-like animals and are a prized food for the pygmies. The duiker are chased through the jungle towards nets which are set up between the trees. Our hunt yielded six duiker which is considered to be a good catch.

IN THE JUNGLE

We walked through the jungle for a few hours. It was very hot, and we stopped often to drink pure fresh water from large vines hanging from the jungle trees. Whilst I didn't see the duiker until they were netted, the pygmies knew where they would be, and made a lot of noise to force the duiker towards the nets. The women and men hunted together, with some of the women taking their babies with them, strapped onto their backs or side. Not once did I hear the babies cry or complain. Just a normal part of their lives I suppose!

IN THE JUNGLE

The pygmies used only nets to catch the duiker. The nets are woven from vine fibres, and they have many metres of nets that are strung out along the jungle floor at strategic places. Once the duiker is caught they are quickly dispatched with a knock on the head. After we had captured 6 of the little animals we left the jungle and returned to the clearing where we had left our truck. The duiker was cut up and the little pieces wrapped in banana leaves and tied with small vines.

We had collected the pygmies from their village, enroute to the hunting area. With the 20 members of our group, we also had about 18 pygmies in the back of the truck as well. They did a lot of singing and dancing on the way there and back. They were very pleased to have caught 6 duiker. The place where we hunted was a fair way out from their camp and they didn't always get the opportunity to go so far for their hunting.