Fishing Trip (2000)

Excerpt from the draft of “Apostle to the Pygmies – The Doctor Jerry Galloway Story”

Once Dr. Bakoko returned to work in the hospital, I used the opportunity to go on fishing trip. I prepared myself for the hike by leaving my bicycle at home, and I walked a lot. We made it to the river by late morning. Panfish jumped everywhere in the water, so we ate a quick lunch and started to fish.

A while later, we stopped to prepare 250 bank poles. We set these out to catch catfish at night. I only set 25 poles and stayed within 100 yards of camp. I no longer had the strength to climb along the river banks and fight the thorns and sharp sticks. We cleared a place and pitched two tents. The four young men used the larger one. They were amazed that the small light-weight piece of cloth became a "big house" that they said could hold eight Botoa. I used the small one-person tent. We caught more than 100 catfish, and kept them alive in a homemade bamboo live box. The Botoa made everything – chairs, beds, tables, boats, and more. They used only products from the forest since they did not have nails or rope or cord.

One morning, a friend who set traps showed up at camp. We gave him food, and he went about his work setting traps. He had nothing but his bow and arrows and snares. Some trappers still made rope from vines to make their traps. The trapper stayed in the forest for three to four days and lived on various types of starchy tubers. The Pygmies knew how to start a fire using two sticks. I always took along matches because the young men were not as adept at starting fires as their fathers were.