Fishing the Dja

6.21-22.08 - Sangmelima - We went out on the Dja River, which runs in almost a complete oval before it trickles into the Congo River, forming a natural border around the reserve. On the river's edge live the Kaka, a fishing tribe in southern Cameroon. The fishermen took us on a short trip down the river to watch them set nets and fish in their dugout canoes. It was an amazing experience.

As we started filming, the fisherman in the red hat started singing a song (pretty perfect, singing a hymn-like song as you are floating down a river in the rainforest) as he gently laid the nets into the water and pulled out other nets he had set the day before. Then suddenly he pulled up what appeared to be a small catfish and quietly stopped singing to beat the hell out of the fish. Then, he went back to peacefully singing and the Tao of the river was restored. 

Living Earth provided these fishermen with a deep freezer to allow them to collect more fish and sell it at market in town. They are currently trying to finance a motor boat because the fisherman have to travel nearly 40 km down river to bring in enough fish to feed their families and sell at market. 40 km is a long way to go in a dugout, hence the motor boat.

River scene
Dropping a net.
Checking for holes.
The aforementioned catfish...poor bastard.

Heading back home.
Heading back home 2.
The day's catch, small, but delightful.
The catch was bought by one of our assistants to take home for dinner. 

Bushmeat troubles in Sangmelima

6.20.08 - Sangmelima - We hit the road from Yaounde for seven days of filming in the Dja. On our way down, we ran into a few guys selling bushmeat on the roadside. Again, they probably are hunting it illegally, but no one seems to really care that much. The government and NGOs are trying to stop commercial hunters, but so many people trap one or two animals casually that its hard to say what's more destructive over time. The fact is these animals are being killed at an alarming rate and the market for bushmeat isn't slowing fast enough. 

In Sangmelima, we met another hunter-turned-cane rat farmer, Samuel Ayolo, that Living Earth had trained. He is enjoying a good life raising the valuable rodents to eat and sell (new house, feeding 17 kids with a lot less effort than hunting bushmeat) and hopefully he can spread the word that hunting is rarely worth the effort to friends and family. Until then, maybe these pics will help.

Selling these animals on the road for less than $10 (for the pair). The worst part about it was that the deer was still alive. Probably the most stirring image for me of the trip.

Samuel goes down the road from his house to collect this elephant cane which he feeds to the cane rats. Imagine my surprise when I finally figured out that's why their called "cane" rats.
A man sits in Samuel's village in the late evening as a kid walks by.

African Heat

6.18.08 - Yaounde - We filmed a music video for Victor's new song at a caberet somewhere in downtown Yaounde. It was cool, but after three hours of listening to the same song we were all a bit tired. Below are a few still from what should be an excellent production and of course, a set up shot.

Victor singing...I put that spotlight on him. One of my many talents.
The bongo/percussion guy. I tried to get a spot in his band (African Heat) as the triangle guy, but this dude beat me out. He was ok. I probably would be better.
Dom holding the boom in the center of the photo, Leah is on the far right, Victor is on the far left.

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. 

Western Dja

6.8.08 - Sangemelima - Below are shots of the Dja Reserve and the people we met there. It would be easy to say that some of these people appear impoverished and it would be an understatement to say they weren't, but the inside of some of these houses, miles away from the nearest "town" are incredible. Nicer than any double-wide trailer I've ever been in in the US. 

We got to see some traditional villages and met too many chiefs for me to remember (it seems like each house has one) and hiked through the Dja for a bit. I also learned the usefulness of a machete on more than one occasion. It was a good time and we are headed to the southern part on Tuesday for more fun in the sun. 

Until then,

Will

Baby crossing the road into the Dja. We stopped at this village to meet a plantain farmer.
The baby's family had a pet turtle. 
Leah filming over the Dja River. I was a little worried because the "road" the truck is on (note in the background) wasn't a road at all and we had to push it through mud a couple of times and use a machete a couple of more times. But we're still alive, so I guess I'm stronger for it.
Butterflies.
Baby and laundry!
Father and aforementioned baby.
David, the plantain farmer mentioned above.
A woman was cleaning/cooking these fish to sell to people that came by. We spent about three hours stopped here waiting for villagers to find the lost boat, so we could cross the river and walk into the Dja Reserve. Leah mentioned that she would not be eating fish for the rest of the trip after watching this lady clean about forty fish in one sitting.
Me in the Dja, the intrepid explorer.

Gorillas, chimps and monkees, Oh My!

6.04.08 - Yaounde - Today Leah and I went to the MEFOU National Park outside Yaounde and down a long dusty road we ran into a great ape sanctuary. Well, we didn't "run into it" it was there and we were going there. Anyway, it was excellent and we saw many a gorilla and chimpanzee. We both enjoyed it, but Leah could hardly contain her excitement at seeing the apes, especially the babies. 

We're doing a bit of filming for the Bristol Zoo (UK) there and putting together a project on how MEFOU is teaching children about preservation and stopping the bush meat trade. Some good people are working very hard to keep these animals from becoming extinct. Below are pictures from MEFOU and a project on Tuesday that took us to meet Justin a cane rat farmer in Yaounde. Living Earth has trained some farmers to raise cane rats as an alternative to hunting bushmeat that is more endangered. The rats are very, very cute and probably taste very good as well (sorry). We also went to the Yaounde Zoo, which works with MEFOU.

All good things, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow we're headed to the Dja Reserve in Southeast Cameroon.

-Will

Gorilla.
Two Gorillas playing.
Baby gorillas eating.
Justin walking home. Notice greenness and hilliness of Yaounde.
Jessica (Justin's daughter?). Cute a  button and asked me lots (and lots and lots) of questions about my camera...future journalist?
Children sang and danced songs about ending the bushmeat trade. Sounds like a dry subject, but there were chills down my spine. You can't see it but her shirt says "I [heart] dancin.'"
A monkey at the Yaounde Zoo. Don't mess with him he might stab you with some sort of shive made out of sugar cane.