Tribal Life with the Dani in Jiwika and Sumpaima Village

Today was going to be a very special experience in that we would be traveling deep into the bush to spend all day with a tribe that has had little outside influence. I was still nowhere close to being on the right time zone and sleep cycles so I again got up early and went for a hike. You know things are going well when you are greeted in the morning to sights like this. I headed to the end of the rainbow thinking my pot of gold would actually be a nice cold amber ale.

I then stumbled across another village that looked to be cooking breakfast as I could see smoke rising.

At first I thought I was watching them but I'm sure they saw me coming a long time before I even found their village.

I had no idea who these people were and without Rufus to translate I figured it was best to return to the lodge.

We all grabbed breakfast and I ate another 6-8 "passion" fruits before we headed out. We again drove as far as we could and then had to start hiking.

As we got close we set off the perimeter alarm.

This guy shot an arrow at my feet. Rufus assured me that they knew we were coming and that they were all his good friends. He just did this to have some fun at my expense. I now had to change my shorts and hoped they had more then just a penis gourd for me.

They didn't. I also learned a very important lesson. You should always shake and bang your penis gourd to ensure it is free of any insects before you put it on. They are quite cooling though. Hope I packed the sun cream in my day pack. And aren't you glad I just happened to have a smudge on the camera lens?

They then introduced us to their chief. Because they don't track their birthdays we are not really sure how old it is. However, we do know that they still consult him, or it, for important decisions, and we do know that it is dead. I called in my spirit guides to ensure this thing did not place a curse on me for taking it's picture.



The tribe then introduced us to one of their games. A kind of mock battle with a capture the flag element, except they seemed to be using live ammo.



Just about everyone got to play, even this guy who based on his gourd must have had Peyronie's disease.

Not really sure how it ended but the action seemed to stop.



The winning team then claimed their prize and did some kind of tribal dance. We are not sure but Kim might now be married.



We then took some pictures with the winning team.





After the game everyone was hungry and they would be cooking a pig for us. Pigs are actually their main currency so it was a real honor that they would sacrifice one for us. However this was very disturbing in that it had to be killed first. It was not the seeing it but rather hearing it that was bone chilling.



They then let it stagger around until it bled out. I was now hoping there would also be a salad bar around here someplace.

The village dog cleaned up the blood.

While the village kids looked as surprised as we did.

They then started a fire the old fashioned way and it was pretty impressive.





Once the fire was going they first flame kissed the pig in order to remove the hair.



It's usually a good sign that the food is going to be good when prepared by a heavy set chef, usually....

This woman had an interesting skill in that she was unbalanced and constantly limped to the left. So she could go forage in the jungle and no matter where she started she would always end up back there in roughly 45 minutes or so.

Once the pig had a nice sear on it they put it in the oven to finish it off. Burying it underground with hot rocks and then covering it with more hot rocks. I wonder how that salad bar is coming along.

While the pig cooked we spent some more time with the tribe.









Kim then got to meet her new sister in law.

While Riley met is new Grandma.

Their new Christmas card picture.

This lady ran the local day care.

The women waited for the pig to cook.



While the men took up target practice.



They were aiming for a small circle on this post.

Riley then gave it a try and found that it would be best to continue to get his chicken from Panda Express instead of killing it in the wild.

The pig was finally done and they began carving it with bamboo knives.

It looked a tad on the rare side for my liking.

The kids watched with great interest.



As did the village dog.

The kids then get to empty the intestine and take it down to the river to wash.

They took a pig that was alive just hours ago and cooked it using fresh ingredients. We were out in nature living off the land. You would think this would be the tastiest pork you have ever had, but then you would be wrong. But I loved being here and I loved taking part in this experience. I'm grateful for the tribe opening their home and lives to us. Oh and now I'm a full fledged vegan.



After the meal it was time to go and we thanked them and said goodbye.





You may think we are crazy for spending our vacation like this and you may think these people are crazy for living like this. But these people are not crazy and neither are we. We love to explore, we love to learn, and we love to grow. We are not here to judge our own insecurities by judging others, we are here to live our lives and share our stories. And this has been an amazing chapter. These people are beautiful and could teach us all many lessons that we so desperately need to learn. However, I did tell this little guy to run away from this place as fast as he could.