Abandoned Alone in an African Tribe

foreign ly this story did not end up how I had wanted it to as you'll see at the end of our video however the seat for this idea was planted about a year ago from Amar also I think Thomas in an environment like this would be so uncomfortable so please let us know in the comments if you want to see Thomas abandoned and a rural African village the idea was for me to be abandoned in an African tribe for at least a day looks like someone's going to a maroon without me you're abandoning me is not all that's happening these blackout people that I'm going to spend time with live in Cameroon and they're like almost like uncontacted like they're very very very remote to live with them learn from them and immerse myself in an environment that I've never gotten close to experiencing before yeah on this road trip it's gonna be pretty dangerous there have been kidnappings in Northern Cameron but I don't think I've been this nervous than I've been in a while and so right after our first episode of our African Saga which I highly recommend you go watch after this if you haven't seen it already I travel to the country for our Second Adventure in Africa one which let's just say was filled with surprises [Music] to get to the tribe we were searching for we had to drive about 15 hours rainy days we begin the road trip deep into the Eastern outskirts of Cameroon near the border of the Central African Republic a country currently in Civil War and thus a place few visitors ever make it to officially arrived on dirt roads how many kilometers on dirt roads red and 89. we're going far yeah so we keep getting stopped by people trying to find a flaw in the car to charge for something that I can catch you on and say okay for example ten thousand five thousand for no reason a little bit of traffic yeah local traffic as we were driving further and further away from the capital I'll admit that I was getting nervous our only spare tire for the way there and back was now used and as the remoteness of where we were heading was sinking in it dawned on me how far out we were in the eventuality that anything went wrong okay this is the town that we are staying in bucket tribe is kilometers into the jungle from here so that evening we arrived at the only hotel in the Village near the forest where the tribe lives home sweet home for the night okay great real good it's yeah as we make our way to the tribe I'd first like to share with you an opportunity to join me on an adventure next year and I promise probably not as crazy as this one with the most reoccurring comment DM and email we received being from you guys wanting to join us on adventures we've decided to open the door for that to happen as our primary fuel for these adventures and the Rockstar team behind yes Theory being seek discomfort will be bringing three people who participate on our holiday drop this season with us on a trip with me next year we currently have the largest collection of products we've ever released expansion packs of our card game a vast edition of brand new designs this week restocked and improved Sherpa hoodies and our Seeker essential collection extended to also include love over fear and yes we've made shipping free for international orders above 150 and free in the US for orders above 99. and on top of that Tommy will literally come to your house and do your dishes for a year so go to see discomfort.com to get your seat gear and an entry ticket to join us on an adventure next year all right today's the day going into the jungle to meet the blackout people I'd like to introduce you to the Baka people the Baka are considered the principal hunter-gatherers of the tropical rainforest of Central West Africa averaging one and a half meters or five feet in height they were formally referred to as pygmies a term now considered derogatory they live semi-nomadic Lifestyles mostly surviving by foraging and setting traps in the jungle an art form they have perfected over centuries and centuries of expert survival they reside primarily in Southeastern Cameroon Northern Gabon and in the northern part of the Republic of Congo however sadly much like many indigenous communities around the world tobacca people have been driven out of their native lands deep in the forest in the interests of harvesting the natural resources of the area for these reasons we have chosen to spend some time with this marginalized Community to learn from them and experience what their lives are like today halfway living at the edge between towns with schools and hospitals and deep in the jungle like their ancestors the plan is for me to be dropped off completely on my own with this small village of nine families hoping to learn as much as I can and the time given to me I'll be honest that I did not really know what to expect from this experience all I can tell you is that I went into the strip with an open mind and an open heart our welcoming committee wow oh my God [Music] [Music] wow I was not expecting this at all just the warmest workout I've ever received I can't describe what I'm feeling right now [Music] I'm walking into the woods now where they live and then I'll be with them for the next 24 to 36 hours I can't say that when we started this channel I'd ever think I'd end up this remote but I guess here we are I'm assuming they don't really receive a whole lot of visitors probably they don't come from Sweden the chief we're showing you uh where they are living yeah before gaining their independence in 1960 Cameroon was colonized by the French Republic meaning that to this day French is still one of the most common spoken languages which did make it a lot easier for me to communicate with the locals and a few of the Baka this is I've been to a lot of remote places but I don't think I've ever felt this far away from home in my whole life the husband and wife sleep back there three kids sleep right here are we nervous yeah but also I chose to be here I'm humbled to be here so I'm also very grateful that they've made a space for me um the only traditional wow oh Mercy Mercy Mercy wow the warmest welcome I've ever received as a gift and a thank you we brought a lot of food we brought rice we brought soap we brought salt sugar we will be Distributing also some some funds to each of the families as just as a thank you for letting us be here it's not something that they're expecting or asking for it was foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] did I end up here I've been far away from home I'm not gonna say I haven't done that before but never alone in these circumstances I don't know what I will eat I don't know how I will drink I did bring a little bit of water because they drink from a stream down here and although I have a water filter the risk of getting sick for me is probably quite high so I've chosen to be a little bit safe on the waterfront the food I have no clue I didn't bring anything with me and don't know what to expect wow he's saying it even helps with malaria he's saying they get malaria often out here yeah it must not be easy to deal with in these circumstances they've learned French by now being having moved further from the forest closer to the Villages 20 years ago the Baka were taken out of the depth of the forest to be moved closer to the Villages the current generation is thus now living at the edge of it maintaining their traditions and way of life the best they can yet feeling pressured to let go of their past finding themselves somewhere in between their ancestors lives and the rest of the local Society at the moment the village is doing various things some are snacking on some of the gifts some are cleaning up some are hanging out the little moments of watching each house I think I'm gonna keep saying it never felt this remote before after a few hours spent with the tribe tending to various tasks the younger generation wanted to head into the forest [Music] I have no idea where we're going we're just we're just going oh my God I've never seen this many ants before wow there are giant ants and what I would quickly find out is that these ants bite right look now I know why they were worried about those ants whoa look at that one massive caterpillar oh they sting the road is getting more and more challenging leaving the path at this point ah we're setting traps so we are hunting right now the Baka Hunt and Gather much of their own food the men hunt and trap in the surrounding Forest using often poison arrows and Spears to Great effects [Music] in this instance they're hoping to catch small antelopes that inhabit the region and Forest rodents he's chewing on some bark that I think he's gonna spit all over what they chewed and spat on the traps will attract animals that they're hoping to catch okay wow what they're now searching for are coca leaves common in several communities around the world raw coca leaves chewed and consumed as tea are rich in nutritional properties and minerals such as calcium potassium vitamin C and nutrients such as protein and fiber and they go to Great Lengths to find them the love of God please don't fall one [Music] two and then there's one up there somehow he's making this look very easy you gotta have some serious Corners to climb that tree to bring back some coca leaves there are ants all over my shoes so many ants okay I'm a total amateur here that was amazing Thunder is really coming in it's starting to rain okay wow looks like they're fortifying their Hut here for the rain to come yeah wow they brought some plantains look at that but plantains actually sounds great right now I haven't eaten anything all day oh yeah I'm gonna take a break from eating these plantains [Music] I'm cool [Music] exactly a lot of kids here [Laughter] they're playing with a piece of flip-flop that I think they've cut in a circle so it rolls foreign piece of cardboard [Music] [Laughter] kids will find a way to play any way possible [Music] it looks like a potato actually not bad Mercy wow so kind messy yeah they were down there earlier preparing it I didn't realize it was for me they were cleaning it prepared it it's very sweet but the root is better than the plantain I will say that after eating a bit of the food they had offered me I heard drums outside of my Hut the evening drums and dancing begins five o'clock the evenings as the sun sets they like to dance and sing the sun sets the back of people's long-lasting tradition and importance of dancing and singing flourishes and its full Glory [Applause] [Music] freely immersed and deep right now but words can't describe as surreal all of this is right now I've got such Collective Harmony [Music] there are non-block at people from the neighboring Village Rolling In The Vibes are [Applause] [Music] we've been here for over an hour now and it's been um it's been amazing to witness [Applause] come on [Music] the sun is basically setting almost fully set I can't really tell one heck of a day thank you it is currently night don't really know what people are doing there's somebody standing outside my tent staring at me um I feel a little bit more nervous with it being Sundown and random people not from this Village coming in and out having heard that there's some strange man sleeping in a hut but I have a lot of emotions to process but overall I'm just grateful that we're here now who's outside my tent but there's a group of them standing there mizami um are we wow foreign conversation with that man very eye-opening yeah foreign foreign [Music] [Music] was constructed with a bucket person in mind not a lanky Swedish dude so I feel completely hang off the edge very sweet of them to give me the space though for now over and out [Music] morning it's at 6 30 a.m slept better than I thought I would love you foreign good morning and I hope that you're okay okay I'm good thank you I'm not too sure what's going on they're just they're standing here I'm standing there they're as confused as I am just looking at each other Lost in Translation today I'll be leaving the tribe and after spending a slow morning playing with some of the kids I spend more time trying to understand the Bacca tribe's day-to-day struggle for survival now we're gonna go collect some water I'm not fully sure how whoa okay you know it's so easy to take water for granted we just have it on on tap here just the task of retrieving Waters there's a track in a journey what a survival challenge from your shoes [Music] foreign unfortunately the end of our story took the biggest bad turn I'd ever been faced with while filming and we had to leave swiftly I don't know if this will make the story but Cameron's Secret Service is alert wondering what a foreigner is doing in the area worried that I'm the Spy but now we're kind of hiding a little bit trying to skip out come and ask more questions this is turning into a whole thing I can't leave the car the Brave and humble backup people who welcomed me as they did however truly touch me hearing firsthand from a community disconnected from its roots and struggling with finding a path into the future left me feeling without answers I wish I could say that their future is secured and they will eventually get looked after but that seems uncertain at this point as the world grows more and more into a globalized and modernized Society smaller communities like these are left struggling and I hope that as a worldwide Community we can make communities like this a greater priority in our actions and conversations as we left some local Authority for some reason assumed I was a foreign spy and sent soldiers to come and arrest me you can make a call to the Embassy for you yeah yeah there is a lot of abuse that you are facing here as a generation camera they sent people to the hotel we stayed in and searched for information and my local fixers came to get me to leave the area as quickly as we could this eventually turned into the most stressful race to leave a country in a rush I'd ever been through we drove 15 hours straight to the airport and I took the first flight leaving although we've done everything we usually do on trips like this something went wrong and my Africa Adventure was temporarily interrupted as I flew home to Paris to process what had just happened

Channel: Yes Theory

Views: 2,186,151

Keywords: yestheory, seek discomfort, yes theory strangers, yes theory travel, yes theory subscribers, getting out of your comfort zone, Amazon FBA, yes theory africa, cameroon, Cameroon travel, pygmie tribe, baka people, baka tribe, african tribe, african travel, african exploration

Id: NqI6PMRxT0Y

Length: 24min 25sec (1465 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 27 2022