Hanging with the Himba Tribes of Northern Namibia

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Michelle and the First Himba wife

Feeling lucky that we and little Peekay (our Kia Picanto) had survived the rough roads up to now, we thought we should perhaps not push our luck to head north through Sesfontein to Epupa Falls. After several warnings, Hermann, the lodge manager called ahead and confirmed that once past Sesfontein the roads were passable for our low-clearance Peekay but not before that. Avoiding Sesfontein we headed east through some better roads and pretty terrain. We turned north at the metropolis (or so it looked on the map!) of Kamanjab  - a junction with two shops and a petrol station! At that point the road was, thankfully, tarred and was a welcome break from the stones, dust and shaking.  It was also here that we started to see people of the Himba tribe. Dressed in traditional dress (which isn't much) the women in particular, cover themselves in ochre butter - a beautiful dark rusty-red coloured mixture that protects them from the sun.

Visiting a Himba village

We set up camp in the small town of Opuwo which was bustling with Himba and Herero tribe people chatting on street corners or outside the local PEP (clothing and household0 store. It was nice to see that different tribes were living and working closely in harmony. We would always say hello and wave when we pass, but we really wanted to meet and talk to the local tribes 1properly. Our campsite manager, Western, is Himba, and we discovered his village was very far away. His Uncle's village, however, was just half an hour from town so he took us to visit. As long-term travellers we always try to think about responsible and sustainable tourism, but hate what I call 'fish-bowl' tourism (how would we like someone coming into our house and looking at how we dress and eat?!). Martin and I always get stuck in and interact with the people. We had great time with the kids and the women of the village.

Martin with the Himba kids

There was only one man there, Western's Uncle, the Chief, and the women were all his wives! I 'asked' him how many children he had and his reply was that all the children I see were his! I suspect he didn't really know how many he had! They had no idea that we were coming and we felt very honoured to be welcomed as we did, and I loved sitting and 'chatting' with the women and showing the kids the video and pictures we took. The chief, of course, had been busy, as two of the wives were heavily pregnant. When I asked when they were due, one said her baby was due imminently - at the next full moon. The other had another moon cycle to go. It makes sense that their record of the passage of time would be by the moon, but they didn't really record how old they were. Western himself does not know how old he is.

Herero People

The first wife took a shining to me and we laughed and giggled and exchanged conversation (through Western). It was really special. She, and another wife showed us how they grind ochre from stone into a fine powder to mix with cow's butter to cleanse and protect their skin, and also how they mix and heat herbs for personal hygiene and deodorant.

It was such a great experience for us and we hoped that it was for the village too. Western was certain of it as we said our farewells. Of course, the big bags of maize mealie-meal, tea, herbs, sugar and salt that we took as gifts were really appreciated too. * Mush