these are some of the last hunter gatherers on Earth they don't buy their food in grocery stores in order to survive they hunt and they forage every single day of their lives just like our ancestors did thousands of years ago I'm traveling to a remote part of Tanzania to meet the hza where they live out in the bush far from cities towns and Roads my goal is to learn from them what does it take to live like our ancestors but in the 21st century almost there at the end of my stay I'll attempt to survive
24 hours eating the food and drinking the water that I find with my own hands just like the hearta can I actually do this or will I go hungry I'm Ava zubek and I'm an adventure filmmaker and YouTuber my mission is to show you the powerful potential hardwired into the human DNA and help you unleash it for a healthier happier and Wilder life this is super skilled I'm in Aria Tanzania not far from Africa's tallest mountain Mount Kilimanjaro Aria is a bustling place with all the Comforts and conveniences you'd find in any modern city but
this is just a stop before we venture out somewhere that's quite the [Music] opposite we've been driving down these debt tracks for the last 3 or 4 hours I have a feeling like we're pretty remote out here and you know I'm a little bit nervous and I don't really know what to expect because we're about to meet some some really really special people they happen to be some of the last hunter gatherers Left Alive the hadab or haza live in the central Great Rift Valley of Tanzania in Eastern Africa it's believed that they've lived here
for tens of thousands of years continuously longer than any other ethnic group in the region and they've kept their way of life for just as long okay I think we've just made it I can see some hot in between the trees all right yeah here's our camp it felt like such a dream to finally be here my hat a language skills were pretty limited but I made the most out of the only word I knew Matana he Matana he Matana it was all going really well until ah we're both stuck ow ow ow ow ow
oh man this is not a good start oh oh they're like really in there thank you I don't think I made a very good first impression free from the Thorns our crew continued to greet our host for the next few days [Music] I was overwhelmed by the Camp's Spa's Beauty just being here right now feels so surreal I've been wanting to come out here for such a long time and it's just such a special moment to arrive here at Sunset right underneath these bowab trees my God it really feels like we're very very far out
there this is unlike any other place I've ever been to the Hadad don't build permanent structures there are no street names or house numbers no power over running water but their Villages are thriving communities so my guide and translator delali introduced me to Adia who wanted to show me around so how do you choose the location for your there the animal there is the fruit SE then we go to the camp there hza camps usually consist of 20 to 30 people there are only around 1,300 hads that left in the world and an even smaller
number about 200 live this way without overly relying on any modern agricultural resources but they don't stay in one place for too long they move Camp about every 6 to 8 weeks as nearby resources start running out I spent the rest of the day hanging out with the whole community and getting to know each other but having spent my first full day out in the bush I was starting to question the entire thing you know I came here with a very specific Mission and that mission is to learn how to find food how to forage
how to hunt but I mean just look at this place there's like nothing here that even looks edible at first glance anyway I mean I feel like half of the things out here are actually actively trying to kill me like look at this thing look at the thorns on this thing seriously so I'm starting to think that maybe this might not happen how would it today is a big day because today I'm heading out for a hunt with the hza my goal is to learn about their hunting techniques weeks ahead of my big challenge since
they're hunter gatherers the hatza depend on Wild game like kudu monkeys and squirrels for a solid portion of their diet the big question is will I be able to pick up these skills in one day look at the dogs they're so happy their tails are wagging they're super excited to join the hunt the hza men have a very unique super skill they're amazing trackers seeking out any and all evidence Left Behind to help them catch their supper without binoculars GPS or any other tools but their sensors the Impala were're passing through here how long ago
do you think home during the night last night is too long ago so we kept going looking for any clues that an animal is in the area right now and nothing seems to be it's a long process that might not end in success many days the men come home empty-handed due to other communities encroaching on these lands Wild game is becoming harder and harder to find we've been walking for about half a mile haven't found anything yet so uh I guess we just got to keep going and [Music] then I think they found something things
start moving at a Breakneck Pace let's go let's go let's go I have no idea what we're chasing but we're off and Shaka prepares to take a shot but his Target is lost in the trees so they found a a bush baby there we go and before I know it the chase is back on this time for a squirrel they got it they got it and after an hour of tracking and chasing oh my god wow that's amazing what shots are you happy with the catch while they're happy to have the meat one squirrel wasn't
going to feed everyone but they soon caught another and decided that two was enough for just a quick little snack how does it taste is it good it was time to walk back to camp but along the way the guys wanted me to try a real hza delicacy Wild Honey these whistles are actually calls to the greater honey guide a bird native to this region that leads humans to sources of honey the honey guide hears the whistle and due to thousands of years of core Evolution it knows that if it flies to a hive people
will follow okay it seems like we found some honey of course honey doesn't grow on trees but these create hives in inside them should I pull it out yeah look at this this is just such beautiful fresh honey straight from the tree okay I'm going to try it take a little bit ready oh my God hands down the best honey I've ever had in my life it tastes like liquid gold oh my God oh my God only is it calorie dense but Wild Honey is packed with vitamins and antioxidants and happens to be absolutely delicious
it's a great example of mutualism since the helpful honey guide gets to eat What's Left Behind second snack over we headed home that was a pretty long morning we were out there for about 4 hours covered 5 miles and guess what we burned over 800 calories which is a lot more calories going out than coming in because even with those two little squirrels and a bunch of honey I mean I'm guessing the guy probably consumed like two to 300 calories each so it kind of makes me wonder like is it really worth it because you're
not getting big game every single day that you're out there hunting right so then the things that the women forage for like the tubers and berries and plants those feel like safer options like things that you can actually rely on for everyday nutrition but even still I wanted to learn how to hunt like the guys and that means learning to shoot a bow and arrow um so this is the age group that I've been assigned to guess I just got to swallow my pride all right so let me see what you guys can do there's
our Target right there let's see how many of you can shoot it [Applause] wow these kids are really good I'm not sure how well this is going to go for me can you show me how you do it like that so add a bit of an angle okay like that pretty high up close to your face take a step back nice he got itat like this is okay should I go let it go [Music] didn't go very well terrible terrible yeah I don't think they'll be asking me to join their hunting parties anytime soon [Laughter]
close the crowd did not go wild but that's where my training had to end for the day it was so much fun to watch the guy today but honestly a lot of the skills that they showed me are super technical and there are things that they've been practicing since they were kids and I just don't think it's something that I can pick up in a single day plus I'm vegetarian so you know so hopefully tomorrow the women can teach me some skills that are a little bit more accessible because I really want to do my
Challenge in a couple of days but right now it just feels impossible so we'll see what tomorrow brings my first day of lessons from the HS and Men didn't stick in the way that I'd hoped so today I was determined to learn from the ladies labor in the hous of society is divided along gender lines the men hunt and the women forage but first they wanted us to fuel up for our mission so they decided to teach me how to make one of their favorite snacks I've got a bag full of beab fruit Esther's got
my backpack and uh now we're going to learn how to actually make bobab juice out of all this goodness bobab is a bit like coconut if you want to get to the good stuff you have to crack it open just try it it's kind of like a sweet zesty chalky flavor it's really hard to describe pretty good you can eat these straight out of the shell but in order to get all the nutritional value of the bobab you're going to need to put in some work I think I'm getting the hang of this piece by
piece crush it down by hand back home you just throw this all in the grinder but there's no power here so we're doing it by hand good for the muscles bobab is a highly nutritious fruit packed with minerals antioxidants and vitamin C studies suggest that this superfood can even help reduce inflammation create a feeling of fullness thanks to its high fiber content and as a Prebiotic it can even benefit your gut microbiome nice the next step is sing so we just want to make sure that we're getting all this nice lovely fine flour and separating
it out from the husks oh no I'm losing [Laughter] it we're going to take all this beautiful fine powder and we're going to mix it with water and that's how we're going to make our bab Juice mix it with my hands all right it looks more like dough than juice right now but the ladies assured me that this was the right recipe my grandma taught me how to knead dough with my hands when I was a kid so I'm going to try and put some of those skills to a good use here ready yes hey
dig in so let's give this a try they are that D it's really good actually powered by our snack we headed back out into the bush I was about to learn another foraging super skill ahead of my big challenge we were out here looking for tubers which are one of the main sources of food for the hza so this is the vine that we're looking for the vine that has the roots that are edible those are the roots that we want those are the roots that I'll be trying to find in a couple of days
wow the Venia fresen or EA as is better known to the hadzabe is one of the most common tubers out here but identifying it requires some skill because these plants dwell underground so that's a different Vine This is the EA that we're looking for okay there's like four types of vines here how am I supposed to distinguish I'll have to figure it out if I want to survive alone in the bush Okay I think they found something let's go take a look oh yeah this is it I think we've got our Roots using sticks as
shovels the women break ground and start digging of course I have to join in WoW for some reason I expected this to be a lot easier you may not be able to see tubers from above ground oh got it but it looked like I was about to find my first one should I pull it out yeah okay I got it y almost got it I'm going to treasure it like my [Laughter] baby my first Tor they grow in clusters so once you start digging they just keep coming there's more here so one of these big
guys provides enough energy for one person for one meal so if I want to eat well tomorrow I'll have to find at least three of these ideally more you can eat tubers raw but it's not advisable when roasted tubers are more easily accessible to the human digestive system and can provide a decent amount of nutritional value wow look at it this is a good amount of food yeah let's make a [Music] fire wait hang on hang on what is this so this here is animal poop and we're going to use this to make a fire
oh here we go she's a pro look at all that smoke coming out then it was my turn oh no I don't think I can do it let's try [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] again I had never made a friction fire before the support from everyone felt amazing now defend the Flames wow note to self making a fire good trying to hold on to it [Laughter] hard okay I think these guys are ready they're ready to eat they kind of feel like baked potatoes to me let's try it mhm it's really good a little bit spicy
a little bit earthy really really good what do you think how is it Josh yeah it's exactly like you said it was it's like a chewy potato one thing that I noticed today is that the hza are almost never alone they Forge and eat as a group always together it felt so nice to be a part of their Community for a short little while and I was curious to see what they thought of my life back home where I live where I'm from we don't find our own food we have to go to the grocery
store to the supermarket and buy it what do you think about that yes yes it's true yeah yes you have no money you you cannot you cannot let it was so interesting that the idea of relying on something external like money to live sounded crazy to them have you ever felt hungry ever you know everything she said got me thinking what would it be like if we all developed the skills to feed ourselves off the land even if only on occasion would it make us happier on some level yes I would find out for myself
soon enough my challenge was going to begin the following morning and since I would be spending a day like the hza I decided to move into one of their spare houses for the night tomorrow is going to be really interesting for sure um and you know what finding food is a lot of work but I know that it's just one day and in the absolute worst case I could just go hungry I could just not eat anything for a day but in my head the entire idea behind this challenge has changed over the last few
days because everybody here has been so kind and so generous with sharing their incredible skills with me so my mission is now to bring enough food not just to feed myself but for the community to enjoy and I think that just makes it a lot harder honestly morning I up well yeah yes the only thing that's missing in my life right now is a little bit of coffee I got two cups right here actually this is Josh's sorry out of luck this morning oh this is going to be rough go and bug her off now
having been denied what I felt like a basic human right to Coffee I had no choice but to get up and get on with my challenge to survive the day with only what I can forage for myself okay let's get ourselves some breakfast so my lowest hanging fruit for the day literally are the bobab fruit so I'm going to try and identify the tree that we went to the other day see if I can find it again and um grab some fruit here are the rules of the challenge today I can only drink and eat
whatever I find come here beab fruit if I don't fetch my own water I don't drink if I don't find food I don't eat simple but definitely not easy the good news was there was so much fruit around I felt like I was off to a great stop here's all my fruit that was heavy there's one very important thing that's missing and that is water so I had to walk a half a mile to get some for myself but when I reached the river the guys there refused to let me collect the water on my
own you know the idea of doing things on your own is pretty foreign and culture water check time to go back to Camp it won't even let me carry the water okay got this I have nowhere near the amount of Grace that the hza women do when they carry water around so demure so mindful a golden rule in any survival situation is to always boil your river water on the fire before drinking to kill all the bacteria viruses and parasites so the way that the hards get their fire started is usually by just borrowing some
Embers from um their neighbors which is exactly what I'm going to do right now now let's get this fire [Music] started oh yes get some more sticks it was going so well I was really making this survival thing [Music] left it's going to be a long day I can tell that as it turned out would become a very accurate prediction with some adjustments to my fire what was left of the water was soon back on the heat and I got to work processing the bay ofab fruit okay one down a million to go once the
fruit was separated from the husks I began the back breaking process of grinding it down into a fine powder you know this felt like way more fun when the girls were here this just really shows you how much stuff we take for granted like imagine if you had a grinder you'd be done with this in like 10 minutes the work was taking so long that the production team got bored and decided it was time to have lunch but as ever they were there to support me how's it going over there you but finally I was
finished all right almost done just got this one last little bit to get through and I've been here for 4 hours I've been smashing these up for 4 hours my hand is dead all right let's add some water into it and have a little bite I'm actually kind of hungry now I followed the BDO recipe to a tea or so I thought look at that beautiful beab dough and this is my breakfast oh man I am starving oh my God tastes a bit crunchy I I don't think I sifted through it enough well hope they
don't notice after my breakfast turned lunch I put what was left of the dough in my house and headed back out into the afternoon heat with my translator delali to find some tubers so it is 2:00 p.m. it's absolutely boiling hot and uh all I've had to eat so far today has been some bow bab dough and all I've had to drink was a bit of water so now we're out here looking for tubers but it's been a pretty long day and I have about 4 hours until sunset mhm so we really need to go
and find those roots after some searching I somehow managed to identify the Vine I was looking for I think we can see it there there's some of those Vines right in the middle you see here we go delali stayed by my side to make sure I didn't get lost but he made no comment on my choice of dig side today has been a pretty serious upper body workout and the whole that I need to dig is going to be about one or even 2 feet deep seeing that I was staying good for the moment and
knowing that he wasn't allowed to help me Dali headed back to Camp bye well I guess I'm on my own now just me and the Tubba [Music] but half an hour later delali returned because after thinking it over he felt compelled to break the main rule of the challenge to give me some bad news yeah this is Road for this great okay so apparently I've been doing digging in the wrong place this is a root but it's not a tuba it's not edible so that was a half an hour wasted I laughed but this hurt
okay even though he broke the rules I was grateful the Lali stepped in when he did because I'd been working for 7 hours in the scorching heat with only some be bad Pace to sustain me there is no other way to say it I was struggling H feeling a little a little drained seen a 5 minute break but time was not on my side I had to keep going and after some more searching finally some good news I see something oh my God is this the root yeah the RO yeah oh man I got it
yes oh my God I was honestly about to cry all that energy and all that effort it's all for nothing but we're good we're good now it felt like a wave of new energy I was soon making some real progress here we are not too bad woo nice woo look at this one this is the biggest one so far with the sun getting low it was time to think about heading back but when I did my final count of tubers it wasn't enough I found the EA so late in the day that I wasn't able
to collect as much as I wanted to rise to my challenge had I failed I know it's been a really long day but I honestly feel a little bit disappointed with how little I've managed to find mind I was really hoping to be able to share all this food with the entire Community but it's not that much so I'm thinking that might be nice to head down to the river and pick up some Tamarind on the way cuz they know that it grows there let's go delali let's go we headed down to the river and
I grabbed a whole Branch load of tamarinds to take back to the Village [Music] [Applause] yeah there we go well that's all gone is this good you like it it took me n hours [Laughter] now now you I told you I told you I told you day one I'm looking for a husband we started the fire and prepared the food I had gathered as I sat there spending this final evening at the haer camp my early disappointment was a million miles away and in its place was an overwhelming sense of community and I realized that
while my intention to collect food for the entire Camp was good not even the ha of themselves would want it that way everything they do is for the community as a whole by the community as a whole together and beond any super skill I could learn from these amazing people that's the lesson that I'll take with me on the rest of my journey [Music]
