The Himba People - graceful and gentle

For kilometers we have been driving through a red desert which was scattered by small shrubs a few trees and a lot of people covered in red clay. These people which once were united with the Heroes tribe but then separated about 200 years ago and moved into Kakoaland.  The Himba tribe is an ethnic group that has been photographed more than any other tribe. They are renowned for their beauty as well as their simplistic lifestyle.  We wanted to see how they lived but wanted to avoid the normal tourist experience on gets from the hotel. 

In the small town by Ft. Sesfonstein we met a guide who could speak several languages and headed off into the bush after buying the goods we would offer the tribe.  Flour, oil, Vaseline, tea and sugar.  I also brought some of my pencils and donated them to the children.  I sat in the mud hut with four women and two children as we exchanged stories and questions about our cultures.  It was quite a challenge to explain where I was from and my description of snow made the women laugh. I was impressed how they constantly creative they were and how they could live with so few items. They grind down red stone and mix it with fat (Vaseline) and apply it on their skin constantly which proves to be quite a good sunscreen as well as keeping their skin wrinkle free. They also explained how hard has been since the two year drought. A lot of cattle has been lost and life is harder to live.  I told them I would pray for rain and I was happy to see that two days later it started to rain which I hope gives them some relief to their situation. They then offered a huge array of things to buy and it was difficult to find the right thing to by because everything was so wonderful. Settling on a few necklaces we then headed off to the more difficult roads which were awaiting for us.

It is difficult to compare their culture with ours, as they are so different from us. For me it is unbelievable how they can survive with so little things: no shoes, almost no clothes, no water, only little huts (build from wooden sticks, clay and mud) and some animals (goats, cows and chicken). On the other side they seem happy and very much used to their lifestyle. They looked very beautiful, despite the fact, that they only take a shower once or twice a year! And they don’t even stink! They have a life style from the past but it could be that they have the life style of the future as we watch all the resource