Gulliver's Travels 04/07/2025

Dale Sievert (AKA) Gulliver

Cameroon    Part 2    November-December 2024

   In November and December of 2025 three of us toured Cameroon, a country in central Africa just north of the Equator.  On January 6th I published the first part of this Gulliver's Travels episode, so check it out for more information.  We visited several Indigenous tribes, and to me the most interesting was the Pygmy tribe, also known as the Ba'Aka.  They are about a foot shorter than Caucasians, and at times members of the taller Bantu tribe associate with them.  The Pygmies are a forest dwelling people, so they took us on several excursions into the forest to show us some basic aspects of their life.

Between tour stops we encountered a funeral.  After the burial, at least 300 people sang and danced to celebrate the life of the deceased.   

The Nynong River is one of the largest in Cameroon.  We took a leisurely trip on its placid waters in a hand-carved craft called a pirogue.

The Pygmies were showing us how they build their huts made of sticks and palm leaves.  First they clear a flat area in the forest with machetes.

This video shows the construction of the hut.

Here the tribe is celebrating the completion of the hut.

The branch of this tree holds a lot of water and can be used for hydration, obviating carrying containers of water.

​The Pygmies are animists, believing there are many "gods" or spirits associated with parts of nature.  A special one is the Spirit of the Forest, which appears about twice a year.  Here the tribe is making a costume out of palm leaves for the spirit to wear.

The Pygmies catch fish by damming a stream in two spots, then bail out the water between the dams to expose the fish.

Such effort is arduous, especially in the tropical heat and humidity.

After dark the Spirit of the Forest appears to the tribe wearing its costume.

EPILOGUE  
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​Pictures are good for showing how cultures differ, but videos really drive home the enormous differences between them.   Americans, generally, have little clue how well off they are.  Especially to me, an economist, I find it so ludicrous how so many think they either live in poverty...or at least are not "doing well." After spending time in Cameroon I find it extremely difficult to find such people, with the obvious exception of those "living" on the street.