"The shores of Lake Turkana, one of Africa's harshest environments, where people struggle to survive and in desperation dance for rain." "But in this desolate place I'm looked after by one of the most amazing people I have ever met, a woman of real warmth and great humour." "I don't know how you hug round here but there you go." "When there's drought on land, men risk their lives out on the lake hunting dangerous prey." "Guns don't bother me." "Crocs, now you're talking." "There's only a few inches of water between me and some of the most feared predators on earth." "He's big." "I'm on a three-month expedition down the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia." "It's a land of nomads, warriors and hunters whose traditions have been little changed by the outside world." "I want to find out what life is like in such an amazing place." "I believe the best way to do this is to live with the people I meet on my journey, to experience their culture first hand, to become, for a short while, one of the tribe." "I've been journeying down the Omo Valley for two months now and I'm a day away from my final destination," "Lake Turkana and the people that live around it." "My guides and I have a tough walk ahead." "Hot, dry winds blow in off the deserts to the south and dust devils snake across the plains." "It looks like we're heading into an unforgiving land." "I'm getting close to Lake Turkana at the southern end of the Omo Valley." "This ribbon of water stretches 170 miles from Kenya into Ethiopia but the land that surrounds it is a rain-starved desert plain." "The tribe that has settled here is called the Dassanech, the people of the delta." "I want to find out how they live in such an arid land." "After a hot, restless night and a morning's trek through a wind-blown landscape, we come to a village a few miles from the lake shore." "It's something like out of a Star Wars set." "These fantastic domed, matted huts." "How are you?" "The village is called Bubwa and I'm welcomed by one of its elders, Abanesh." "That's a good strong handshake." "Nice to meet you." "She asks if I'd like to rest in her hut." "I think we've been invited to get out of the sun and frankly I'd love to just hang and chat to everyone but we really need to take some shade." "This is coffee." "Thank you." "The first thing I must do is meet the village chief, but I'm told he's not here." "In his absence Abanesh gives me an official welcome." "First impressions are quite strong here." "The females are always on the left and the men are on the right." "And what impression that has given me straightaway is that side is the switched-on side." "The girls are in control here, especially Abanesh the hostess." "It's really very noticeable that the things that get done happen because of what's going on that side of the room." "My interpreters explain that I've come here to see how people live." "She tells me most of the tribe depend on goats and cattle but some Dassanech are so poor they have no livestock." "Their only option is to live off the lake by fishing." "I've just spent two months living with cattle-herding tribes." "This is the first time I've come across fishermen in the Omo Valley." "Abanesh says I can find them by the lake shore." "We make our way to the edge of Lake Turkana, a few miles from the village." "This marshland is the first real bit of greenery I've seen since I walked into Dassanech territory." "I'm taken to a camp where fish are being dried and nets fixed." "I'm told this area is plagued with mosquitoes at night and only the most desperate of villagers stay here." "Let's try some." "My first fish out of the lake." "Sun-dried." "Mm." "Really good." "But there's more than fish on the menu." "One of the children has a large tooth around his neck." "It's from a crocodile." "There's not just fishermen here, there are hunters too." "I meet Orkotch and his friend Niria, busy repairing an eight-foot harpoon." "They are one of a small group who risk their lives for crocodile meat." "What's the biggest crocodile that you've ever caught?" "Measured against this." "Except the head of the crocodile." " All of this?" " Yeah." "And then a little bit more for the head?" "And its teeth were like..." "Its teeth?" "I'm amazed that Orkotch goes after such big crocs armed only with a harpoon." "He may be wearing a Manchester United football shirt but he's using a way of hunting that's thousands of years old." "There's so many guns in this area but to find an indigenous hunting skill like this that is still very much part of daily life is really quite incredible and I hadn't expected to find that on my trip down the Omo Valley." "So it's a real find." "And of course for these guys it's daily life, daily food." "They say it's not dangerous but of course they would." "Orkotch and Niria say they'll take me with them when they next go out on the lake." "The next morning I wake up in the middle of a sandstorm." "It's difficult to grow anything here." "These grain stores are almost empty." "Dassanech culture is based on nomadic herding and many of the 200 people in Bubwa still live this way." "The lake shore is fertile but there's not enough grazing land for the whole of the tribe." "Those who lose their livestock to drought are forced to hunt and fish instead." "In this society no cattle means low status." "Orkotch and the others like him are looked down upon." "They are known as the Dies, the poor." "I want to find out more about these fishermen-hunters of the tribe." "I go to see Abanesh, the old lady who greeted me yesterday, to see if she knows somewhere I can stay in the village." "This is hers." "Er, my hope is to move into the village and hopefully live with a family, especially, if possible, a Dies family, so I can learn a little bit more about the hunting and the fishing because in my journey down the Omo" "I have already spent much time with pastoralists." "Do you have any recommendations for somewhere that I could stay because the chief is not here still?" "She's saying no problem, you can even stay here in her house." "Really?" "What a very generous, kind offer." "Abanesh tells me she's a livestock owner like most of the tribe." "But she's grown up alongside the fishermen-hunters, the Dies, and she likes what they bring her." " Crocodile tasting good." " Croc tastes good?" " Crocodile's the one?" " Crocodile is good." "I go to meet Orkotch and the rest of the hunters." "It's sunset and they're preparing to go out on the lake." "Guys, before you take me out on my first hunt, is there anything that I should know?" "What is the plan for this evening?" " He say that you're doing nothing." " Doing nothing." " You stay and see how we are hunting." " Stay and watch." "Fantastic." "It's only God who is putting out us from this kind of dangers." "OK." "This goes against the grain." "This is crocodile hunting in shallow water with potentially big crocs." "There is risks in this." "These guys, every day, but for me..." "And I hope I don't upset the apple cart, so to speak." "I hope I don't rock the boat too much." "I wouldn't want to be in the water while they're harpooning crocodiles." "There's big ones out here, I know that." "The cameraman will stay a safe distance behind in another boat." "If we catch a croc, I'll radio him in." "From now on I'm going to follow the action on my infrared camera." "So we are now formally on a croc hunt." "This is my man with a harpoon in front." "Behind me you can see the other guy who's pushing out as well." "That's the bank behind us." "It's really serene, actually." "Considering what's gonna be going on later it's a very peaceful, ethereal kind of an evening." "Lake Turkana has some of the largest crocodiles in Africa." "Some live to 80 years of age and weigh in at three quarters of a ton." "We're finally out on the open water and it's fantastic." "We're just holding up until the sun goes down a little bit more and then we're gonna head over to some other reedy areas, to the shallows, where the crocs might be hiding." "Just me and my guys and then the other boat with those boys." "It's a new moon so it's gonna be really dark." "These guys..." "They're good boys, this lot." "I like them a lot." "When the wind drops, a cloud of mosquitoes descend upon us." "My insect repellent is suddenly in demand." "The only things from the outside world they'd normally use out here are torches to pick out the eyes of crocodiles in the water." "You can tell how big a crocodile is by the distance between its eyes." "Yes." "A huge one swims right in front of us." "We let it go by." "We'd need more than two boats to take it on." "It doesn't look like it's going to be our night but the hunters need something to feed their families so they go and check their fishing nets." "As we push the canoes towards the shore I step on something, a small crocodile." "One of the men stabs it with a harpoon but it happens so fast I don't have time to film it." "Back in the village the hunters wake their families and a pot is put on the fire." "The meat won't keep for long in this climate, so it's cooked as soon as we get home, even though it's two in the morning." " Bruce." " Yeah." " Come." " Which bit shall I have?" "It's really fatty but it's very nice, very tasty." "It's not fishy at all." "It's like a normal white meat, quite like pork." "And it just goes to show, these guys, we hunted it a couple of hours ago, came back and it's been eaten straightaway." "The only thing that's left is the head, which I think the dog's gonna get." "These animals are hunted for subsistence and that's the way it goes round here." "It's only a tiny little one." "The guys have been hungry most of the day and it just went." "When I wake up the hut is empty." "Abanesh's husband and sons are often away with the cattle, so she lives with her three daughters." "I find them outside with some other women from the village." "Was that me?" "Was I snoring?" "No!" "Snoring in your hut." "I'm so sorry." "Is this me?" "My Lord!" "That's no good." "The lake is three miles from the village." "I've heard that it's drying up." "I ask Abanesh if she's seen it change over her lifetime." "The climate here is changing and the region has been hit by a serious drought." "Less rain is falling in the Omo Valley and so less is flowing into the lake." "And it's getting hotter too, which means more and more water is evaporating." "I try and catch up on some sleep but it's not easy in the heat of the day." "It's so, so sapping, this heat." "It's treacherous." "It's not surprising everyone just sits around most of the day." "There's no shade at all." "Every tiny little refuge is taken up and other than that people just have to go inside." "The one disadvantage I have here is that I just can't sleep in the middle of the day." "Everyone else has a long couple of hours' siesta and they all crash out when it gets treacherously hot like this, but for me it's the flies." "I just can't sleep during the middle of the day." "Just as I'm nodding off you get one casually walking across your lips." "It's enough to bring you back out again." "It's so frustrating." "I don't think I'll ever overcome that." "So I'm just getting less and less sleep as the days go on and it's really quite exhausting." "When it's cooled off a bit I go with the children to get water." "How old are you?" " I am ten years old." " You are ten years old." " How old are you?" " I am ten years old." " No, how old are you?" " I am ten years old." "How old are you?" "How old are you?" "You can't all be ten." "That would be illogical." "As the lake evaporates it's getting more and more salty, so the kids are sent to water holes a mile or so from Bubwa, a journey they have to make three times a day." "The village wells are holes dug deep into a dried-up river bed." "This river only flows for a few weeks a year and only then if there's enough rain." "Down here?" "Sure." "Getting water can be deadly." "A few days ago a man from a neighbouring village was killed when a well collapsed on top of him." "This really is a laborious task three times a day, isn't it?" "A tiny little cup." "God, there's next to no water left here." "This is low-grade stuff now." "It's all very mucky." "Oh, no." "That serves me right." "It's not really heavy at all but half an hour after carrying this I'm definitely gonna feel it." "It's all very well me just trying it once." "Imagine doing it three times a day every day just for the most basic of needs, which is drinking, and that then puts it into perspective." "The wind picks up and a storm starts to blow in but instead of rain it just brings more dust." "Fantastic." "I just got a wonderful greeting from Abanesh." "She came out..." "One of Abanesh's daughters is cooking the evening meal." "It's pretty basic, no meat, no veg, just sorghum grain." "Ah, look at that." "I'm giving her food and money to stay in her hut but even so she seems delighted to have me as a guest." "I'm starving." "I had a piece of fish the size of a sixpence this morning." "Yesterday I had soya-floured glute porridge which wasn't very nice, I must admit." "This is lovely." "It's just a fat pancake." "I'm very hungry and it's very nice." "As the sun goes down, the dust storm blows out onto the lake." "I'm kept awake by the sound of singing and dancing." "Abanesh tells me it's the rain clan and they're praying for the drought to break." "The next morning I ask Abanesh about the rain clan." "She tells me they're just one of eight in the tribe." "Herder or fisherman, everyone belongs to a clan." "The clans protect people against dangers like fire, drought, disease and poisonous creatures." "And so what clan are you, Abanesh?" "Really?" "The water clan has power over crocodiles." "Abanesh's son is one of them." "She says he'll keep me safe while I'm out hunting." "Later that morning a new family arrives in the village." "The Dassanech are a very mobile people." "Their houses are designed to be packed up and moved and rebuilding them takes less than a day." "This nomadism reflects the tribe's origins." "The Dassanech migrated here from Sudan around 200 years ago, possibly because of drought and famine." "Since then they've absorbed people from other tribes who have come to live by the lake." "I'm told these people have travelled here for a festival in a month's time, during which young girls will be circumcised." "I've come across female circumcision in other African cultures but this is the first time I've found it in the Omo Valley." "In some places this practice is being challenged but Abanesh tells me that won't happen here." "Each tribe I've met on my journey have customs that define them." "I'm sad to say that for women here it's circumcision." "Orkotch sends word that he and the others are going hunting tonight, so I join them by the lake shore." "But before we go out I have a favour to ask them." "Unfortunately last time I missed all the action so we've made a little reed crocodile." "You can see the eyes here." "That's sweet." "I'm going to get Orkotch to give me a run through and show me how it is exactly that they harpoon these things." "OK, Orkotch?" "Here they come." "It's amazingly skilled, this." "Just standing up in these things is hard enough." "The guy at the front with the torch in his mouth." "And then he's giving the directions, the guy at the back." ""OK, go forward," he's saying." ""It's off to one side." "Steady on." "There you go." "Straight in. "" "And then the guy's pulling back, getting out of danger." "OK, we have the croc." "And the harpoon's been left." "Look at that." "OK, and then in they come to finish it off." "There's the spear." "No..." "No, it's still come out." "Come on, baby." "Come on." "Absolutely rubbish." "Right over the top." "And if that had been a croc, he would have just been pissed off and not hurt in the slightest." "Can you imagine?" "Yes!" "OK." "Look at that!" "Cool." "It's in." "It took me four attempts to get the harpoon in the right place, just behind the eyes." "Doing it at night, for real, I wouldn't have a chance." "You can just imagine what it must be like in the dark, with a torch in your mouth, stood over a croc with a harpoon and then just plunging it in, hoping you get it right." "It's such a dangerous form of hunting, it's not true." "I still can't believe that I've come across people hunting in this way." "Archaeologists have found bone harpoons by the lake shore that were used in prehistoric times." "When Orkotch's ancestors lost their cattle, they took up a way of life that has been going on here for more than 5,000 years." "Good aim." "We have a croc." "We have a croc." "I radio the cameraman to let him know we've caught a crocodile." "This may only be a young croc but it took great skill to hit it just behind the eyes." "So, that is it." "We have our croc." "The guys actually did incredibly well." "We saw it about 300 metres off." "I couldn't even see it at first." "It was a very faint reflection of the eyes." "OK." "Sorry." "They're telling me off." "They're quite right." "Right, we've got another." "My God." "The boys are doing good." "Though they're little, each croc will make a good meal, so we call it a night." "I wish we'd caught a big croc so we could feed more people, but at least I've got something to give to my host." "Abanesh." "Have you ever seen such a huge monster?" "I doubt you have." "It's enormous." "We did get a bigger one but the hunters are eating that, and so this is just my small gift for you." "I'm so sorry it's not very impressive." "But it's food all the same." "Excellent." "What a fantastic, fantastic lady." "Rarely have I ever been looked after quite as well." "And I don't think ever with so much enthusiasm and humour and generosity and goodwill." "She really is the most amazing lady." "And she rules the roost round here as well." "Every bloke is so scared of her." "And she is a rod of iron." "Wow." "Smells good." "Oh, my Lord." "Whoa!" "Abanesh, it's good." "Now, that really, really is good." "Oh." "I had it boiled the other day." "She always does that." "A little bit curious." "Quite friendly." "I've had it boiled before, and that was nice, but this is something else." "Really, really succulent and just tasty, slightly smoky." "Um, better than pork." "Really nice." "Kind of teasing the lads earlier about what a tiddler this was." "To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed." "But when you see the amount of meat that comes off it and how much pleasure it gives to four or five people sat around eating, there's no ridicule here at all." "That is a proper meal and absolutely worthy of the guys who went out to hunt it." "That night the rain clan is busy again, praying for the drought to break." "These women are all herders." "It's so dry, their cattle and goats are at risk." "They'll sing and dance every night till the rain finally comes." "One of the women who circumcises the girls has arrived in the village." "I'll be gone by the time the ceremony happens, so Bota demonstrates what she'll be doing in a few weeks' time." "Some girls who were circumcised a few years ago join in." "They're only acting, but the real thing changes women's lives forever." "Outside a nearby hut, I meet a man whose daughter will be circumcised in the coming ceremony." "Hi there." "What is your name?" "Lochye." "Lochye." "So you've got three daughters." "OK." "And how many other..." "I'm told if she doesn't get circumcised she won't get married and she'll be cast out from the tribe." "Beliefs like these are often used to justify practices such as female circumcision." "It may be one of the cornerstones of Dassanech culture, but this is one custom I'd be happy to see go." "A truckload of food donated by the UN arrives that afternoon." "Abanesh tells me why they need help from the outside world." "The current drought is predicted to continue for many years." "The fishermen-hunters, the Dies, may be the second-class citizens of the tribe, but at least they have a steady source of food." "It's herders who will suffer most if the rains continue to fail." "Orkotch and the guys are going out to new hunting grounds where someone has spotted big crocodiles." "The boys really mean business tonight." "They wait until the moon has set so the crocs won't see us coming." "Then we push the canoes out into the shallows." "When it comes to the kill itself, of course the steerer at the back is stood up and my friend at the front with the harpoon will be stood up too, which means that I am by far the closest thing to the croc itself." "And I'm literally just inches above the water here, my elbows are often getting wet and dragging pretty much through the water, so if we go just a little bit too far forwards, then I'm gonna be literally inches from the pissed-off crocodile's head." "It's not long before we see a croc ahead." "The eyes are far apart." "This is no juvenile." "OK, it's in the boat." "It's big." "I've never heard a croc make a sound like this." "The hiss sends a shiver down my spine." "There, back into the bushes." "This is their technique." "They're pulling it back into the bushes so that we're more steady... and then we can get it." "OK, pass him the spear." "That's good, cos we were all over the place there." "We were properly rocking." "It's OK, it's OK." "It's still pretty angry and pretty close." "OK, guys, you must go ahead." "Don't wait for me, please." "Let's do this thing." "Yeah." "OK, I can just make out now," "I'm just beginning to get a sense of scale of this monster." "This is what I call a proper croc." "And what an exciting ride that was." "Bloody hell." "The boat was all over the place." "We were rocking backwards and forwards, left and right." "I actually thought I was going to go over for a while and that was in the early stages, before of course we'd stabbed it, so all it was was just a bit pissed off." "It could easily have made a go for us if one of us had gone over, so thank God we didn't." "But there we have it, it's now dead and the guys have done good." "Now, that will be real cause for celebration in the village." "There's a lot of meat there." "No one family alone can eat that." "That's got to be shared, and it will be, and these guys will be heroes." "Abanesh!" "That is a brute." "A butcher back home wouldn't have a clue how to joint this one." "It's such a different anatomy." "They're really quite skilled at it." "They're just taking off huge chunks of meat and dividing it amongst the village and there is plenty for everyone." "Orkotch and the other Dies may be looked down upon but no one is too proud to take crocodile meat from them." "In this time of drought and uncertainty, it's the fishermen-hunters who keep bringing in the food." "It's my last night and the villagers dance to wish me farewell." "This is not just my last day with the Dassanech, it's the end of my expedition down the Omo Valley." "The hunters here stand out from the other people I've met on my journey." "They may have lost their livestock during hard times, but by living off the lake they've had better chance than most in this parched land." "The drought here is one of the worst anywhere in the world." "If the rains continue to fail, the cattle and goats will not survive." "Perhaps the idea that herding is a superior way of life will die with them as more and more proud nomads are forced to join the fishermen-hunters by the lake shore." "It's time to say goodbye to Orkotch and the other hunters." "What can I say?" "Thank you, boys." "You especially." "Enjoy the shirt." "Look at that!" "Thank you so very much." "You are brave guys, all of you." "And you've made my stay here very special." "Thank you." "Abanesh." "It's that time." "It's that time." "I can't say how much you have meant to me." "I can't express it." "You've just been everything for my stay here." "You've smoothed the way, you've fed me, you've housed me and more than anything you've informed me and entertained me." "Abanesh, you are a million dollars." "I absolutely adore you." "And I am going to miss you so much." "You are everything." "Oh, my Lord." "It's really sad." "I don't know how you hug round here but there you go." "Abanesh." "My Lord." "Of all the people I've met on my journey," "Abanesh has been the most caring and the most fun." "I know she and the people of Bubwa face tough times ahead." "As their world changes around them," "I hope they'll continue to live life with such strength and such spirit." "OK." "Yeah." "I'm leaving Ethiopia after three months." "In a way, I'm glad to be going home." "This is a tough place to visit but an even tougher one to live in." "And yet I found nothing here but hospitality and friendship." "I think we've got a lot to learn from the tribes of the Omo Valley." "After I got home the rains eventually came to Bubwa, but there's still serious drought and famine elsewhere in the region." "To find out more, log on to bbc." "Co." "Uk/tribe"