They are incredibly efficient with water, able to feed a family for several days on a litre of water.
The morning ritual for the women starts with
a cleansing and the application of the bright red ochre powder (derived of
rocks from Ruacana) with butter. Acting as a natural moisturizer, the coating
lasts for days and gives the bare-chested Himba their striking appearance.Hair and jewellery play an important part of the Himba's attire, indicating one's marital status and puberty. Males wear a thick necklace made from loops of shell and a black tarry mixture of manure and ochre. These necklaces, over an inch thick, are donned as a young child, worn for life and must never be removed. Similarly, women wear tall anklets made from metal beads and fabric, again never to be removed. Young girls have hair matted down with ochre and butterfat into long braids hanging down in front of their faces or wound into two horn-like bumps with animal hide.
A nearby pile of ten cattle skulls, surrounded by stones, marks the
grave of a once prominent member of their group. Flies constantly settle on my
face, and I grow tired of waving them away.
Calvin & Sharon
photo: Janin Klemenčič
(to be continued) photo: Janin Klemenčič
