We drove up the Skeleton Coast, named for the large number of shipwrecks through the years. We saw the wreck of an Indian boat that floundered there in 2008 in a heavy fog.
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| Shipwreck |
We stopped to visit some Herrero people and I bought some cute little dolls they made. Ivan, our assistant guide, is a Namibian from this tribe.
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| Herrero tribe roadside stand |
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| Herrero women |
An interesting side trip was a visit to a Himba tribe village. They are a pastoral people and formerly nomadic, but that doesn't work well in today's world, so they are getting money by letting tourists come in to see how they live. The guide is Himba, but westernized and wearing jeans and T shirt. He took us around but we did not have much interaction with the rest of the tribe. I think they don't want them corrupted too much. We got to see their cattle, huts and how they make them, cooking, etc. The women wear grass skirts and necklaces they never take off, but are bare chested. They braid their hair with a muddy substance. One showed us how she takes a bath with smoke, since there is little water. The children and men bathe in water but the women never do. The five men of the tribe were "up north" and the 23 women stayed in the village. There is polygamy, as long as the men can afford a separate hut for each wife. Only some of the children go to school, and they have to go to boarding school since there is no school nearby. This is very expensive.
This is so interesting. What tour group were you with?
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