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Published: March 2nd 2009
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A Himba Woman
The ochre mud and butter adds a healthy glow, protects their skin from the intense African sun and adds to their beauty!
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March 2, 2009
Opuwo, Namibia
Our guide asked us to wait near the truck while he asked the village elder for permission to enter and visit his tribe.
A few minutes later, Kambambaki, our 20-year-old guide who went by the name of John, was back, having been given the okay by the man in charge of the Ovahakaona tribal village. John told us that he would introduce us to “the father.”
Sarah and I walked up to the old man, both a bit uneasy. Dozens of curious naked children ran circles around a nearby mud hut. Their bare-breasted mothers sat in the dirt and watched. The father, wearing a sort of African sarong, sat down in a chair as we arrived. I reached out and offered a handshake to say hello, knowing full well that English wouldn’t go very far here in the tribal region of Kaokoland -- about 50 kilometers from Opuwo and a further 400 kilometers from Windhoek, Nambia’s capital. The father reached out his left hand. I awkwardly shook it with my already extended right hand. Sarah did the same. We both said “hello” anyway, figuring it wouldn’t hurt. He smiled and we
Ovahakaona Woman and Child
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smiled back.
John and the father spoke in the local language for a few minutes. The elder man held his right hand awkwardly at his side. They went back and forth. Sarah and I stood silent, not knowing what their discussion was about.
John turned to us and said the man apologized that he couldn’t shake with his right hand. He had just helped a cow deliver a calf and hadn’t washed his hand yet. John said the man was grateful for our maize and tobacco gifts and we were welcome to walk around, meet and take pictures of his people and the village. We asked John to give him our thanks and to tell him we were grateful for his generosity in letting us see his village. We explained through John that we’d come a long way from Vancouver and the U.S. via London to see Namibia and learn about other cultures. John translated and quickly turned to us.
“The father wants to know if your home is where the sun sets or where it rises,” John asked.
Sarah and I smiled, both realizing that we were finally deep into Africa,
A Herero Woman
in all her glory! The Herero adopted their style of dress from 19th century missionaries of the Victorian era.
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far from the modern world and far from the parts of Africa that had been heavily settled by Europeans.
“We are from where the sun sets,” we said to John and the village father. The old man smiled and then slowly stood up, a bit shaky in his knees. He apologized, saying he had to get back to his cattle. And off he walked.
The visits we made to the Ovahakaona tribe and a nearby Himba tribe were like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I’ve been to some far-flung and wild places before, but this topped them all. The biggest town around is the frontier village of Opuwo, essentially the last main stop before heading into southern Angola. Opuwo itself is an amazing sight. Villagers from outside the town occasionally visit for supplies. Many Himba women are bare-breasted and in full tribal regalia. The Herero women have an even more curious style, having adopted the dress of the wives of missionaries from the 19th century Victorian era.
The villages had no electricity and no running water. The people lived in grass and mud huts and survived almost completely through farming and ranching. We were
Himba Women
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the second set of tourists to ever visit the Ovahakaona tribe. Sarah pulled out a postcard with an aerial view of Vancouver. She asked John to explain that this is where she is from. The entire village went wild, asking about the snow-capped peaks, the buildings and our lives. Clearly, we were like nothing they’d ever experienced.
The Himba women in another village had only met a few tourists face-to-face and seen a few drive by on nearby roads. We were led to the women by John, who was being led by more than two-dozen children. They giggled and laughed with nothing more than a smile from us as a prompt. As we approached, the women were sitting in the shade of a tree, resting mid-day from the heat and fatigue of maize gardening. Their skin was an orange rust color, dyed from the daily smearing of a mixture of ochre-colored mud and butter. The tradition protects their skin from the sun and adds to their beauty. They had delicately placed mud in their hair as well, each adopting a separate mud-and-hair style combination. One woman had long mud-caked tassels. Another had horns.
John introduced us
Our Guide John
John, our intrepid guide, and a professional artist, who in this shot shows us how proud he is of his sign in the background.
For more photos, click here: [url=http://flickr.com/photos/alexarmitage/sets/] Flickr Photo Page [/url]
to the eldest woman. Between puffs from a pipe, she asked questions about us and our lives. Eventually the other younger women joined in. They asked what it was like to have a girlfriend and no kids. What it was like to work in an office? What is snow like? What do you eat for dinner? Do your parents pick your wife? Husband? The questions, from both sides, went on and on. The children wandered around, asking us to take their pictures so they could see them in the digital screens. Close-ups drew lots of laughter, especially from the kids when we took shots of the mothers and the older women.
Eventually, like every afternoon in the summer of southern Africa, the clouds started to collect above us. We could see flashes of lightning in the distance and hear rumbling from thunder. The women had work to do and we had a long drive ahead of us on a muddy road that was about to get muddier. We said our goodbyes and the children lead us back to our truck, giggling along the way. I looked over at Sarah and one girl had grabbed her hand to hold.
Sarah's Found a Friend
and it drew many giggles from the other children.
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The others giggled at the brave one among them.
After our visit to Opuwo and the tribal region of Kaokoland, we headed east towards Etosha National Park. We were diligent wildlife watchers there, waking at 5 a.m. and heading to bed at 12 midnight. The best animal viewing is done at sunrise and sunset. We saw loads of giraffe, zebra and springbok. But our “hard work” was rewarded on the second day when just after sunset we saw a huge bull elephant on the road. He walked in front of us for a good 5 minutes and then turned, as if on cue for a photo opportunity, then made his way off into the bush. Just 10 minutes later, we were both stunned to see a leopard in the road. The elusive and mysterious cat is one of the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen. It gracefully walked across the road, and then along the side for a few minutes. Some locals that we’ve met have lived here for years without seeing a leopard.
We hope our wildlife viewing luck continues as head into Botswana.
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Jim O'Brien
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from the O'Briens
Hard to explain if you have not experienced it. Get to Rwanda to see the gorillas and chimps if you can. If you get to Tanzania let us kmow. We can hook you up with a great guide. We are doing SA next year. Please put us on your list as we only find out what you are up to by hounding Norm