5 Days Hadza and Datoga Camping Experience

Over these three days, you’ll spend time on foot, in the bush, and around village hearths, not as an outsider, observing but actively engaging with two of the most distinct communities in East Africa: the Hadzabe and the Datoga. Each day is structured to offer a different glimpse into their daily lives, traditions, and skills, while giving you space to reflect, ask questions, connect, and film or take photographical memories. Meanwhile, your base remains at the campsite near Lake Eyasi.

Your mornings will usually begin early. Before sunrise, you’ll join the Hadzabe on their morning hunt. Remember, this is not a staged performance. It’s a real hunt, with bows and arrows. You’ll walk alongside them as they track small game, birds, and sometimes larger animals, reading signs in the dust that most of us would never notice. The hunt is fast-paced in parts, quiet in others, but always authentic. They’ll show you how they read the land, find honey, or identify edible roots – methods that have been passed down over generations.

Later in the morning, you’ll return to the camp for a proper meal, some rest, and time to reflect on the experience. Midday heat usually slows things down, so these hours are used for shaded conversations with local guides and elders, or walks to nearby water sources or baobab trees, where stories are often told casually.In the afternoons, your guide will make arrangements for you to visit a Datoga home. Where the Hadzabe live off the land day to day, the Datoga are semi-pastoral blacksmiths, known for their ability to repurpose scrap metal into tools and jewelry.

There’s also time set aside for practical, unexpected experiences like learning how to make fire using sticks, watching how honey is harvested, or even tasting baobab fruit cracked open right there in front of you. Some moments will be quiet, just sitting with a Datoga artisan while she etches decorative lines on her face with a blade, and others might feel more intense, like when the Hadzabe test your aim with a real bow – such an incredible experience.

Evenings are spent back at the camp, with dinner around the fire and plenty of time to talk about what you’ve experienced during the day. If the timing is right, and the mood allows, members of the local community may stop by, not to perform, but to sit, share, and speak in their own time and way. Each day’s program may shift depending on weather or what’s happening locally, and that’s what makes it an unforgettable experience.

Meal Plan: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner