Bezoek Himba Stam

Himba excursion usually takes between 2 and 4 hours guided each time to a different traditional Ovahimba villages. This reduces the impact tourism has and enables a true experience of their culture and traditions. The guide always acts as translator and mediator during the visit. The Himba are an ethnic group of about 20,000 to 50,000 people living in the northern part of Namibia, the Kunene region (formerly Kaokoland). They are a mostly a nomadic, pastoral people, closely related to the Herero, and speak the same language.

Daily life
The Himba breed cattle and goats. The responsibility of milking the cows and taking care of the children lies with the women. Women also tend to take care of another woman’s children. The more labor-intensive work is mostly done by women, such as carrying water to the village and building homes. The men handle the all political tasks and legal trials.

The Himba wear little clothing, but the women are famous for covering themselves with a mixture of butterfat, ochre, and herbs to protect themselves from the sun. The mixture gives their skins a brown-reddish tinge. The mixture symbolizes earth’s rich red color and the blood symbolizing life, and is generally consistent with the Himba ideal of beauty. Women braid each other’s hair and cover it in their ochre mixture (called otjize in their language).

Modern clothes are scarce, but are now mainly worn by the men when available. Traditionally both men and women used to go topless and wear skirts or loincloths made of animals skins in various colors. Adult women always wear beaded anklets to protect their legs from poisonous animal bites. Boys and girls are generally circumcised before puberty. This is to make them eligible for marriage. Marriages are arranged at a daughter’s birth and usually take place when the girl is between about 14 and 17.