INTERVIEW WITH BAKA SAMBA

Interview with Baka Samba

One one of the first blog postings made after their arrival, the team told us about their encounter with a local shopkeeper, Baka Samba. What we at CFZ base have been waiting for, however, is this following testimony....

Richard: Was your shop here in 1983?
Baka: Yes

R: Do you remember a large animal being washed up on the shore in 1983?
B: Yes, it was a big dolphin

R: How large?
B [pointing from where he was to a breeze block lying on the floor, approximately 10 feet away]: From here to there

R: What happened to it?
B: It was alive when it washed up. Some white men came with a boat and tried to save it, but it was very ill and it vomited and then it died. It was left on the beach.

Oll: Could you draw a picture of it?
Baka: I can't draw

Oll [pointing to a silver pendant of a dolphin]: Was it like that?
B: Yes

O: I'll draw it, and you tell me what it's like
[Oll drew out a picture, following Baka's directions and asking the locations of the fins as he went]

O: Does it have a fin on the back?
B: No, it had no fin on the back
When Richard visited the fish market he drew a picture of what Gambo was supposed to look like and took it with him. He showed it to a fisherman, told them what size it was supposed to be and asked them if they'd ever seen anything like it. They identified it as a sawfish. We will be returning to Bungalow Beach very soon to interview Baka again.