Vietnamese guy tells interesting experience at snake village in Africa

In the snake village, people believe that dancing with snakes is a way to communicate with spirits.

lang ran 3.jpg — Road to snake village in Tanzania

During his trip to Tanzania, YouTuber Phan Thanh Quoc (Nomad) visited the Zigua snake village to learn about the snake dancing culture of the local people.

The Zigua snake village is located nearly 100km from the central area, mostly on rough, difficult-to-travel dirt roads. To get there, Quoc had to rent a motorbike with a local guide who spoke English.

Like many other areas of the African country, the villagers of the snake village live in a state of scarcity of fresh water. They often travel long distances to fetch water for their drinking and cooking needs.

This water is used very sparingly, so bathing is almost non-existent.

lang ran 6.jpg — Traditional Zigua houses are made entirely from natural materials.

Although knowledge of farming and animal husbandry has been popularized, the land here is barren due to lack of water. The villagers can only grow cassava – a tuber that can grow well in harsh conditions.

In addition to farming, people also raise chickens and ducks even though they don't have ponds to raise them.

One of the first images Quoc saw when he arrived in the village was of young boys passionately kicking a homemade ball. Homemade wooden bicycles were also a familiar way for them to move around nearby.

Zigua houses are like small huts, made of branches and leaves covered with earth. All the materials used to build the houses are natural. Because of this primitiveness, it is difficult for them to build large houses. Families with many children will have to build several huts.

lang ran 7.jpg — Venomous snakes are raised by villagers since they are young.

Snakes are kept in plastic cans in these huts. The reason it is called the snake village is because the Zigua people are famous for raising snakes and have dances with snakes as a long-standing culture.

A villager said that they often go into the forest to catch snakes and raise them when they are very young. The snakes eat animals such as mice, frogs, etc.

All the snakes here are poisonous, even extremely poisonous. There are species that if you are bitten by them, you will die within 5 hours.

Of course, the village snake masters also know by heart the remedies for snake bites, or how to identify poisonous snakes. Most of the remedies for snake bites use leaves. There are no medical facilities in this area.

To minimize the risk, the snakes' fangs will be broken off, but the fangs can grow back, so people break them off every 7 days. Quoc said that the number of snakes in the village is not fixed, sometimes 10-20, sometimes 5-7. All Zigua villagers know how to catch snakes and dance with them. Catching snakes is also very easy for them.

Today, the tradition of dancing with snakes is still passed down from generation to generation. An indispensable thing to perform a dance with snakes is the Ngoma musical instrument.

A snake dancing “orchestra” consists of many people, each playing a Ngoma of different sizes and sounds. The dance team will stand in a circle, sometimes holding the snake in their hands, sometimes around their necks, sometimes on the ground. They dance to the sound of the Ngoma drum and sing.

lang ran 8.jpg — The snake dance has been preserved by the Zigua people through the generations.

According to Zigua beliefs, dancing with snakes is not only a way to communicate with spirits but also aids in healing rituals.

It is believed that playing with snakes, especially while they are shedding their skin, helps strengthen the bond between humans and snakes.

To fully experience dancing with snakes, the Vietnamese YouTuber also put the snake on his body, wrapped it around his neck, and could not hide his worried and scared expression.

"Holding many snakes in my hand, I felt a little bit queasy. Almost all legless reptiles give me this feeling. Moreover, in our subconscious, snakes are dangerous animals so I was a bit wary but the experience was also very interesting."

As a rare foreigner to set foot in this area, Quoc was warmly welcomed by the villagers. In return, he was willing to pay the villagers to experience the snake dance. That was also his way of helping them maintain this long-standing culture.

He said: “The people here are very gentle, life is peaceful and they have very few needs. They accept a life with many inconveniences so they don’t have to worry too much about the burden of making a living. But in the end, they are still happy.”

lang ran 9.jpg — YouTuber Nomad experiences the feeling of holding poisonous snakes in his hands

First time trying egg bread, African reveals why he craves it but doesn't eat more

Treated to egg sandwiches by Hung Kaka of Quang Linh Vlogs, Angolan members kept praising how delicious it was. They revealed that they could eat three at once, but didn't take any more even though they still craved them.

African guy unexpectedly visited and asked to marry a female worker from Dak Lak

During his time in Buon Ma Thuot, the African man showed himself to be friendly, cheerful, hard-working, and active, making his girlfriend's family very satisfied.