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We visited Mondao [a supply stop] and had a huge party there with all the hundreds of Pygmies. Lots of dancing.

People have lived along this river for thousands of years in much the same way. It’s really one of the last pockets left in central Africa where people still live a very traditional life. Even villagers still wear raffia skirts in some villages. The Pygmies are very skilled hunters and spend a lot of their time in the forest here.

We spent three days with the Pygmies. It was a good change. To send us off, we took about 40 of them into the forest with us. They accompanied us out to about five kilometers (3.1 miles) where they were going to do a net hunt. We got to spend the night with them.

It was an incredible experience. They had all kinds of weird things happening. They turn off all the lights and put phosphorescence on each other’s skin and run like wild animals. Very late at night, about one in the morning. They sang fables for hours.

We saw stuff there that very few people have ever seen. Forest spirits don’t come out just for anybody.