Baka

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   The Baka live in interesting houses made out of Tilipi leaves. They look like green igloos!  The women make these temporary houses. First they bend small saplings into the shape of a dome. Then they slit the stems of the Tilipi leaves so they can weave a water proof roof to go over the stick frame.

   The Baka travel in small family sized groups during the rainy season.  They return to their villages in the dry season. They travel in the rainy season because they can find more food.  The Baka eat all different things like berries, nuts, fish, termties, and honey. The men are usually the ones to go hunting for the food. Some of the plants they eat are poisonous. If they are poisonous, they drain them out in the lake and the fish die from the poison and come to the surface.Then they eat the fish  and plant.

     The men get honey from the trees. The women carry their babies with them as they catch fish or gather vegetables and grubs. They also eat termites which taste like raw eggs.

    The Baka have some interesting medicines that we learned about.  One medicine is used to make aches and pains go away. That is made out of leaves.  Another medicine is for the women.  It is to help  her have a baby. That is what an old woman told a young woman. The last medicine is for boys.  It is to make them grow and  get stronger.

    The Baka don't care for other tribes' villages. They only go to another tribe's village to trade the meat they have killed for fruits and vegetables.  Most of the time the other tribe is a farming tribe. The Baka don't trust the other village's drinking water, that is one reason why they don't like to go there.