Traditional tribal life: a functional, valid, and uniquely fascinating piece of humanities diverse cultural puzzle. As development reaches further into the frontiers of our planet, once inaccessible peoples stand in the midst of dramatic change, where age-old customs and traditions must face the modernizing juggernaut. For those of us who seek a better understand of this mysterious way of life there is but one ultimate course of action – to get out there and experience it for ourselves before it’s too late.

In doing so are we, as tourists, contributing to the demise of these cultures? Are we, through our contacts, facilitating the degradation of their traditional way of life? These are important questions to consider, and if we at the Tribal Experience believed the answers to be ‘yes’, we would not be doing this. But we don’t. In fact, we feel quite the opposite. Our visits, done responsibly, with the tribal people’s prior consultation and agreeance, are a pleasure for everyone. If anything has grown obvious through our years of backcountry travel, it’s that the locals are more interested to know about us then we are them, and by getting as intimate into their lives as The Tribal Experience does is for that, we feel, the greatest tool. We’ve discussed it thoroughly with the villagers; they want to meet you, entertain you, and show you what they are about, and we want to make that possible! You’ve read about them in books, seen photos and film – now get ready for the real thing!

‘When in Rome, be like the Romans’. Likewise, to really know tribal life, one must really do tribal life. For us, that means passing our time in the villages as would the villager. It means eating, drinking, and sleeping in the same fashion as our hosts. It means travelling in small groups – our maximum is six – so as not to overwhelm small communities. It means a willing sacrifice of some creature comforts. It means being prepared for something very unordinary, very challenging – and very exciting! You will know what its like to crowd around a light and warmth giving fire; to eat homegrown, traditionally prepared and served food; to sleep upon bamboo floors of multi-family longhouses; to hear fascinating myths and tales recanted over evening storytelling’s, and so much more!

To get to these places we have to do some walking – off the roads are where the most traditional villages lie. The trails, however, are not very long nor are they too difficult. Our aim is to make these Experiences possible for everyone, of reasonable physical ability, yet without compromising the cultural objectives. Should you crave something more extreme, say a multi-day backcountry hike to some really obscure villages, that can be done as well.

As for a typical day on an Experience, it would go something like this: In the morning we drive to a trailhead leading off the main road, from where we begin our thirty-minute to two-hour walk to the village. Arriving in the afternoon, we take lunch and check out the village and surroundings. Evenings we pass with the locals in their homes, seated around the fire amidst an inevitable crowd of curious onlookers. After the next mornings breakfast, we either continue on foot to a more distant village, or double back to the main road to repeat the above procedure in a different locale. Following two or three days of this, we’ll hold up for a night in a town where more comfortable accommodation can be found – to get those depleted batteries of ours charged up again. Or, if you’ve taken that option, we’ll head to one of the area’s magnificent game reserves.