LOST in CONGO and hunting VENOMOUS SNAKES with THE PYGMIES
(men shouting) - Hell, man. (dramatic music) A snake just came at us, like full-on attack mode. Big thing, like maybe two meters.
(men shouting) Wow. There's a piece. (dramatic music) Dude, I think that's a mamba. Oh, that snake is so dangerous.
(light chatter) Okay. We are in the thick of it right now. Listen, before we do these videos, I take a second so we can make an agreement together.
We've been here before. Not exactly right here, though. This is basically the middle of the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo. And we've been invited to go hunting with a Pygmy tribe, but one agreement we've gotta make together before we get started is that with these remote places, there are different beliefs and different ways of living. So please keep an open heart and keep an open mind.
We are very lucky to have been invited here with this tribe, and no doubt we're gonna see some things that are a little bit different than the milkshakes and hamburgers that we eat back home. So with that in mind, and if you're on board, let's continue. (Michael coughing) (clanging on machetes) In the last video, we landed in the remote jungle province of Tshuapa in the democratic Republic of Congo, where we were labeled spies by the local governor.
We escaped on motor bikes and had to trade a crocodile for a bed. In this video, we continue that adventure and finally arrive in the town of Ingende late in the night. The next morning, the locals were just a little bit surprised to see us. (loud chatter outside tent) Good morning. (people speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (loud chatter) While I'm getting my makeup done, my guide, Obed, negotiates a two day hunting trip with a local Pygmy tribe in the jungles here.
We pack up and we set off. The adventure begins. This beautiful green majesty in front of me is the home of the Pygmies. The plan is to go hunting. We've got a two hour trek to the hunting camp, and there we're gonna try to catch some food.
Honestly, I'm just happy to be here. This is a bucket list item for me. The green heart of Congo is mostly unexplored. So together, we're gonna do some exploring! And that makes me really happy.
This? This? Like a spear? Uh-huh, okay. This is Lieutenant, and he's the master of charades. (speaking in foreign language) Might have to try to get that translated. (shouting in foreign language) Oh, they're blocking the water. Like a dam. And then for fish? These women are with our group and had left earlier in the day to fish.
They're building dams and bailing out the water to collect the small fish and shrimp that live in the pools. We'll see their catch later. - Mondele! - Hey! Oh, Mondele is me. Huh? Go slow? Okay. Watch out.
Go slow. Mondele means white guy. That's my name here. (Michael laughing) Oh my God. Oh, something's moving down there. Oh! Oh, it's still moving on my foot! Oh! (Michael laughing) Oh shit, man.
I dunno what I expected. (men laughing) And everyone laughs at the Mondele. (Michael laughing) Oh my God. Eventually we make it to camp. (speaking in foreign language) All right.
(speaking in foreign language) Hey, all right. Looks like we made it. Uh-huh. It's still under construction, but hey, it looks cozy, right? This kid, he's a troublemaker. His name is Lulu, or Ilolo, and he calls me...
- Michael! Michael. Michael. - As some tribe members finish setting up camp, others ready their bows and arrows and prepare traps for the hunt. Obed explains what's happening next. - They deploy themselves in the forest, they share the tasks. Those small girls, they want to collect just these leaves for making those package.
Then the other boys will go to hunt. The women will go to fish. Yeah, that's how they deploy themselves in the forest. - Some people are afraid of jungles. The darkness under the canopy, the creatures hiding within. These deep jungles of Congo contain mysteries, secrets that only the ones who dwell here know.
(upbeat music) Over time, we've become disconnected from this life. We no longer know how to use nature to aid us. So we fear it and we think getting dirty will make us sick. You know what I think is making us sick? Hiding away in glass houses, sanitizing our services, and eating packaged processed foods in hopes to keep the germs away. But sorry, kids. We are germs.
We live on this world, and there's an entire world that lives on us, all working together in a complicated way that we can't begin to understand. What's making us the most sick is our obsession trying not to be. It's pretty damn ironic. We've found a hole. (man shouting) We're calling in back up.
(man shouting) (speaking in foreign language) Brave man sticking his hands down a dark hole in the middle of a jungle. So I stay, yeah? I stay. Don't move. You missed it, but I just got told off by Lieutenant. He's like, "Mondele, if you walk around like this, the animals are gonna go away. So stop moving around so much." The tribe clear cuts the area, and then flat pieces of wood are carved with a single hole in each.
They're placed over the openings of the tunnels. Then a small piece of cloth is lit on fire and placed into the opening. Then we all intently watch as the smoke spins up from the hole. I'm still confused though. Are we smoking them out? Because it seems like all the smoke is getting out, until I realize something amazing.
Any movement in the tunnel will change the air pressure in the tunnel, causing the smoke to dance. See that? This, however, was not from an animal moving underground. It was from the other men spearing the ground, trying to hit a tunnel. When they do, the smoke moves from the air pressure. It's like a subterranean jungle x-ray.
It's ingenious. It looks like the occupants have been evicted or eaten. We set up a snare over the opening, just in case.
Walking through the jungle with these boys and men is like touring a paper factory with origami artists. Every leaf, stem, and branch folded and bent into something completely different. I have no idea what's being crafted until it's finished. Any guess what this is? (speaking in foreign language) It's fish hooks. It's a worm! (speaking in foreign language) There it is. That'll be for later.
Oh, it's shaped like a square. Not round, it's square. Like a rectangle.
That'll be fish food. Ah! (Lieutenant shouting) (Michael laughing) You gotta cook at first, right? At least you gotta cook it first. A few of the guys take a break.
(all chuckling) (Ilolo singing) Watch out for the machetes. (speaking in foreign language) It's safe? Don't run with scissors and don't cuddle with machetes, right? We get to a series of pools. There's sand here in the jungle.
We're 500 miles from an ocean, and the sand comes from underground. We're in the Congo River basin, and for the tribes that live here, this clean and constant supply of groundwater is a blessing. We've seen this before, haven't we? It's a fishing method where self fishing rods are placed and left as traps, though I still don't understand why they flick the water first. Maybe to check for electric eels? I don't know, but if you know or have a better guess, drop it in the comments. One of the boys get something in his eye, and a vine is cut. And the liquid from inside is used to wash it.
Another tells me to turn on the camera, then takes off his clothes and goes for a swim. (all laughing) When in Rome, right? Where does that fish live that swims up your Johnson? Hopefully not here. While taking a swim, Ilolo finds a fish that was caught in yesterday's trap. Might need a few of those to feed the group, but hey, it's a start, right? And some of the others had foraged some wild vegetables. (all speaking excitedly) (speaking in foreign language) Little bitter.
Little bitter, not bad. Having set up our traps, we get back to camp to see what the other hunting groups have caught. This is fish, and the orange is fresh palm oil. Also, mushrooms with salt and minnows and shrimp from emptying the stream earlier in the day.
It's a snake, yeah> I would guess some kind of boa. It's all wrapped in leaves. A traditional style of cooking called maboke, found all across DR Congo, where the food is steamed inside leaves over a fire.
Night falls as we wait for the food to cook. (men singing) (all singing) I don't know what the song means, but it's gonna be stuck in my head for a week. (all singing) The food's done.
Let's eat. (excitable chatter) Honestly, I am a huge snake fan. Ah, it's the head. (speaking in foreign language) It's not the piece I wanted.
It's the only piece left. Oh, Jesus. Meat's meat, right? Mike eating a snake head. It's okay. Poor snake though.
Trying to avoid the fangs. (Michael chuckles) I wonder if they're still loaded. (Michael laughing) (singing in foreign language) - Michael! (singing in foreign language) - Lulu! - Michael! - Lulu! - Michael! (singing in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) - Michael! Michael! - Lulu.
(speaking in foreign language) - Michael! (speaking in foreign language) As we fall asleep, a few of the men sneak off to see if they can track any animals in the forest for our big hunt planned in the morning. Let's take a quick break so I can explain something to you. Okay, the reason why I travel to all these places is partly because I love it, let's face it. Number two, because I wanna share them with you, these untold stories, but number three, I want to help you conquer your fears so you can travel the world too. That's really what I wanna do.
I used to be this fear riddled boy who didn't know his path in life, and I found it through several misadventures along the way. And I've made a video where I put together all of the lessons I've learned over 10 years of traveling the world. Go to fearlessandfar.com/fear and you can get it for free. It goes right into your email inbox and you can learn some of the lessons I've picked up the hard way. Fearlessandfar.com/fear
if you want to conquer your fears and travel the world too. Back to the show. (loud commotion) Good morning.
They have been giggling and laughing all night. I don't know if they even slept. Man, I look like I just spent a week in a tent in the jungle.
That's exactly what I did, without a shower. All right, let's face the day and see if there's any updates. So the update has been that nothing was caught last night, but they did find something in a tree that we're gonna go try and catch. Something kind of large.
Don't know what it's called. Well, I know the name here, but don't know what to tell you it is. That, and we're gonna check the traps. Dude, I am moist. Everything about me is a little bit damp everywhere, but that's life in the jungle.
Let's have some coffee and get to the hunt. One of the leaders gestures how they'll be shooting the animal they found with a bow. The other wants to show me something that's inside his basket.
It's tobacco, and a strange green plant. Those are some deep hits, man. That's deep. All the way, in every little crack.
(imitating Michael coughing) (men laughing) (Michael coughing) (all laughing) That shit almost killed me. (man coughing) (all laughing) (speaking in foreign language) (all singing) Oh, ow! Ow! (all exclaiming) I stepped on the lighter! (all giggling) (all laughing) All right, there's a sleeping animal in a tree and we're gonna shoot it. We're gonna shoot it. Let's go. Show me, show me, show me.
(girl giggling) (speaking in foreign language) (girls laughing) - Michael! Ilolo! - Ilolo! (children shouting excitedly) We come across a huge colony of biting ants. One of the women grabs some leaves and shoves her fist into the colony. Then folds them into a leaf package while picking their little jaws out of her skin.
Ah! (speaking in foreign language) (Michael chuckles) They bite hard, man. Ouch. Obed, what's it for? - This is for trapping the fish. They put it on that hook.
They put on a hook as a bunch of them so fishes will come to take them from the leaves. (whistling through hands) - This is Betomba, who's taken a liking to being on camera. We find a tree where the animal is sleeping. Some of the boys begin climbing the trees into the canopy to find it.
Good luck, my friend Be safe yeah? Be as safe as you can be, please. I give Betomba a GoPro for a search. Ilolo follows. (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) And to think some kids these days can't even bike to school. This is wild.
- [Betomba] Ilo! Ilolo! Ilolo lo lo! Ilo! (speaking in foreign language) - The animal has moved moved. And after about 20 minutes, they begin to come back down. (speaking in foreign language) Continuing with the jokes, one of the other boys tries to cut down the tree before Betomba can get down.
(speaking in foreign language) Yeah! Oh my God. Hey, thank you so much, brother. That was amazing.
- Michael! - Ilolo. The creature had moved on, though they didn't return from the canopy empty handed. These are mbinzo pupa, the stage between a caterpillar and a butterfly. We saw the caterpillars in the markets, actually, even at our hotel buffet.
These caterpillars are a delicacy here, and also in East Africa, where they're called mopane worms. There's also a small package of leaves with a surprise inside. Oh, this is like a beehive, yeah? (speaking in foreign language) Just like that, huh? For me? We've got... I want call it honeycomb, but there is no honey in this comb. It's literally just bee larva. I'll zoom in for a sec.
See that? Just baby bees. Why is it always baby bees? No, not a spec of honey. Okay.
(speaking in foreign language) There's still live bees. These ones too? Then what am I being wuss about, right? Ooh? Uh-huh. (boys laughing) It pops in your mouth, like you're eating a bunch of little grapes. (speaking in foreign language) What does it taste like? Tastes like salt and bugs mixed together in small little packets that bursts in your mouth, like bubble tea. Still chewing on the comb. Probably don't eat that part.
(Michael laughing) We do a little arts and crafts and continue our hunt down the stream. But then... Chaos. (men shouting) Hell, man.
(dramatic music) A snake just came at us, like full-on attack mode. Big thing, like maybe two meters. (men shouting) Wow. There's a piece. (dramatic music) Poor thing, man.
(speaking in foreign language) Dude, I think that's a mamba. Oh, that snake is so dangerous. It's actually a Jameson's Mamba. It's a kill you in three hours kind of snake.
We are three hours deep into the jungle. I think you can probably figure out the math from there. It's a green jewel of the jungle that I wish would've just stayed hidden. What a beautiful animal.
Unfazed, the boys wrap up the mamba in a to go pack and we're back on the trail. So from what I understand, that's one of the most dangerous snakes in Africa, yeah? (both laughing) Did you see how it was... Zigzagging so, so fast. - A good diver, actually. It was coming through our legs. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I didn't get the moment on camera, but the guys were like, "Get outta the way! Get the f outta the way!" And then they chasing it into the woods.
- They are very protective. - They were. - They understand how dangerous it is. - But it seems like anything's on the menu, right? - Yeah, I mean, everything. - Everything. - Yeah.
(men shouting excitedly) - After a successful hunt and now no reason to stay quiet, everyone lets loose on the way back to camp. We deliver the payload, and the mamba is gutted. And cut into pieces. These pieces are then smashed with the back of a machete to break the bones inside.
These are then roasted over the fire on sticks. Some pieces are placed directly onto the fire, along with the mbinzo pupa. These are then all placed inside the leaves and then steamed maboke style back on the fire. Betomba saves us two pieces to eat together.
Here it is. One freshly cooked piece of green mamba. Cooked twice, by the way. And I appreciate that.
It's kinda ironic, don't you think? Eating an animal that can kill you. If it was poisonous, it'd be different. People call them poisonous snakes.
They're venomous snakes, it's different. If something's poisonous, you bite it and you die. If something's venomous, it bites you and you die. This animal, if it bites you, you're very much dead.
One of the most venomous on the planet. Hopefully not poisonous though, because if it's poisonous then I won't be around much longer. Oh, look at that skin. (bell dinging) Well, now on the long list of things I can see I've eaten, I can put mamba there, but try everything once, right? (upbeat music) Some things only once. Here, I've got my man, Obed. - Hey, I will be happy to meet you and show you my beautiful country.
- Obed is the DRC master. He does a lot of other African countries as well if you want to come here or you're organizing some kind of film project or if you just want a private tour of this amazing country. Thank you so much, I'm Mike of Fearless and Far.
Press that subscribe button if you haven't, check out that video to help you conquer your fears as well. And I'll catch you in the next video here on Fearless and Far. (upbeat music)
2022-03-16 01:05
