In
the morning we went for a guided tour of the Himba village. The camp which was
run by the Himbas arranged a local guide named Dax for the visit to a nearby village.
Dax was born in this village and his half-sister still lives there. The village
itself was very small with only some 6-8 huts inside a boma/fence. Every
village has holy fire. The holy fire in the surrounded by the huts, with the
goat shed located close to the holy fire. The holy fire should always burn. It
is considered as their link to their ancestors. Only the chief can sit near the
fire and he is the only authrorized person to talk with the ancestors. When the
chief dies the body is kept near the fire and the next person takes over. Also
when a person is sick, the person is brought near the fire and the chief
requests the ancestors to heal the person.
Each
family has 3 huts - the main hut where they sleep, the second hut where they
spend the day, and the third hut for food storage. The main hut is made with
sticks and plastered with cow dungs. They apply the dung again when the walls
start cracking. The second hut is mostly of sticks so that there is ventilation
through the gaps. The third hut entrance is little higher to prevent the kids
from reaching the storage. The goat shed is only for the calves/baby goats so
as to separate it from their mothers. The mother cow comes in one by one to
feed the baby and then the women of the village milk the cow too. The Himbas
are pastoral people and they follow the rains so that their cattle can always
graze. In the village we visited the older women has stayed behind as it became
difficult to travel for the older people. Only the men and the younger women
had gone with the cattle.
The
skin of the Himba people is always red in colour. The red colour is made from a
paste made of the fine dust from the ochre rock mixed with animal fat and
applied to the skin. This is to make them look good, and make the skin smooth.
They also apply a paste made from herbs and fat around the neck to stop the mopane
bees. The Himba girl starts wearing a head ornament when whey become women. And
they remove it only when there is death in the family. Only the Himba men wash
their body and the women never take bath. Instead they smoke their body from a
fire put with pleasant smelling wood. The women wear different dresses for
different occasion. The different dresses are made from different animal skins
– cattle, goat etc.
When
the boys become men, the boys are brought near the holy fire and the
professional deskinner does the deskinning. In Himba culture all the front
tooth of all Himba people are removed. This is also done around the holy fire
and the removed tooth is thrown in the direction where they are born. The Himba
bury their dead. And marriage is done by the girl or boys wishes. The chief
calls the elders from other families and then gives the girl away to the boy.
The chief also advices the bride on the new rules the girl should follow as a
wife before they go the new family. There were also some handicrafts displayed
in the village made by the Himba women. We bought some baskets, mainly as a way
to support their culture.
When
Dax was guiding us a group of german tourists arrived at the village in 3 cars.
Without asking for any permission they simply entered the village and started
looking around the huts. When Dax politely informed them that there is an
entrance fee for tourists they simply left. We were stunned by their rude and disrespectful
behaviour. After all, what they did is to enter somebody else’s house without
permission. Stupid arrogant tourists!!!
After
the Himba village visit we moved towards Seesfontain. The route was amazing.
Near Purros the tracks were sandy, then it became rocky and sometimes we had to
drive through riverbeds. Later on the landscape completely changed to vast
plains, with a fusion of colours. At one point the ground was red sand, with
yellow dried grass over the surface, dark brown rocky mountains in the
background at a distance, with blue skies and white clouds!!!! Stunning view!
Purros to Seesfontain is only 100 kms, but it takes approximately 3 hrs to
reach there. We stopped at the old german fort at Seesfontain again to take a
break. Then we proceeded back to Palmwag (approximately 110 km) along the
gravel road. At one point the windshield of our car got a crack from a stone
flying from a passing by truck. That was bad! First the tyre replacement and
now we have to replace the windshield as well.
We
reached the Palmwag camp at 4:30 pm. We parked the car in the camp and immediately
jumped into the pool. We came across footprints of the resident bull around our
camp. At night there were also sounds from a leopard nearby. Close to the wild,
can’t complain!
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