A nomadic tribe, constantly on the move.... spending an afternoon with the Himba Tribe was an enlightening experience. Learning about their life... men in work in the field all day with their farm animals; women have a daily 3-hr ritual from 4-7am each morning that includes a steaming (sweat), application of Ocre (the red clay, butter mix) to moisturize, followed by perfuming themself by smoking their face, body (all of it!) and clothing (or lack thereof); wooden pillows (headrests) are used for sleeping to keep their head off the ground, so bugs & mice stay away from their face; girls get their animal skin for their head-dress after their 2nd period and are officially deemed a "woman"... and for 5 cows, they can be married off as early as 13 yrs old; the women in this tribe also walk 5k daily to the cows for milk, followed by 5k the other direction for water afterwards -- following their morning ritual; ankles must be covered at all times with metal bands, due to this being the most sensitive part of the body, in their eyes; and this particular Himba Tribe has a white chief... who has a few wives... we didn't have the chance to meet him, but we did get to spend time in the main hut learning more about their life & rituals -- with the help of Matthias (who is now a Herero, as he left the Himba Tribe to go into the modern side of society)... and he served as our translator, as the members of this Himba Tribe do not speak any English. And because of this, we had a chance to learn their local greeting... which left all of us giggling as we stumbled our way through our hellos & goodbyes!
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