"On these plains, some of Africa's last hunter-gatherers are fighting for survival." "They're living a way of life that's continued since the dawn of mankind." "I'm always in awe of anyone who can track like this." "They're being edged out of their traditional hunting grounds by farmers., big-game hunters and neighbouring tribes." "It's quite a tense time." "Who knows what might be there?" "I'll be living in the bush with them, stalking big game and learning how they eke out a living from the land." "And I'll be facing one of my greatest fears as I go with them to gather wild honey." "This is my big moment." "And I'm properly scared." "My name is Bruce Parry." "I've been travelling to some of the world's most remote places to see how people there live and how they're adjusting to a rapidly changing world." "I believe there's only one way to really understand another culture, and that's to experience it first-hand." "To become, for a short while, one of the tribe." "I'm in Tanzania, in an area known as the Maasai Steppe." "As the name suggests, the majority of the people here are the Maasai." "But before they arrived, there were other tribal communities living here." "And one of them, which I want to go and visit, call themselves the Akie." "Akie territory is south of Mount Kilimanjaro." "The Akie used to hunt freely throughout this region." "But the population of Tanzania has doubled in the last 20 years." "The few thousand remaining Akie are now squeezed into a handful of scattered settlements." "And I'm on my way to one of those." "But first, I have to stop at a Maasai village, on the edge of traditional Akie territory." "This is where I've arranged to meet my guide and my translator." "They suggest we buy tobacco and snuff as presents for the Akie." "This is the place I've come to buy the tobacco and the snuff." "But the Maasai lady inside is a bit worried about me and the camera, so..." "I'm going to leave these guys to it and I'll think we'll back off." "The Maasai are cattle owners and many of them look down on the Akie and other hunter-gatherers." "They regard them as primitive and call them Ndorobo, meaning "poor"" "or "people without cattle"." "Good morning." "What do we have?" "My God!" "That's what I call a pot of snuff." "And three of these?" "Is this enough for me as gifts?" " Yeah." " Brilliant." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Lemelale, our Akie guide, is taking me into his traditional clan land." "We left before first light." "And he's been setting quite a fast pace." "We haven't said a word all day." "Not because I don't want to." "Because he's also looking for game." "The Akie are opportunistic hunters." "And Lemelale always has his bow at the ready." "There's something else about them which intrigues me." "As well as being hunters, they are known for their skill at gathering wild honey." "There's a beautiful baobab here." "It's riddled with these pockmarks on the front." "I think he's seen bees going in and out of it." "And I am staying back here." "I've had an allergic reaction to being stung in the past, so I'm nervous about getting too close to the hive." "He's surrounded by them." "African bees are notoriously aggressive." "They are known to chase a potential enemy for up to a mile, and they definitely saw Lemelale as an enemy." "This is my first experience of the Akie at honey collecting." "It wasn't particularly fruitful." "They climbed the tree, couple of stings, came back down, and the bomb burst." "This way." "Come on, guys." "After a 30km trek, we're nearing the remote heart of Akie territory." "An hour ago, we were in blistering heat." "My neck is on fire from the sun." "But it seems that here, there's been a massive downpour, it's wet everywhere." "And I think we're really close to our village now." "Lemelale knows the village we're going to well and he's warned the people there to expect me." "One friendly face." "Nice to meet you." "Lonyokie, the village headman, knows I want to try and live exactly like an Akie for the next month." "I have one experience so far." "And it's Lemelale and he's had ten bites on his head." "So now I am double scared." "Lonyokie has invited me to stay in his house." "He lives here with his wife Ana and their only son Elias." "And if I snore in the night..." "Punch me!" "While Ana prepares supper, Lemelale tries some of the snuff we brought." "Lemelale, I'm going to try it." "Look." "Finger in the nose, yeah?" "Slowly!" "Ohhh..." "I had quite a lot then." "Ah!" "That was so different to what I was expecting." "That really is like, just..." "I did a big chunk." "That's really like just doing pepper." "Aahh..." "Oh!" "Can I go outside?" "The village is called Olmuti." "It consists of three enclosures like this one." "The population varies but at the moment, there are about 25 people living here." "Because the territory where the Akie can hunt and gather is shrinking, they have to rely more and more on the few crops they can grow." "The staple here is maize and they keep a few chickens." "Apart from that, the Akie have nothing and everyone is hungry." "For meat, the men must head into the bush to hunt." "Hey!" "Lonyokie needs to go out hunting too but says that before he'll take me," "I need to have some practice with the bow and arrow." "Oh!" "Someone just nearly hit one." "Everyone who's still in the village has turned up for my lesson." "Everyone's got so carried away, I haven't even had a shot yet." "All these grown kids are just having fun." "Finally, it's my turn." "Sure." "Ooops." "Glad I don't live here." "Trashing..." "Trashing my neighbour's house." "When he's out hunting for real, Lonyokie uses poisoned arrows." "Akie arrows are works of art." "The metal tips are forged from old car springs and detach from the shaft once they've hit an animal." "The poison is extracted from the roots of the desert rose." "There is no known antidote, so every strike is fatal." "With the arrows prepared, Lonyokie is ready for tomorrow's hunt." "It's before dawn and I'm out with Lonyokie on a hunting trip." "It's been a really clear, starlit night." "We got up really early." "Quite a long way from the village, which means we just have a much better chance of getting anything." "Until recently, the Akie faced prison for hunting with bows and arrows, whereas anyone who had enough money for a licence, could hunt with a gun." "Thankfully, those laws have been relaxed but the Akie are still in direct competition with hunting companies." "Lonyokie shows me evidence of a recent big-game hunt." "This is a hide I've just had pointed out to me there where the hunter with his high-powered rifle would lie." "And then literally ten yards away, there'd be a bait of a gazelle or something." "And it's such an easy shot." "And the car's just here on the road and then they go." "A few yards down the road, and we see something." "It's a dik-dik, but it didn't hang around for Lonyokie to shoot." "The hunting companies say they bring in millions of dollars to Tanzania every year and control the poachers." "But Lonyokie believes they've made the game scarcer and more skittish." "We've been out hunting for hours and we've hardly seen an animal." "We're hungry, we haven't eaten since last night, and we don't want to go back empty-handed." "Lonyokie knows this area like the back of his hand and he's taking us to a place where he hopes there'll be honey." "First we gather a few essential materials which will help us when we get to the hive." "I was wondering what we were cutting these sticks for." "Now I've sussed it." "Hanging up, weaverbird nests stay dry even at the wettest times of year." "They're perfect for making a fire, which we'll need once we get to the hive." "Where's the... where's the hive?" "There." "Fucking hell." "I wasn't going to get too close." "I said, "Where's the hive?"" "It's just fucking there." "Before they can get any honey, they have to pacify the bees with smoke." "I'm just scared that, during my time here, I'm going to have to do this." "And... really..." "I don't mind snakes, I don't mind lions but... these bees really scare me quite a bit, and I have an allergy to wasps as well." "Wow." "That's sweet, sweet, sweet." "After years of collecting honey," "Lonyokie has become desensitised to bee venom." "But that doesn't stop him getting stung." "This is a real test of my nerve." "The secret, not that I've had much of a briefing, the secret is not to kill any." "As soon as you kill one..." "It stings you, you kill it, then all hell is let loose and they're just all over you." "He's getting stung again and again." "I so hope they don't want me to do this." "I'm taking this opportunity to get out." "The stuff with the larvae is slightly different." "It's sweet but it's kind of, like, got a milky edge to it." "It's really nice, that." "Honey makes up a large proportion of the Akie diet." "It offers massive calorific value for relatively little work." "And if there's a surplus, it can be sold." "And they have another important use for honey." "Ana, Lonyokie's wife, is using it to make beer." "This is the inner pith of a tree." "They use that as a filter but also it's used for the fermenting process." "Amazingly, the brew can ferment and become alcoholic in less than a day." "Twice a day, Ana and Elias have to collect water for drinking and cooking." "This muddy pool provides the only surface water for miles around." "This is the water we've been drinking the last week." "I'm used to drinking untreated water but this looks pretty bad." "Because the water's stagnant, it's probably full of parasites and bacteria." "Back at the village, Ana offers to give me a shave." "I didn't realise it was going to be a cold-water shave." "With an old-fashioned razor, so I think it's going to hurt." "That's what you call trust." "Yeah?" "Do I look a little bit younger?" "Little bit?" "Young again?" "You are just saying that cos I asked you." "While the razors are still out, Ana decides that she and Lonyokie should smarten up too." "Here comes Lonyokie to join his family." "So... we've got some maize." "Oooh, it's piping hot." "It's really nice." "In my five days here, we've hardly eaten anything but maize and honey." "And tonight is no different." "There's been no meat in the village for nearly two weeks." "So Lonyokie is arranging for a group of us to go on a longer hunting trip." "Before we go, the village gathers for a ceremony which involves Ana's mead." "Aaahhh, for me first." "Asante sana." "I drink it all in one?" "OK." "There are only a few mugs, so etiquette demands you drink fast and pass your mug on." "Ahhh..." "Yeah!" "I tell you what, though, that tastes amazing." "Beautiful." "Really smooth." "You can taste the alcohol, so it's got that tang." "But it's not too sweet." "It's the least sweet thing I've had here." "That is a good drink." "Asante sana." "There is a celebratory mood but the ceremony has a serious side." "The village needs meat and it's important we have a successful hunt." "Lonyokie invokes the spirits of his ancestors, asking for their help and guidance in the coming days." "We've hardly eaten anything in days and the mead has gone straight to our heads." "If in doubt, join in." "I'm loving it here, absolutely loving it here." "Even if something really bad happens, their first reaction, every time, is just to burst into laughter." "It's such a... wonderful way of living life." "It's brilliant." "I love it." " Hey!" " Hey!" "Lonyokie doesn't let the dancing go on too long." "We've got an early start tomorrow morning." "By the time the sun comes up, we're already miles from the village." "Lonyokie has spotted something." "The first thing Akie hunters do when stalking prey is to get rid of any unncessary clothing." "Clothes make too much noise and hamper movement." "They want to get the best possible shot at whatever's out there." "They're asking me whether I want to shoot it." "But I'm like, "No, you guys do it. "" "I'm just going to let them go." "They've been depositing their stuff as they go along, just to make themselves quieter and quieter." "It's an impala." "But I can also see something else through the bushes." "It's a whole troop of baboons." "I just saw two over there." "I think maybe they saw us, so they might've gone." "The guys have gone ahead now." "I'm leaving them to it." "Lonyokie and Leyan get close but before they can take a shot, the baboons scare the impala off." "I'm worried that I've also been hampering their success." "But it's not unusual for it to take days to get an animal big enough to feed the village." "Leyan starts making a hunting hide." "We'll make a number of them in the area, placing them upwind of the salt lick." "A hunting hide is a terrible place to spend the night." "You have to keep perfectly still, resisting the urge to shift around and ease your aching limbs." "Lighting a fire is out of the question, so it's pretty cold." "Instead of sleeping, you have to spend hours watching absolutely nothing happen." "But these guys will sit out here for as long as it takes to get meat for the village." "Now we have to wait until dawn to find out if the arrow hit home." "Akie are expert trackers and are often hired by the hunting companies." "They never chase down a shot animal immediately, in case it runs too far." "They wait for the poison to act and use their tracking skills to find it." "But I'm not going to see any tracking now." "The arrow didn't hit its mark." "It's an ambitious shot." "It's a good 30 yards." "Ah, well." "No problem." "We're getting desperate for meat now." "Cold after a night in the hide, we huddle around a fire at our camp in the bush." "As we talk, Lonyokie voices some of the Akie grievances about the hunting companies." "What would you ask for, what would you say is the important thing, the message from you?" "Back in the hide, the afternoon goes no better than the night before." "After hours waiting, Lonyokie gets just one shot at a kudu." "It's a good shot but at the last moment, the kudu saw him and bolted." "Ohhh." "That was the closest one yet." "The Akie are renowned for their magic and they have a remedy for this kind of bad luck." "Leyan prepares to perform a ritual." "They believe that our hunting trip has been cursed by the bird they saw." "Of anywhere I've ever been in the world, these guys are the quickest to make fire from nothing." "It's really quite incredible." "Now we have to act out a successful hunt." "The belief is that by doing this, our luck will change." "The branches represent meat from the kill." "Finished?" "Finished." "Asante sana." "Let's hope next time... big one." "The Akie find humour in almost everything, but this situation is really bad." "We've gone days living on virtually nothing." "So, first thing tomorrow, we're going to look for some more honey." "Just come across this beautiful baobab and it's got two hives in it now." "And even now, before we've even started," "It's like it's alive, it's buzzing." "It's actually quite a scary sound." "The trunk is pockmarked with holes which the Akie have made over hundreds of years of harvesting the tree." "When Leyan gets higher, he stands on wooden pegs, checking that they aren't rotten." "Next, he hooks on a sling made from kudu hide to support him while he takes out the honey." "He's a long way up, and everyone seems to have a story about falling from a tree." "Papake is preparing the other hive." "He's decided it's time for me to have a go." "It's not as high as the one Leyan is at but it'll still be tricky because the tree is leaning out, so I'll be hanging in midair." "This is my big moment." "And I'm properly scared." "OK, seat first." "Here we go." "Fuck, man, this is the scary bit." "Ow." "I'm not quite sure what I can feel in there but it seems the hive is empty." "I can't feel anything at all." "It seems like a setup to me but they assure me that the empty hive is as much a surprise to them as it was to me." "Nothing." "Shhh..." "Talk about getting away lightly." "There was definitely bees there." "But I didn't get stung and... and it seems that there's nothing in there." "It's a huge relief." "I was genuinely worried about putting my hand into that hive." "But it does illustrate another problem for the Akie... they can't even rely on honey as a food source." "After yet another night in the bush, it seems like we might have some good news at last." "Finally, we're hoping that our luck has changed." "These two guys, our master hunters, actually shot and killed and tracked a kudu last night." "But it was too late to actually bring it back to camp." "So we're out there this morning, hoping that it's still there." "It's quite a tense time." "Because who knows what might be there?" "We might come across a possessive wild dog or hyena, leopard or a lion even." "Ah!" "There she is." "There she is." "There she is." "Finally, these guys have done it." "Well done to them, well done." "The village is going to be so, so delighted with this." "That's a lot of meat." "It's a big animal." "Brilliant." "I thought we were going to butcher it on the spot." "But Leyan and Papake insist that we move it first." "All 80 kilos of it." "It's completely open here and you can see for hundreds of metres." "The Akie are in competition with other predators and they must make sure that nothing creeps up on them." "Leyan's butchery is amazingly skilful." "He keeps the hide intact." "He'll dry it and use it as a honey pouch." "The arrowhead broke off somewhere in the kudu so he's being especially careful to cut away any meat that may have been tainted by the poison." "Where is the arrow?" "I was beginning to wonder where the deadly poisoned arrowhead was in our dinner." "Now they've found the arrow, we can be sure which bits are safe to eat." "Leyan wastes no time tucking into the liver." "Yeah?" "Good?" "Can I try some?" "Yeah?" "Wow." "That's nice." "With the animal cut up, the hunters break into their favourite part, the bone marrow." "It's mainly fat and blood, and it's a real delicacy." "Asante sana." "Now that..." "That is a real treat." "He's just given me that and I know... that is a favourite bit of theirs." "Asante sana." "It's so, so, so delicate." "And it melts in the mouth and it's creamy and... it's got a lovely... milky taste to it, really nice." "Papake and Leyan wrap the meat into packages which we'll be able to carry home between us." "Wow, three parcels of butchered meat and the only stuff that we've left behind is the tiny morsels of meat where the arrow struck the animal." "It's been tainted and we can't use it." "Other than that, it's all coming back to the village." "It's good to see you." "It looks like the news has spread." "I think we're going to be heading back to a very delighted village indeed." "Brilliant news." "The only sad thing is that it's going to pretty much mark the end of my time here with the Akie." "Hello." "Asante sana." "Finally, we brought something back." "I'm sure the reason they haven't been more successful is me." "I've jinxed them and been smelly and made it all difficult." "But either way, to come back to the village after the hunting camp and bring some meat back for the community is a real relief." "It's fantastic." "And I'm pleased to be home." "It's taken us ten days to get this kudu." "The meat is shared between the whole village." "But it won't last long and they'll have to go out again soon." "The whole community, all the family, is here to say goodbye to me, and it's really touching." "And we're going to celebrate with honey mead." "Which I've got to drink all of this in a oner." "I thought I had to put that on top of my head upside down." "Forgot where I was." "People have hunted and gathered on the plains of East Africa since the dawn of mankind." "But this may be one of the last generations to live that way." "Everyone here knows the Akie will have to change if they are to survive." "And Lonyokie reminds me just why that is." "That's true." "In keeping with tradition, Ana gets my bag from the house." "It's time to leave." "Unbelievable." "Bye-bye." "I have to say a lot of goodbyes on my travels." "But I don't think I've ever had a sendoff as joyful and as touching as this one." "Oh... my..." "God."