Bushmeat and Djoum

6.13.08 - Djoum - We headed south of the Dja Reserve to visit a small town called Djoum and see Living Earth's projects there. Our main focus was the Baka people and the Eco guards (rainforest guards in charge of regulating bushmeat). We had a short visit (2 days), but the town is 6 hours from Yaounde and only 2 of those are on paved roads. We had some great experiences and got to see the more gruesome side of the bushmeat trade. 

Victor and his sound tech, DJ Caramel (I couldn't make this up if I tried) came along to record the sound of the Baka for Victor's new song. We are going to film it as a music video for Living Earth, should be fun. Below are a few pictures from the week.

Thanks,

Will

Baka drummer
Kid who is very proud of his bushmeat. That's a class B monkey and we're 95% sure he shouldn't have killed it. I wasn't going to tell him that though. 
Baka kids started dancing to Victor's music when we pulled up to this village. 
Madame (something) and her husband use the small trade skills they learned from Living Earth to sell tie dye blankets and shirts. They also gave us grapefruit which was the size of a basketball and excellent. 
Baka dancing and singing for Victor and DJ Caramel. 
When we came to visit the Baka at night to film them dancing Victor pulled up the truck to give us some light. The headlights created some really dramatic scenes and these three boys looked very serious at night. They remind me of three monks in contemplation.