I decided to drop the shotgun for a day and keep the camera in hand, going hunting with Lasso and Go-Seydou. The day was very very hot, small animals can be caught resting in the shadows. But the bush is starting to become green with new leaves, which makes following game increasingly difficult. The experience was quite paradoxical, for while the two hunters were struggling to spot hares and birds, I was following and observing them carefully to spot good pictures, as if I were hunting the hunters. Because the hunt was a real one, I could not take any picture from in front of them until I asked them to act for the camera. The catch was not particularly good, with two hares, a bird, a hedgehog and a cat. Yes, I learnt I have to shoot domestic cats as soon as I spot them out of a human settlement. As if as they enter the bush they trespass the threshold between a domestic and a wild animal, hunters can shoot them. I also noticed Lasso and Seydou prayed with the donsofani on them, which is peculiar because there is a bit of a local debate between muslims, concerning the amulets on a donso‘s shirt. For some they spoil the prayer, and in fact Lasso, as far as I know, usually takes his donsofani off to pray. Hopefully this post can also help you make an idea of the kind of semi-domesticated environment we hunt in, around Karankasso.

[portfolio_slideshow id=1265]