Uganda is home to thousands of Batwa, more famous as the forest-dwelling Pygmies of numerous dubious movies of the past. We joined a community development initiative to visit one of the tribes, unfortunately now displaced from the forest and exiled on the top of a hill without water supply (albeit in an utterly gorgeous location).

We sat in the centre of their village with hundreds of eyes on us, while the village headman recounted, through an interpreter, their grievances and desire to return to their old life. This is, of course, easier said than done since the forests are being chopped down at a crazy rate here.

There are competing demands between developers (chop down the forest to make farms, provide lumber and create jobs), environmental protection groups (remove people from vulnerable forests to protect the forest and animals such as the critically endangered mountain gorillas) and indigenous groups like the Batwa (allow them to return to their traditional "sustainable" use of jungle resources like wood and bush meat). There are, unfortunately no easy answers to this type of problem and governments will instinctively tend towards short-term economic development, despite the longer-term environmental and cultural costs.

After the speech the drums started to beat and the villagers leapt through the air in incredible dances recounting their culture, hunting and courtship practices. Having watched too many Tarzan films as children, this seemed like the precise point in proceedings where the bubbling pot would come out and we would be cooked for supper.

In fact, of course, these lovely gentle (and - happily - small) people simply asked that we share their story with the world...

Check our Latest Adventures section below for pictures and stories from South Africa or Botswana or Zambia.