Kaokoveld - a glimpse

Another day trip with Jürgen, the owner of the Toko Lodge. This time we went up north, leaving the Damaraland, to catch a glimpse of the Kaokoveld. Only q glimpse, as most parts of the Kaokoveld are only accessible on a several-day, 4WD camping safari, no real roads exist there, apart from the main road to the capital Opuwo. The Kaokoveld is traditionally the area, where the people of the Himba are living. And because it is so remote, they have managed to keep living in their traditional ways. Before visiting a Himba family up there, we first went through Opuwo for fuel and shopping. Opuwo itself is a interesting mixture of all kind of namibian people. Due to its proximity to Kaokoveld, Damaraland, and the Ovamboland north of Etosha (more than half of all Namibians live in this small region), a wild mixture of traditions and styles can be observed in Opuwo. Starting with completely chic modern dresses, to the Victorian style dresses traditionally worn by the Herero women, to Himba men with the traditional loincloth, but also t-shirt and sneakers, and traditional Himba women, with their reddish skin and hardly any cover, only some wear a shirt for coming to town. The city is growing rapidly, more and mire people from around are moving to town, trying to find work, or being closer to their kids when they have to go to school. The whole area up north, north of the veterinary fence, is owned by the communities, and the people are living everywhere, usually taking care of cows or goats. There are no fences, they animals are just walking around, trying to find food. But it seems to be too many animals for the available food, all grass is eaten, the cows still look very thin, and no wild animals live here anymore, as no food is left. After stopping in Opuwo we went to visit a nearby Himba family. Jürgen has visited this family several times before, and also knows some Himba language, so he could explain and translate what they showed us. At first we offloaded the things we had brought for them: water, corn flour, bread, sugar, dog food (Jürgen has taken the brother of the dog here home with him, and now always compares how thin the dog here is). In this family, at the moment only a mother and her daughter live there with their children. And they have a lot of neighboring families in the area, who also saw us coming. The husbands only come home every few months, the rest of the time they are out with the cows, trying to find food for them. We then were invited into the main hut, which is the hut of the mother. The walls of the huts are made of wood, plastered with cow dung. The roof is made of wood, and since they have a fire inside, this wood looks and smells a bit smoky. To store valuables, there is a box with a lock; the key is then worn on one if the many necklaces. Himba women spend of lot of time to get pretty every day. I get shown how they get their skin in the typically red color (rubbing it with powder of a certain stone), what kind of perfume they use (a certain mixture of herbs, put into a fire and applied like a sauna), what is special about their hair (most of it is fake, only extensions, since true natural hair is only a few centimeters), which they then also cover with the red paste. I saw how they make flour out if the corn they are growing (2 stones), saw a few sheep and goats running around, the cows would be gone with the husbands. I can't explain the whole Himba tradition here, I also only got a small glimpse into their real live. It really seems to be a live full of traditions (everything has a specific meaning, from the layout of the huts to the hair-do, depending on the age and so on. But also it seems to be a really hard live, and a live in extreme poverty. And a live, that can't really be combined with the modern live, there is no in-between. And than then becomes a problem, when the kids start going to school (right now, most Himba kids still don't go, but the government is trying to change this). In school they have to wear a school uniform, shower regularly, the sleep in a bed (not on the floor), etc. I don't know how this then can be combined with keeping their traditions. Of course, at the end of our stay, the women showed us all the handcrafts they have done, trying to sell them to us. On the way back then, looking out not to hit any cow (if you do, you have to pay the damage to your car, and also compensation for the cow), I saw my first rhino. We were right at the border to the western part of the Etosha park, and it was just walking slowly along the fence. Since the wind came from the right direction, it couldn't smell us, so we could get a bit closer for a nice photo. Full of new impressions, I arrived back at the lodge for dinner (kudu schnitzel).