Old Auntie Smoking It may be full daylight outside, but it is black and smoky inside a traditional Himba hut.
It is dark inside a wattle and daub Himba wattle and daub hut.
As well as being dark, the huts are likely to be noisy with chatter, packed with bodies, and smoky from the fireplace, pipe tobacco, and incense.
The huts are built from mopane wood – a local termite-resistant hardwood – plastered with a mixture of clay and animal dung. An open fireplace sits on the packed-dirt floor in the centre, and heavy wooden supports rise up to the domed roof. With no windows or chimney, the smoke and heat hang heavy in the air. The only light enters through the odd cracks in the plaster and through the single doorway.
The Himba are a small tribe (about 50,000) of semi-nomadic pastoralists eking a living out of the hot, dry landscape either side of the Kunene River, which runs between Namibia and Angola. Although they are not isolated from urban centres and other tribes in the Kunene Region, the Himba have managed to maintain their unique culture; little has changed since the 16th century.
Himba are immediately recognisable by their distinctive hairstyles (see: Mother and Child; Women of the Himba; Himba Model Shoot), which are determined by their age, gender and marital status. Although men often dress in western clothing, the women and girls are more commonly seen in their age-old costume of soft cow-hide skirts and head-dresses; metal anklets, ornaments and belts; and orange-tinted body butter.
Maintaining their elaborate hair-styles and full body paint takes the women hours every day, so it is no surprise that they might perform their ablutions as part of a social gathering, complete with pipe smoke, gossip, and laughter. Very early one November morning, my cameras and I – and a male colleague – were lucky enough to be invited into a small hut in Otjomazeva Village in the Kunene region of Northern Namibia. Our photo-tour co-ordinator, Photographer Ben McRae had done all the necessary ground-work before our arrival.
The women in the hut seemed to forget our presence: they continued chatting and performing their morning regimen, while we sat on a cowhide mats in the crowded space either side of the front entry.
Inside the Hut It is dark and crowded inside the hut as the women complete their morning beauty ritual.
Young Woman This young woman is only recently married – which is one reason she is not wearing an Erembe – the Himba crown crafted from the skin of a sheep or goat’s head.
Smoking Himba women don’t use water to wash – there is just too little of it in this arid environment. Instead, they burn aromatic plants and resins and use the smoke created to perfume and clean themselves and their clothing.
Hot Coals for Smoking
Mother and Child The Himba are a proud and beautiful people.
Feet-Ash-and-Leggings Married women wear beaded anklets which are reputed to protect them against snake bite.
Butterfat for Otjize Paste The body-butter Himba use to keep their skin fresh and protected from insects and sunburn, starts with butterfat or vaseline.
Adding Herbs to the Otjize The women add the resin of the omuzumba shrub and a variety of leaves and herbs to their mixture …
Otjize … which results in a beautifully scented paste.
Adding Ochre The final and most important ingredient in the otjize, the body-butter mix, is ground ochre which gives the paste – and everything it is rubbed onto – its rich warm colour.
Oiling with Otjize The colour of blood and the earth, red is considered beautiful and a symbol of life.
Cleaning her Belt The women’s jewellery, including the heavy belts and necklaces woven with metal wire, are cleaned and re-oiled daily.
Oiling the Erembe Headdress A lot of time is spent rubbing paste into the leather headdress …
Oiling the Ohumba Necklace … and the metal jewellery. Married women wear a heavy necklace made of iron and brass beads.
Mother and Child As the young mother speaks, we can see the gap where her top incisors have been filed. Both men and women have the bottom incisors knocked out and the uppers filed in an upside-down v during a ceremony around puberty. This is supposed to attract the protection of the ancestors.
The Pipe The older women enjoy a quiet pipe before passing it around.
Old Auntie Smoking
Old Auntie Freshly smoked and oiled, an old Auntie sits quietly under her heavy rug. Nights are cold here in autumn – although I find it quite hot in the hut.
That Toothless Smile! The Himba habit of dental destruction leads to some interesting gaps in the old women’s smiles.
Oiling the Baby From the time they are born, females wear the otjize paste.
Mother and Child
Girl-Child After being re-covered in Otjize, this toddler escaped her mother to come and visit me.
Those eyes! This young newlywed – beautiful in her own right – clearly looked up to the young mother in the hut; I think she was in awe of her, and of her motherhood.
It was a privilege sharing time with these extraordinary people –
And it sure made me appreciate the running water back at my rustic camp-site!
Another excellent series Ursula. You mention how dark the hut interior was, were you using available light only or did you use some flash as well? It’s not really obvious looking at the images.ReplyCancel
[…] A tall, good-looking people, the Hamar are possibly the most recognisable of the Omotic tribes. Men, women, and children generally sport multiple strands of colourful beads. The men often wear a clay cap, decorated with feathers. Like other groups in the region, they can be seen carrying or using their small wooden stools/pillows. Women have elaborately decorated goatskin bibs, which – these days – are reserved for special occasions. They layer themselves in beaded belts, bracelets and necklaces, as well as wearing copper or metal necklaces that signify their marital status (e.g.: first wife, second wife, etc.). Most strikingly, they coat their hair in a clay and butter mixture – reminiscent of the Himba people of distant Namibia (e.g.: The Morning Routine). […]ReplyCancel
Pecca Twin Falls One of many stunning waterfalls in North Yorkshire, the Pecca Twin Falls on the River Twiss is a feature on the 7 kilometre-long Ingleton Waterfalls Trail.
It all started with articles touting the natural beauty of the woods and waterfalls around the Yorkshire village of Ingleton, published in the local Lancaster Guardian newspaper some time in the late 1800’s.
The articles generated so much interest that an Improvements Company was formed to make the waterfalls more accessible. The resulting 4.3 mile (7 km) circuit path was opened to the public – for a small fee – in April 1885. Today, the popular trail, which is situated on private lands, is still open for a fee everyday except Christmas.
It is well worth the price of admission!
The well-maintained trail follows the Rivers Twiss and Doe through countryside designated as a protected area in the United Kingdom (a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)) for the unique and interesting plants, animals, and geological structures in the area. The rivers run yellow from the rich, peaty soil that the waters travel through before rushing over the ancient rocks that form the Peak District.
Join us for a short walk around some of North Yorkshire’s most beautiful countryside.
Flowers on the Wall The flowers on an old stone wall welcome us to the entrance of the trail. (iPhone6)
“Welcome to the Waterfalls Walk” At the trailhead, a sign marks out the route and highlights some of the walk’s features.
Foamy Waters The waters of the River Twiss are rich with organic materials they have collected along their trip through the Carboniferous Great Scar limestone. When they race through Swilla Glen, natural surfactants create foam at the base of the waterfalls and over the rocks.
The Money Tree It is good luck to ‘plant’ a coin in the fallen tree in Swilla Glen.
The Money Tree Over the years, the tree – and bits of fallen wood around it – has become completely embedded with coin.
Steps in Swilla Glen The trail, although steep in sections with an overall vertical rise of 169 m (554 feet), is beautifully maintained throughout.
Delicate Purple Flower
First Pecca Falls Before long, we can see the first of the Pecca Waterfalls on the River Twiss. Grasses, ferns, and a forest of oak, ash, birch and hazel trees cover the top of the gorge.
Sharp Rocks and Delicate Plants Our climb up to the vantage-point over the falls takes us past exposed slate and sandstone, and the plants that thrive in the moist shadows.
The First Pecca Falls The five Pecca Falls together drop about 30 metres – although the pools at the bases of the falls are said to be as deep again. The waters are a distinctive yellow from the rich, peaty soils upstream.
Wild Roses
Hollybush Spout Our next waterfall is the 8 metre (30 foot) Hollybush Spout. I couldn’t help but wish I had a tripod with me! (ISO200 16mm f/10 1/15 sec)
Ivy on the Post There is something very ‘English’ about ivy.
Pathway Repairs Ingleton Waterfalls Trail is maintained by the Ingleton Scenery Company. The ongoing improvements clearly keep people busy.
Thornton Force The 14-metre high Thornton Force drops over a 330 million-year-old limestone cliff.
River Twiss above Thornton Force The flat areas above Thornton Force make it a popular picnic area.
Raven Ray Bridge over the River Twiss A bit further upstream, walkers cross the River Twiss before climbing up the hillside on the other bank …
Twisleton Lane … to the old Roman road, now known as Twisleton Lane, where an ice-cream truck sits with refreshments for walkers.
Swaledale Sheep The green Yorkshire hills and dales are dotted with off-white, black-faced Swaledale sheep.
Swaledale Tup This hardy local breed is named for the nearby Yorkshire valley of Swaledale.
The Ingleton Coalfield As we round the hill, we have views over one of the smallest coalfields in Great Britain: the Ingleton Coalfield, …
Ingleborough … and across to Ingleborough(723m, 2372ft), one of the “Three Peaks” of the Yorkshire Dales, which are, in turn, part of Britain’sPennines range.
Signposting Walking paths criss-cross the Dales, and circuit the mountains.
Into the Woods Our trail leads into the ancient oak woodlands along the River Doe.
Triple Spout Before long, the River Doe goes over Beezley Falls and then divides into the Triple Spout.
Clouds in a Puddle
Rival Falls on the River Doe
Ingleton and the Viaduct The trail takes us past more magnificent waterfalls before leading back into the village of Ingleton, where the Grade II listed 80-foot arches of the railway viaduct – remains of the Ingleton Branch Line built between 1858 and 1861 – stand over the village and Swilla Glen.
St Mary the Virgin We pass the Ingleton parish church – built in 1886 and dedicated to St Mary – before heading back to our car.
It was a beautiful walk – a small taste of the bucolic Yorkshire Dales.
I’m so glad the locals decided to share it!
[…] It was a half hour’s drive to the Yorkshire Dales, where we walked through woods and fields, over stone bridges, and past numerous waterfalls, singing “All things bright and beautiful” to all the sheep we met – in honour of James Herriot, the original “Yorkshire Vet” and author of the delightful All Creatures Great and Small (see:Ingleton Waterfalls Trail). […]ReplyCancel
Inside Erdene-Zuu Monastery Mongolia is a land of boundless grassy plains and endless open skies.
Mongolia seems vast.
That’s probably because it is. Once you are outside the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, the plains and the skies go on forever. The “World Factbook”, published by the CIA, puts it in terms Americans can understand: Mongolia is “more than twice the size of Texas”.
Landlocked between its bigger neighbours China and Russia, Mongolia probably seems even more expansive because it is so sparsely populated. With less than 2 people per square kilometre, it is the least densely populated country in the world.
It is a land of hardy, nomadic people, dotted across a vast, rugged landscape that stretches out under those never-ending skies. Most of the land belongs to the state, and the people – with their herds of cattle, goats, horses, and sheep – wander the steppes in summer, unfettered by fences or property lines. Every Mongolian is entitled to a small plot of land to live on for free for life, so it is not uncommon to see gers (yurts) or modest houses with stone or wooden fences around them, but these plots are dwarfed by the surrounding grasslands that extend – boundless and boundary-less – to the distant mountains.
As immense as it is, the country feels even larger because of the parlous state of the roads. Towns are few and far between, and the roads between them often bear more resemblance to goat tracks or river beds than anything approximating a highway system.
Fortunately, I was travelling with a photographic group organised by Within the Frame, and our local guides G and Segi had fixed us up with Russian UAZ(Ulyanovsky Avtomobilny Zavod) four-wheel-drive vehicles. UAZs are not exactly luxurious – or even comfortable – but they (and our drivers) were up to the task of negotiating the bumps and ruts that pass for roadways.
The country’s history and its people are as resilient and rugged as the arid, rocky ground: our last stop after our first day’s driving was the Erdene-Zuu (Hundred Treasures) Monastery, part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape of Central Mongolia. The monastery was built in 1585, just outside the ruins of Kharkhorin (spelling various): that town established in 1220 by the the infamous Chinggis Khaan, and later made theEmpire’s capitol by his son, Ögedei Khaan. The capitol was destroyed by Manchu soldiers in 1338; the Buddhist monastery of Erdene-Zuu was largely demolished during the Communist purges of 1939.
In spite of these waves of destruction, the people, the religion, and some of the old buildings and heritage sites, survive.
The View from the Truck The Mongolian landscape, as seen from the inside of a Russian UAZ four wheel drive (about the only thing that can reliably navigate the national roads!), consists of miles of grassy plains, extending to a backdrop of mountains. The rugged grasses cling to the arid, rocky ground, which is punctuated everywhere by inordinate amounts of litter. (iPhone6)
Small-Town Mini-Market Dusty streets takes us through small towns as we bump-and-rattle southwest. (iPhone6)
Bridge over the River Lün We make frequent short stops along the way – this one beside the River Lün in Töv Province. (iPhone6)
Lunch Stop Our next stop was for lunch: the trucks pull onto the hillside just off the road and staff set up our lunch tent while the rest of us wander off in search of rocks to use as toilet shields.
Rocky Hillside Mongolia is home to more rocks – and more different kinds of rocks – than I have ever seen in my life!
Lunch Stop From the rocky slope, I have a birds-eye view down over our lunch spot.
Bactrian Camels Our next stop is in Övörkhangai province, where Mongolian people lope in on their two-humped bactrian camels to offer us rides.
A Boy and his Camel
A Boy and his Camels
Tourist and the Camels One of the camel-riders farewells her bactrian. In addition to being much hairier in their winter coats than their dromedary cousins, bactrians are all-together better behaved and more comfortable to ride.
Door-Knocker Erdene-Zuu is probably the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia.
Entry to Erdene Zuu Lion door-knockers guard the entry to the monastery, …
Inside Erdene-Zuu … which was built in 1585, using materials recovered from the nearby ruins of Chinggis Khaan’s ancient town of Karakorum (Kharakhorin).
Inside Erdene-Zuu The original plan was to surround the monastery with 108 stupas, built to resemble a Tibetan Buddhist rosary.
The Temple of the Dalai Lama At its peak, the monastery was full of temples and housed up to 1000 monks.
Inside Erdene-Zuu During the 1939 purges, the monastery and many of the other buildings in the compound were destroyed, and the monks were either secularised, interned, or executed.
The Golden Stupa Built in 1799, the Golden Stupa houses 100,000 different Buddhas. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the stupa or the inner part of the monastery, where some wonderful ancient tapestries – telling the stories of local Buddhas and saints – survive.
Prayer Wheels A Mahayana Buddhist temple always features prayer wheels. The supplicant circles in a clockwise direction, spinning the wheels and saying prayers.
Buddhist Prayer Ger
Incense Burner
Golden Eagle Outside the monastery, there is a row of tourist shops. A woman with a photo-booth, complete with well-worn period Mongol clothing and a golden eagle, tries to get our attention. But, it is late, and it has been a long day. The best I can manage is a half-hearted photo of the giant raptor against the monastery wall.
Welcome to my Ger My first ger experience spoiled me somewhat!
Inside my Ger It was clean and roomy, with painted wooden furniture (with a horse-hair mattress and a barley pillow) and a rolled-out linoleum floor.
Fixing the Fire Once the wood-burning furnace was lit, the ger was quite warm and cozy.
I am not as hardy as the average Mongolian;Air China had lost my luggage and I had very little clothing to change into. So, the warmth inside my ger was a most pleasant surprise after an exhausting day.
Krathong after Dark An over-sized krathong (กระทง) – or banana-leaf floating basket – sits in the middle of Phuket’s Laguna Lake, giving off a cheerful pink light as the sun sets over Bang Tao beach.
Some days feel dark.
Very dark.
It is a truism that the best way to combat darkness is to shine a lamp or light a candle.
Loi Krathong (ลอยกระทง) is Thailand’s own festival of lights. On the evening of the twelfth full-moon of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, Thais – and lucky visitors – congregate around a body of water and float (loi; ลอย) krathong (กระทง), or banana-leaf boats.
There are a number of stories about the festival’s origins: the most popular being that it was started by a lady in the court of Sukhothai Kingdom (1238 – 1583) to give thanks to the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha(พระแม่คงคา). The more likely explanation is that it is a Thai Buddhist adaptation of an old Brahman festival.
Traditionally, the floats are home-made using sections of banana stem as a foundation, although modern versions might be built on styrofoam (discouraged because of the environmental effects) or bread. The base is covered with banana leaf, and then decorated elaborately with folded banana leaf and flowers before small candles and sticks of incense are added. Sometimes a small coin is placed on the banana-leaf boat as an offering to the water spirits, or hair and fingernail clippings might be included as a symbol of letting go of past transgressions or negative thoughts. The boats are set out on the waters, where they are carried off on the currents, or eventually sink to the bottom of the pools or ponds they’ve been launched in.
My husband and I made our own krathong one year from materials our Thai teacher had brought into class for us. While we had fun constructing them, they were neither as large nor as elaborate as the one’s Thais make for themselves every year.
Before setting your krathong afloat, you light the incense and the candle – the candle venerates the Buddha – and you make a wish or say a prayer. As the basket drifts away on the currents of the water, you let it carry away any hatred, anger, or negativity that was in your heart.
Please enjoy some photos from Loi Krathongs past.
Marigolds and a Paper Prayer Marigolds are a popular “good luck” flower in Thailand, and are often used in decorative floral arrangements for Buddhist festivals (Lumpini Park, Bangkok).
Contemplation Before floating your krathong, you need to make a wish or say a prayer. (Lumpini Park, Bangkok)
A Phone and a Smile It you can’t share Loi Krathong with your friends, I guess a chat on the phone is the next best thing.
Floating Krathong
Prayers
Light a Light
Twilight on the Lagoon The lake at Phuket’s Laguna Resort was calm and quiet ahead of recent Loi Krathong celebrations.
Night Lights A corner of the lake is lit up, ready for the evening’s festivities.
Mother and Son Selfie
The Krathong Once night has completely fallen, people launch their floats.
Elaborate Krathong In a tented pavilion, large krathong have been collected for judging.
Golden Krathong The winning floats are quite spectacular.
Making Krathong Around the grounds, smaller krathong are prepared for sale.
Coloured-Cone Krathong While most of the floats are constructed from traditional banana and flowers, there are some colourful alternatives!
Food Vendor Wherever people gather in Thailand, there is bound to be plenty of food.
Sushi Sushi is incredibly popular, …
Making Sushi … especially when it is freshly put together.
Choosing Sushi
Food Vendor Seafood is another popular food item; …
Grilling Seafood … freshly barbecued and served with a spicy dipping sauce.
Krathong Floating
This year, Loi Krathong is Monday November 14th; I think I might have to build myself a float.
Light a candle, say a payer, and hope for a better tomorrow.
Elephants The there is something magic about elephants with their young – especially in the wild!
Sitting on the benches overlooking the King Nehale Waterhole in Namibia’s Etosha National Park is a bit like being in a zoo in reverse: the people are fenced in, while the animals wander in and out freely. It is a great place for animal-watching.
I was thrilled to finally be there; I’d been in Namibia a week and a half, and pretty much the only wildlife I’d seen was in the distance out of the windows of our truck. Of course, I’d enjoyed some magnificent landscapes and met some fascinating people (q.v.: Ursula’s Weekly Wanders: Namibia), but I was looking forward to seeing some of the animals Africa is known for.
I was travelling with a small group of intrepid photography enthusiasts under the guidance of photographer Ben McRae and local guide guide Morne Griffiths. We’d had a very early start out of our bush camp in Kamanjab – where we had stopped for the night after breaking camp the day before at Epupa in northern-most Namibia (see: North to Epupa) – and had entered Etosha National Park just before noon. Our first animal sightings were at a popular salt pan: once the truck stopped, we all leaned excitedly out of the pop-top in the roof, firing our cameras in every direction. Oh, how I envied all those 400mm lenses!
After completing our drive across the park, we pitched our tents at Namutoni Camp, near the King Nehale Waterhole on the eastern side of Etosha. The camp boasts an elevated walkway along the waterhole, but this was closed for repairs while we were there. But the camp does have plenty of fenced space overlooking the water. Watching the animals come and go was absolutely mesmerising. Towards evening, after an afternoon of being enthralled by the elephants, I dragged out the tripod, staked a space on one of the benches, and just sat for several more hours.
Join me for some Namibian animal spotting:
Kamanjab Sunrise Our day started very early at a bush camp in Kamanjab, where we had stopped for the night. I’m not much of a morning person, but the tender sunrise over the veld made getting up early worth it.
Outjo Tourist Centre After our very early start, the charming gift- and coffee-shops of Outjo were a welcome break from the truck. (iPhone6)
Common (Blue) Wildebeest (Connochaetes) I was thrilled that the first animal I spotted when we stopped at a salt pan inside Etosha National Park was a wildebeest – otherwise known as a gnu… If you were raised in a British-influenced household, you might remember the Flanders and Swann comedic song: “I’m a Gnu”. I spent the rest of the morning with the tune in my head: “I’m a g-nu, spelled g-n-u… You really ought to k-now w-ho’s w-ho!”
Springbok (Antidorcas Marsupialis) I think the delicate springbok is my favourite antelope.
Zebra So much for black and white stripes! Namibia is home to Hartmann’s mountain zebras and the more common Burchells plains zebras: the brown shadowy stripes between the blacks one’s on the haunches suggests this is a plains zebra.
“To the Waterhole” Its a short walk from our tents, past the resort bungalows, to the King Nehale Waterhole.
Elephants and a Namibian Tree The elephants love the waterhole, and herds came and went while I watched. They seem to have a secret signal, with one group gathering together to leave just as a new group appears on the horizon. The single tree growing at the edge of the waterhole provides a landmark, but not much shade from the pulsating heat of the day.
Young Elephant The herds have a number of younger elephants. This one seems to get his legs tangled as he walks.
Elephants at the Waterhole The elephants are a joy to watch: they seem to be in almost constant slow motion…
Dust Bath … bathing in the waterhole one minute, showering themselves with dust the next.
Sparrow It is easy to forget that the little creatures we see every day are – in their way – as special as the magnificent animals that get our attention.
Incoming Elephant New elephants, either singly …
Incoming Elephants … or in herds, approach the waterhole periodically.
The Grazers Kudu, oryx, and springbok share space around the waterhole, seemingly untroubled by each other’s presence.
Oryx Fighting Unfortunately, they don’t always get along amongst themselves.
Timid Giraffe The giraffes – almost invisible against the veld – seemed to be the most timid animals at the waterhole: they would stop, frozen in position, for ages, …
Giraffe Advancing … before advancing cautiously …
Giraffe Bending … and gingerly bending down to drink.
Young Elephant and Onlookers A young elephant parades in front of the barrier that separates “us” from “them”.
Elephants Elephants can drink up to 200 litres of water a day.
Splash! They also enjoy splashing themselves with it in the heat of a Namibian afternoon.
Elephant Afternoon The afternoon sun starts to angle in the sky, and the elephants are backlit as they continue to enjoy the waterhole.
Dust at the Leaving It’s a well-worn path the elephants take as they leave the waterhole.
“Feet on Fire” The lowering sun lights up the dust around the elephants feet.
Black-Backed Jackal at Sunset Other animals come into drink, …
Kori Bustard (Ardeotis Kori) … almost invisible against the lowering light.
Sunset Sunset over the waterhole is stunning – and quiet; everything goes still.
Elephants Under Night Lights But sunset is not the end of the day: the waterhole is illuminated with lamps that don’t seem to bother the animals.
Giraffes Under Night Lights Watching the animals in the almost-dark is eerie and spell-binding.
White Rhinos Under Night Lights A rhino-mum and her young one came out to drink, which was a special treat!
After the rhinos left, I took myself back to my tent: it was late and cold, and tomorrow was another day…
[…] insect noise, tranquillising me into a dreamlike state as I watched the animals come and go (see: A Day at the Waterhole; Birds and Beasts on the […]ReplyCancel
- Performing the Ganga Aarti from Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi
- Buddha Head from Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
- Harry Clarke Window from Dingle, Ireland
- Novice Monk Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Myanmar
Packets of 10 for $AU50.
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Beautiful photos
Thanks! x
Another excellent series Ursula. You mention how dark the hut interior was, were you using available light only or did you use some flash as well? It’s not really obvious looking at the images.
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for dropping in. 😀 No flash on these – just ISO cranked as far it will go, then a LOT of noise reduction in Lightroom.
Beautiful photos, fabulous wandering!
Thanks, Leslie. So nice to “see” you on line. 😀
Gorgeous photos Ursula.
Thanks so much, Trish! 😀
[…] A tall, good-looking people, the Hamar are possibly the most recognisable of the Omotic tribes. Men, women, and children generally sport multiple strands of colourful beads. The men often wear a clay cap, decorated with feathers. Like other groups in the region, they can be seen carrying or using their small wooden stools/pillows. Women have elaborately decorated goatskin bibs, which – these days – are reserved for special occasions. They layer themselves in beaded belts, bracelets and necklaces, as well as wearing copper or metal necklaces that signify their marital status (e.g.: first wife, second wife, etc.). Most strikingly, they coat their hair in a clay and butter mixture – reminiscent of the Himba people of distant Namibia (e.g.: The Morning Routine). […]