The ethnic diversity on Earth is amazing in its abundance. People living in different parts of the planet are at the same time similar to each other, but at the same time very different in their way of life, customs, and language. In this article we will talk about some unusual tribes that you might be interested to know about.

Piraha Indians - a wild tribe inhabiting the Amazon jungle

The Pirahã Indian tribe lives among the Amazon rain forest, mainly along the banks of the Maici River, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

This South American people are famous for their language, Pirahã. In fact, Pirahã is one of the rarest languages ​​among the 6,000 spoken languages worldwide. The number of native speakers ranges from 250 to 380 people. The language is amazing because:

- does not have numbers, for them there are only two concepts “several” (from 1 to 4 pieces) and “many” (more than 5 pieces),

- verbs do not change either by numbers or by persons,

- there are no names for colors,

- consists of 8 consonants and 3 vowels! Isn't this amazing?

According to linguistic scholars, Piraha men understand rudimentary Portuguese and even speak very limited topics. True, not all male representatives can express their thoughts. Women, on the other hand, have little understanding of the Portuguese language and do not use it at all to communicate. However, the Pirahã language has several loanwords from other languages, mainly Portuguese, such as "cup" and "business".

Speaking of business, the Piraha Indians trade Brazil nuts and provide sexual services in order to buy Consumables and tools, such as machetes, milk powder, sugar, whiskey. Chastity is not a cultural value for them.

There are several more interesting points associated with this nationality:

- Pirahã have no compulsion. They don't tell other people what to do. There seems to be no social hierarchy at all, no formal leader.

- This Indian tribe has no idea of ​​\u200b\u200bdeities and God. However, they believe in spirits, which sometimes take the form of jaguars, trees, or people.

— it feels like the Pirahã tribe are people who don’t sleep. They can take a nap of 15 minutes or at most two hours throughout the day and night. They rarely sleep through the night.

The Wadoma tribe is an African tribe of people with two toes.

The Vadoma tribe lives in the Zambezi River valley in northern Zimbabwe. They are known for the fact that some members of the tribe suffer from ectrodactyly, three middle toes are missing from their feet, and the outer two are turned inward. As a result, members of the tribe are called “two-fingered” and “ostrich-footed”. Their huge two-toed feet are the result of a single mutation on chromosome number seven. However, in the tribe such people are not considered inferior. The reason for the common occurrence of ectrodactyly in the Vadoma tribe is isolation and the prohibition of marriage outside the tribe.

Life and life of the Korowai tribe in Indonesia

The Korowai tribe, also called the Kolufo, live in the southeast of the autonomous Indonesian province of Papua and consist of approximately 3,000 people. Perhaps before 1970 they did not know about the existence of other people besides themselves.

Most Korowai clans live in their isolated territory in tree houses, which are located at an altitude of 35-40 meters. In this way, they protect themselves from floods, predators, and arson by rival clans who take people, especially women and children, into slavery. In 1980, some of the Korowai moved to settlements in open areas.

Korowai have excellent hunting and fishing skills, and are engaged in gardening and gathering. They practice slash-and-burn agriculture, when the forest is first burned and then crops are planted in this place.

As far as religion is concerned, the Korowai universe is filled with spirits. The most honorable place is given to the spirits of ancestors. In times of need, they sacrifice domestic pigs to them.

In the north of Namibia lives an amazing tribe that few people knew about. Its inhabitants, who had no contact with white people, for a long time They did not allow journalists to approach them, and after several reports, interest in them increased incredibly. There were many people who wanted to visit the tribe and tell the world about nomads living by their own laws.

Herder tribe

The Himba tribe, whose number does not exceed 50 thousand people, has lived in scattered settlements since the 16th century and leads a semi-sedentary, semi-nomadic existence in the desert where there is no water. Now it is engaged in cattle breeding: residents breed cows of a special breed, unpretentious and ready to do without water for a long time. Pets are the main wealth and inheritance, which is not considered as food.

People unfamiliar with the benefits of civilization

By selling animals, they earn some money, and frequent guests buy souvenirs and crafts. The Himba spend their earnings on buying sugar, corn flour, treats for kids. The inhabitants do not need clothing; they make clothes from animal skins and fasten them to their bodies with a belt. All they need are flip-flops to walk through the scorching desert. None of them uses technology, hardly knows writing, the tribe members’ dishes are replaced by vessels hollowed out in a pumpkin, but they do not suffer at all from the lack of attributes of civilization.

The Himba tribe, whose photos began to be often published in various publications, observes ancient customs, worships the souls of the dead and the god Mukuru, raises livestock and does not shed the blood of others. They lead a peaceful existence in a lifeless desert, in conditions of severe water shortage.

Attention to appearance

For tribal members, appearance plays an important role in traditional culture. It indicates position in society and certain phases of life. For example, married women wear a kind of crown on their heads, which is made from goat skins, and married men wear a turban.

Girls braiding long hair in braids above the forehead, with age they do hairstyles that consist of a huge number of braids, and boys pull their hair into a ponytail tied in a bun.

Women voted the most beautiful

Representatives of the Himba do not miss a single detail and carefully monitor their appearance, taking care of their skin and hair. They compensate for the lack of clothing with numerous jewelry made from copper, shells and pearls. This is an important part of centuries-old traditions, and the women of the Himba tribe are recognized as the most beautiful. Their delicate facial features and almond-shaped eyes are admired by travelers who claim that every girl could work as a model on the catwalk.

It's tall and slim women, standing out from the rest They deftly carry containers with precious water on their heads, thanks to which they have developed excellent posture. The jewelry that the fair sex wears on their necks, legs, and arms serves not only for beauty - in this way local girls protect themselves from snake bites.

Magic mixture for face and body

Every drop of water is worth its weight in gold, and what they manage to get is drunk, so the members of the tribe do not wash, and a special mixture of red-orange color helps them survive, to which the Himba owe their special skin tone. Women grind volcanic rocks into powder and mix it with butter whipped from cows' milk, ash, and herbal elixirs. Every morning begins with the natives applying ocher paint, which maintains the necessary level of hygiene and protects against insect bites and scorching fires. sun rays, all over the body and face.

The women's incredibly soft skin looks great and smells nice with an aromatic resin that is often added to the mixture, which also serves as the basis for the complex hairstyles that distinguish the Himba tribe.

Each resident has a second, “European” name. Children receive it when they study in mobile schools. Every child can count and knows several phrases in English language, but after the first classes of training few people continue it.

The Himba tribe of Namibia build cone-shaped huts from saplings and palm leaves, which are woven with leather straps, and later cover them with dung and silt. There are no amenities inside such a home, except for a mattress on the floor.

The tribe lives in a clan, led by an elder - the grandfather, who is responsible for housing, religious aspects, observance of laws and traditions, economic issues, and property management. His powers are confirmed by a special bracelet on his erenge hand. The headman concludes marriages, conducts various ceremonies and rituals near the sacred fire, attracting the spirits of ancestors to resolve pressing issues.

Marriages are arranged in such a way that wealth is distributed equally. After the wedding, the wife moves in with her husband and accepts the rules of the new clan.

Women get up very early, at dawn, to milk the cows, which the men take to pasture. As soon as the land becomes scarce, the Himba tribe leaves the place and moves to another place. Husbands wander with their herds, leaving their wives and children in the village.

Among the modern things the tribe has adopted are plastic bottles in which jewelry is stored.

It is best to go to the village with a guide, who will tell you in detail about the life of the tribe and will be able to negotiate with the leader about visiting the home.

The amazing Himba tribe are hospitable and smiling people who do not seek benefits from frequent travelers. The original people, existing in isolation from the outside world, are indifferent to the benefits of civilization, and every case of preservation of traditional ways of life is of great interest to scientists and tourists.

Wild tribes of Africa. Himba tribe. Namibia. Angola. Real Africa. Cannibals don’t live here) In this episode, Igor Ryazantsev and I (he is here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvDu_ujP0E_4Gtoax2hXMUg) left Angola and headed to Namibia. Where in the very north, near the border, live the wild Himba tribes. This is a fairly well-known people, and many travel companies make excursions to them, but we didn’t want to go to special villages where trained Himbas dance in front of dear guests, and then take off their traditional outfit and expect money from you. Our task was to find a real Himba settlement who live like primitive people and look at their real life and the life of ordinary people. We traveled for quite a long time along the roads of Africa, crossing rivers and streams. Until they finally found a real wild tribe that lives the same way as hundreds of years ago, without any benefits of civilization (though Himba men work part-time in cities when possible, and therefore wear modern clothes). But the African Himba girls were in their traditional attire and did not expect to meet us at all! By the way, the Himbas also live in Angola, because... this is one of the nomadic tribes of Africa, but the “beautiful” African roads and the underdeveloped tourism in Angola do not allow people to visit them as calmly as in Namibia. Although there they are even wilder, they wear the same traditional outfit, they are just less accessible, oh, these African roads and this extreme)) We really wanted to find and show the real Himba tribe, and not dances of people in disguise for tourists. This is real Africa real life wild tribe real story from people's lives. Look what we got! Primitive people, extreme, wild African tribes, And yes, I almost forgot, many will probably write that we will finish the game and they will eat us there, I remind you that cannibals do not live here - it’s more about going to Asia or Oceania) And also subscribe to my channel - https://www. youtube.com/user/RomanKorolevShow?sub_confirmation=1 #tribes #namibia #africa #ryazantsev #queens #himba

Surprisingly, there are still the most savage tribes of the Amazon and Africa who have managed to survive the onset of a ruthless civilization. We are here surfing the Internet, struggling to conquer thermonuclear energy and flying further into space, and these few remnants of prehistoric times lead the same way of life that was familiar to them and our ancestors a hundred thousand years ago. In order to completely immerse yourself in the atmosphere of wild nature, it is not enough to just read the article and look at the pictures, you need to go to Africa yourself, for example, by ordering a safari in Tanzania.

The wildest tribes of the Amazon

1. Piraha

The Pirahã tribe lives on the banks of the Mahi River. Approximately 300 Aboriginal people are engaged in gathering and hunting. This tribe was discovered by Catholic missionary Daniel Everett. He lived next to them for several years, after which he finally lost faith in God and became an atheist. His first contact with the Pirahã took place in 1977. Trying to convey the word of God to the aborigines, he began to study their language and quickly achieved success in this. But the more he immersed himself in primitive culture, the more surprised he was.
The Pirahã have a very strange language: there is no indirect speech, no words for colors and numerals (anything more than two is “many” for them). They did not, like us, create myths about the creation of the world, they do not have a calendar, but for all this, their intellect is no weaker than ours. The Piraha have not thought of private property, they do not have any reserves - they immediately eat the caught prey or the collected fruits, so they do not rack their brains over storage and planning for the future. Such views seem primitive to us, however, Everett came to a different conclusion. Living one day at a time and with what nature provides, the Pirahã are freed from fears for the future and all sorts of worries with which we burden our souls. That's why they are happier than us, so why do they need gods?

2. Sinta Larga

In Brazil there lives a wild tribe called the Sinta Larga, numbering approximately 1,500 people. It once lived in the rubber jungle, but their massive deforestation led to the fact that the Sinta Larga switched to a nomadic life. They engage in hunting, fishing and collecting gifts of nature. Sinta Larga are polygamous - men have several wives. Over the course of his life, a man gradually acquires several names that characterize either his qualities or the events that happened to him; there are also secret name, which only his mother and father know.
As soon as the tribe catches all the game near the village, and the depleted land stops bearing fruit, it leaves the place and moves to a new place. During the move, the names of the Sinta Largs also change; only the “secret” name remains unchanged. Unfortunately for this small tribe, civilized people found on their lands occupying 21,000 square meters. km, richest reserves gold, diamonds and tin. Of course, they couldn’t just leave these riches in the ground. However, the Sinta Largi turned out to be a warlike tribe, ready to defend themselves. So, in 2004, they killed 29 miners on their territory and did not suffer any punishment for this, except that they were driven into a reservation with an area of ​​2.5 million hectares.

3. Korubo

Closer to the sources of the Amazon River lives a very warlike Korubo tribe. They make their living mainly by hunting and raiding neighboring tribes. Both men and women participate in these raids, and their weapons are clubs and poisoned darts. There is evidence that the tribe sometimes reaches the point of cannibalism.

4. Amondava

The Amondava tribe living in the jungle has no concept of time; there is no such word even in their language, as well as such concepts as “year”, “month”, etc. Linguists were discouraged by this phenomenon and are trying to understand whether it is typical and other tribes from the Amazon basin. Among the Amondawa, therefore, ages are not mentioned, and when growing up or changing his status in the tribe, the aborigine simply takes a new name. Also absent in the Amondava language are phrases that describe the process of the passage of time in spatial terms. We, for example, say “before this” (meaning not space, but time), “this incident was left behind,” but in the Amondava language there are no such constructions.

By the very nature of their activities, smugglers must have rich imagination and ingenuity, which are clearly not aimed at good deeds. With...

5. Kayapo

In Brazil, in the eastern part of the Amazon basin there is a tributary of the Hengu, on the banks of which the Kayapo tribe lives. This very mysterious tribe of approximately 3,000 people is engaged in the usual activities of the aborigines: fishing, hunting and gathering. The Kayapo are great experts in the knowledge of the healing properties of plants, they use some of them to treat their fellow tribesmen, and others for witchcraft. Shamans from the Kayapo tribe use herbs to treat female infertility and improve potency in men.
However, most of all they interested researchers with their legends, which tell that in the distant past they were guided by heavenly wanderers. The first Kayapo chief arrived in a kind of cocoon, drawn by a whirlwind. Some attributes from modern rituals are also consonant with these legends, for example, objects resembling aircraft and space suits. Tradition says that the leader who descended from heaven lived with the tribe for several years and then returned to heaven.

The wildest African tribes

6. Nuba

The African Nuba tribe numbers about 10,000 people. Nuba lands lie in Sudan. This is a separate community with its own language, which does not come into contact with the outside world, and therefore has so far been protected from the influence of civilization. This tribe has a very remarkable makeup ritual. Women of the tribe scar their bodies with intricate patterns, pierce their lower lip and insert quartz crystals into it.
Their mating ritual, associated with annual dances, is also interesting. During them, girls point to their favorites, placing their leg on their shoulder from behind. The happy chosen one does not see the girl’s face, but can inhale the smell of her sweat. However, such an “affair” does not have to end in a wedding; it is only permission for the groom to sneak into her parents’ house, where she lives, secretly from her parents at night. The presence of children is not a basis for recognizing the legality of a marriage. A man must live with his pets until he builds his own hut. Only then will the couple be able to sleep together legally, but for another year after the housewarming, the spouses cannot eat from the same pot.

Modern medicine has achieved impressive successes, having learned to defeat many diseases that were considered fatal by our ancestors. But it still remains...

7. Mursi

Women from the Mursi tribe have an exotic lower lip as their calling card. It is cut for girls when they are children, and pieces of wood of larger and larger sizes are inserted into the cut over time. Finally, on the wedding day, a debi is inserted into the drooping lip - a plate made of baked clay, the diameter of which can reach up to 30 cm.
Mursi easily become drunkards and constantly carry clubs or Kalashnikovs with them, which they are not averse to using. When fights for supremacy take place within a tribe, they often end in the death of the losing side. Mursi women's bodies typically look sickly and flabby, with sagging breasts and hunched backs. They are almost devoid of hair on their heads, hiding this defect with incredibly fluffy headdresses, the material for which can be anything that comes to hand: dried fruits, branches, pieces of rough leather, someone's tails, swamp mollusks, dead insects and other carrion. It is difficult for Europeans to be near Mursi because of their unbearable smell.

8. Hamer (hamar)

On the eastern side of Africa's Omo Valley live the Hamer or Hamar people, numbering approximately 35,000 - 50,000 people. Along the banks of the river there are their villages, made up of huts with pointed roofs, covered with thatch or grass. The entire household is located inside the hut: a bed, a hearth, a granary and a goat pen. But only two or three wives and children live in the huts, and the head of the family always either grazes cattle or protects the tribe’s possessions from attacks by other tribes.
Dating with wives occurs very rarely, and at these rare moments, children are conceived. But even after returning to the family for a while, the men, having beaten their wives to their hearts content with long rods, are satisfied with that, and go to sleep in pits that resemble graves, and even cover themselves with earth to the point of mild asphyxia. Apparently, they like this semi-fainting state more than intimacy with their wives, and even those, to tell the truth, are not delighted with the “caresses” of their husbands and prefer to please each other. As soon as a girl develops external sexual characteristics (at about 12 years of age), she is considered ready for marriage. On the wedding day, the newly-made husband, having beaten the bride hard with a reed rod (the more scars remain on her body, the more deeply he loves), puts a silver collar around her neck, which she will wear for the rest of her life.

World-famous landmarks stare back at us from postcards, television screens, various posters and brochures. Their appearance is so familiar and understandable...

9. Bushmen

IN South Africa There is a group of tribes collectively called the Bushmen. These are people of short stature, wide cheekbones, with narrow eyes and swollen eyelids. Their skin color is difficult to determine, since in the Kalahari it is not customary to waste water on washing, but they are definitely lighter than neighboring tribes. Leading a wandering, half-starved life, the Bushmen believe in an afterlife. They have neither a tribal leader, nor a shaman, and in general there is not even a hint of social hierarchy. But the elder of the tribe enjoys authority, although he does not have privileges or material advantages.
The Bushmen surprise with their cuisine, especially “Bushman rice” - ant larvae. Young Bushmen are considered the most beautiful in Africa. But as soon as they reach puberty and give birth, their appearance changes radically: their buttocks and hips spread sharply, and their stomach remains bloated. All this is not a consequence of dietary nutrition. To distinguish a pregnant Bushwoman from the rest of her potbellied tribesmen, she is coated with ocher or ash. And Bushmen men at 35 already look like 80-year-old men - their skin sags everywhere and becomes covered with deep wrinkles.

10. Maasai

The Maasai people are slender, tall, and they braid their hair in clever ways. They differ from other African tribes in their manner of behavior. While most tribes easily come into contact with outsiders, the Maasai, who have an innate sense of dignity, keep their distance. But these days they have become much more sociable, even agreeing to video and photography.
The Maasai number about 670,000 and live in Tanzania and Kenya in East Africa, where they engage in livestock farming. According to their beliefs, the gods entrusted the Maasai with the care and guardianship of all the cows in the world. Maasai childhood, which is the most carefree period in their lives, ends at the age of 14, culminating in an initiation ritual. Moreover, both boys and girls have it. The initiation of girls comes down to the terrible custom of circumcision of the clitoris for Europeans, but without it they cannot get married and do housework. After such a procedure, they do not feel pleasure from intimacy, so they will be faithful wives.
After initiation, boys turn into morans - young warriors. Their hair is coated with ocher and covered with a bandage, they are given a sharp spear, and something like a sword is hung on their belt. In this form, the moran should pass with his head held high for several months.

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Namibia is a comfortable holiday destination. But she is multifaceted. There are such wild corners in it, once in which even modern man realizes how small and weak he is before the great forces of nature. Humanity probably felt this way only at the dawn of civilization, when people invented gods for themselves and sought their protection and help. Absolutely virgin, fantastically beautiful, extremely dangerous and unfriendly to humans places - the Namib Desert, the Skeleton Coast and the Cunene River, which has become the natural border of the country with Angola. The middle part of its course passes through particularly inaccessible places. This is where the vast territory of Kaokoland begins. This northwestern region of the country has almost no paved roads and is practically uninhabited: one person per two square kilometers. But it is the home of the Himba people.

One Namibia - one nation

This wonderful motto was chosen by the country after achieving independence. And there are successes on this path. Indeed, despite the motley National composition, today a sense of solidarity has already developed among the peoples of Namibia.

Now the multicultural nation is made up of a complex interweaving of 11 large national groups and many small ethnic groups, each with its own history, language and traditions. However, the people, although less noticeable in cities but clearly visible in rural areas, still follow their traditional way of life and are very different in appearance due to their heterogeneous cultural backgrounds.

A striking example of this is the Herero people, whose women cannot be confused with anyone in the crowd. No less characteristic, but literally opposite, is the closely related Himba people. Historical Himba etiquette requires women to bare their breasts, which is the complete antithesis of the appearance of Herero women, securely packed in dozens of meters of fabric.

Cousins ​​of the picturesque Herero

Which women are the most photographed? Socialites? Models? Film actresses? Of course, but not only - very often the lenses of cinema and cameras are aimed at women of the Himba people. You've probably seen them - in photos in magazines or in travel brochures about Africa.

The Himba tribe is the most popular and recognizable ethnic group in Namibia. These tall and sculpturally beautiful women in necklaces and bracelets with a pleasant reddish skin tone and long tight dreadlocks who walk topless in a short goatskin skirt are difficult to confuse with anyone.

Their image is often used as a symbol of the country, a real Namibian exoticism, but the number of Himbas in the entire Namibian population is simply tiny - less than two percent.

Five interesting facts about the Himba

1. Who are they and how many are there?

The Himba are an ethnic group numbering, according to various estimates, from 20 to 50 thousand people. They are a semi-nomadic pastoral people whose entire existence revolves around herds of cows, goats and sheep. From the Himba point of view, this is an unimaginable value that determines social status man, and, moreover, the source of all material wealth.

True, the appearance of the tribe’s precious cows bears little resemblance to the appearance of the luxurious Simmentals common in Russia, and they cannot boast of milk yield, but the skinny local cattle have incomparably more significant qualities here - vitality and unpretentiousness.

1. What are they eating.

The basis of the universe is the Himba cow. She provides the tribe with milk, an extremely important product. The milk is used for daily nutrition and for the production of cosmetic cream for local ladies. Meat is rarely eaten in the tribe - this happens only at tribal holidays; in the diet it is the exception rather than the rule.

Natural conditions, rocky and infertile buds, and a lack of water do not allow the Himba to diversify their diet with grown vegetables; much more often, collected wild herbs, edible roots and fruits provide vitamin support.

However, sometimes women plant corn and millet, which are undemanding to the soil, near the village. The tribe's daily diet is porridge made from corn or millet flour. The preparation of the dish is simple: heat water in the morning and evening, pour flour into it, add a little butter, cook for a short time and - bon appetit.

Interestingly, both of these cultures are now at the peak of popularity in Europe as healthy eating. And in our country we have always loved boiled young cobs with salt and millet porridge.

1. How they live.

The tribe's settlement, the kraal, is a circular collection of cone-shaped huts coated with a mixture of clay and dung. In the center of the kraal, behind a wicker fence, the main thing is a cattle pen.

Opposite the entrance to it is the hut of an elder - usually an elderly and respected person. A sacred fire burns in front of her day and night. All important Himba rites related to births, weddings, ceremonies related to the stages of growing up take place here - when those who have reached adolescence Tribe members have their 4 lower teeth knocked out.

1. What do they believe?

Missionaries have a lot of patience. The Himba resisted their activities for more than 150 years. In the end, unable to clothe these stubborn pagans and finding no response to the Word of God in their hearts, the messengers of the church retreated.

The Himba remained animists. The smoke of the sacred fire rises to the heavens, allowing them to ritually communicate with their ancestors, who, in turn, are in direct contact with the invisible supreme being who rules everything in this world.

1. About their hygiene.

Proudly beautiful Himba women devote several hours every morning to caring for themselves. True, they never wash themselves - the water is too valuable resource. However, they came up with a number of hygiene procedures and invented a wonderful cream that allow them to be, even in the sophisticated eyes of Europeans, exceptionally attractive people with excellent skin.

The composition of the cream is not a production secret; anyone can observe its preparation: to the bright red hematite ground into the finest powder, milk fat, ash and, as an aromatic fragrance, the resin of the omumbiri bush (Commiphora wildii), called Namibian myrrh, which grows here, are added.

The mixture gives the body an intense golden-reddish shine, which, firstly, corresponds to the Himba ideal of beauty and, secondly, protects the skin from the merciless sun, insect bites and to some extent blocks the growth of body hair.

What appears to be red-orange clay on the head is actually the same mixture. Himba people cover their originally styled hair with this product during complex hairdressing procedures.

Women also take a cleansing smoke bath every day. A smoldering ember heats a small bowl of herbs, leaves and twigs from Commiphora trees until aromatic smoke begins to smoke. The ladies lean over him, covering themselves with blankets for maximum effect to get a good sweat.

When the pores of the steamed skin open, they clean it with special flat sticks, then again smear themselves with a portion of fresh miracle cream. Then, fragrant and beautiful, they can again reveal themselves to the admiring world.

On the way to Etosha

By four o'clock we were already approaching the Namibian town of Kamanjab - six thousand inhabitants, a store, a gas station, a post office. He is the intermediate point on our journey, the goal of which was now Etosha National Park. The tiny town not only provides travelers with relaxation, but also provides several pleasant and tempting opportunities for tourists:

• first, get to know the Himba tribe,
• secondly, 24 kilometers from Kamanjab there is Cheetah Farm - a cheetah farm.

Cheetahs are special animals. While running, these graceful and swift felines can reach speeds of one hundred kilometers per hour, but this is not the most amazing thing. They will never attack a person, not like lions or tigers. The king of animals cannot be kept at home, this usually ends badly - cases are known, but there is no need to be afraid of the cheetah.

Since time immemorial, cheetahs have been domesticated and kept in or around the house for hunting. In our country, cheetahs have been known since the times of Kievan Rus, when they were called pardus. Historians say that the Indian Mughal ruler Akbar the Great kept a thousand cheetahs in his court.

At the Otjitotongwe farm you can see and photograph both the animals themselves and how they are fed. You can also pet them and even take a photo of “me and Chita” together. Like in Thailand, unforgettable! The most interesting thing is how, like domestic cats, they sleep sweetly in an embrace, tenderly lick each other, meow with their relatives and purr, and so loudly, as if they have running motors inside them.

This is our chance! I want to see a real cheetah, be close to this powerful animal, I want to touch it and remember the feeling of its fur! What is it like: hard or silky?

We stopped on the edge of town at the Oppi-Koppi campsite, whose nursery rhyme-like Afrikaans name means "on a small hill" and it's exactly right.

On the slope of a small hill

Oppi-Koppi is located right on the edge of town. Large territory, the entrance is topped with a large thatched roof, with cute little yellow bungalows scattered inside - wood, stone and black thatch.

The owner of the campsite is a native of the prosperous kingdom of Belgium, who was so fascinated by Namibia that he moved here to live. He is still quite a young man, but, like him, many Europeans are looking for a cozy place in this country to meet old age here calmly, in comfort and prosperity.

We liked the Belgian's: the cicadas are chirping, the house is cozy, the food in the restaurant is delicious. But I got ahead of myself; the first thing we did from the road was run to the shower. Namibia is hot, dry and dusty. On a car trip, no matter how you hide, dust gets into your nose, saturates every centimeter of your skin and clothes, every strand of hair smells of it.

And in the soul... In the middle of Namibia, in a fragrant soap cloud, like a foam-born Aphrodite, a Russian girl stood and almost cried. The water in the shower let me down. No, she was. And she was hot, but...

The main problem of the arid country is the lack of water. There are few constantly flowing rivers; salvation comes from moisture reserves accumulated from ephemeral rivers, from underground water resources and reclaimed wastewater. What did you think? It is the reused water that goes through many levels of purification at special stations and meets the highest standards.

But the composition of natural waters in different places in Namibia is very diverse, as is their quality. In large Namibian cities the water is quite normal, but who can guarantee that it is everywhere like a spring tear? Our ex-European at his campsite took care of all levels of cleaning it. He proudly told us new arrivals that his water could be drunk straight from the tap.

It may be possible to drink, I haven’t tried it, but under the shower streams the soap didn’t want to wash off - the water turned out to be too soft. It seems that there is not a single small molecule of calcium and magnesium salts left in it, so that the rigidity they impart would allow the invisible slippery film to be removed from the hair and body. I say exactly: if hard water is bad, then very soft water is no good.

To see the recluses of harsh landscapes

Having suffered what was due in the fight against soap and instead of getting hair, I got stubborn fluff on my head that just didn’t want to settle, we went to a restaurant. The menu was extensive, offering dishes from kudu, zebra and even giraffe. We ordered wine, salad and oryx chops. The kind hostess came to talk to us and noted that there were many birds in their garden, and in the evenings you could watch porcupines eat. But we were interested in the most spectacular Namibian Himba women.

When we decided to go to Africa, there were many things we would like to do there. For example, visit this tribe. But the fact is that it’s not so easy to get to the Himbas’ village. There are certain rules for this:

1. You can’t just barge into a village without first obtaining permission from the elder.
2. A certain monetary contribution is made to the benefit of the community. Additionally, food offerings to the tribe are allowed in the form of corn flour, sugar, containers of water, and vegetable oil. Gifts are shared among the entire village.
3. Arriving in the village, you find yourself in someone else's house - so be respectful.
4. But just in case, so that no one wanders around the settlement wherever they please, the group is accompanied by a special comrade who prompts with a kind word: don’t go there, go here. But it also has practical benefits: in the event of a heart-to-heart conversation with beautiful savages, it can help tourists with translation.

And the kind hostess used her mobile phone to book us a visit to the village of the backward Himba tribe for tomorrow morning.

Yes! Here's another - knowledgeable people It is advised to obtain permission from the subject before shooting. Now everyone is ready to meet!

In Otjikandero - Himba village

We try not to talk about the upcoming meeting with the tribe, so as not to jinx it. I have a piece of paper on my knees, on it is a stock of basic and operational words in the Himba language (what if there is a meaningful conversation!): “hello” is “Moro”, “how are you” - “perivi”, “everything is fine” - “Nava” .

Twenty minutes of driving, another twenty minutes of wandering along the paths in search of the entrance to the village, and now we park at the local school. Hmmm... School... It looks like the state doesn't spend much on it: an adobe house, posters on the walls, plastic tables and chairs.

The entrance to the village is blocked by crooked fence stakes and a barrier - you have to wait for a guide. There was no one around... A quarter of an hour later another car arrived with a Spanish couple, who also wanted to get acquainted with the life of the tribe.

We got bored together, and finally the long-awaited guide, an African in modern, but well-worn clothes, appeared and slowly led us into the village, telling us about life here.

Himba in real life focus

It is rare that a settlement of the Himba - a semi-nomadic people - exists for a long time in its place. This village is not quite typical. The tribe moved to this place about ten years ago, taking with them a bunch of children, as we would say - from dysfunctional families, from fellow tribesmen who drank themselves to death.

That's why there are a lot of children here, but almost no men at all. Their job is to herd cattle, so they go far and long with their herds. IN last years men began to leave in search of work also in the outside world. The members of the tribe who were influenced by him can be easily recognized by their Western style of clothing. Here we took a closer look at our guide. Yes, he is also a Himba.

We entered the village, looking around the family's circle of thatched mud huts with the packed earth in front of them. Children run and crawl, goats and chickens roam, housewives prepare breakfast. Morning is the busiest time for Himba women. They have a lot of daily chores: in the morning they need to milk the cows, beat butter in a vessel made of dried pumpkin, clean the house, go for water, cook food, and they need to devote a couple of hours to taking care of their beauty.

It is clear, of course, that if a village is open to everyday visits from unfamiliar, and not always sensitive, people, then this was done with the intention of making money. But how much of what is presented is real and how much is a show for tourists? Amazingly, while talking and observing the Himbas, we came to the conclusion that there was no smell of any kind of staging here.

Women don't pay any attention to us. One, a Namibian Madonna with long braided hair, glowing with a red-brown hue, feeds an infant in the shade of her hut. A tiny boy holds on to her with his hand, two more children play nearby.

Usually, babies' heads are shaved, but in older children, a tuft of hair is left to grow on the head.

For boys, this bun is braided into one braid going to the back. Girls have two braids, they are directed towards the face. Thick pigtails hang over the eyes, making it difficult to look, but there are no girls with sideways hair.

The mother wears her own headdress - something similar to a crown. This decoration is called Erembe, it is made from a piece of leather and symbolizes... Guess it? Well, of course, the horns of a cow are the most valuable and beautiful creature in the eyes of hereditary cattle breeders.

For women, both life itself and its way of life are no different from the ancient ones that their great-great-grandmothers led, except that modern knives and accessories from plastic bottles. Their clothes have not changed either: they still go to short skirts made of soft leather and countless decorations on necks, wrists, belts and ankles.

Jewelry on the ankles of Himba women is a peculiar version wedding ring, which can even tell you about the number of children she has. Representatives of the fair half of all ages, without exception, wear heavy weights of bracelets and necklaces made of iron and copper, countless beads made of glass, beads, wires, seeds, pendants with stones and shells, and some dry fruits on straps.

The older kids are dressed in jeans and T-shirts, the little ones are covered with pieces of skin on a tight strap around the waist, and for those even younger, the entire outfit is made up of the favorite national paste, otjize, the color of red ocher.

Where to find a society of free and progressive people

The guide, smiling friendly from ear to ear (and he doesn’t have four lower teeth!), noted that clothing is everyone’s business. Whoever wants to do so can go. “Here he is,” he powerfully pokes himself in the chest, “He walks around in modern clothes. But during holidays or for rituals, he wears Himba clothes.”

“We Himba are the freest people on earth! - he proudly declares, introducing us to the elder. - So, to come here you need a passport, and visas, and permits, and you have to pay money, but the Himba stood up, collected what he needed in a bag and went. And at the border no one will ask him anything. I don't have a passport! We are Himba, we are free people!”

The elder nods significantly and introduces us to his wife, sitting next to the hut. The eye catches on the colorful skirt of the neighboring shack. I almost gasped out loud: “Well, that’s right: Herero! Where?" Sanya voices our surprise.

The elder turns his face in her direction, thinks and seriously, as good teacher, answers that the Himba people are not only free, but also progressive, for equality. “This woman married a man from the Himba tribe. So what should she do? Becoming a Himba? No. She lived as she lived. And the children, when initiated, will decide for themselves who they want to be - a Himba or a Herero.” And he cleverly narrows his eyes at me.

And I look at a woman in fluffy Herero clothing in the company of her half-naked friends. And I remember the day when, after getting a tattoo, I came to work. A ten square centimeter patch of skin caused so many comments, discussions, condemnations, and sidelong glances! And here - thick multi-layered clothes, an incorrect headdress, unoiled body and hair... There are not even bracelets on the legs! But it doesn’t bother anyone... Yeah.

Boom-boom-boom, - a metallic ringing rushed through the village. The kids raised their heads and again each went about their business. “Rpopropopopo!” - Our escort jokingly shouted to one of them. The boy shrugged his shoulders in response and continued to sit in the dust.

“Everyone is invited to the school,” the guide explained to us. But the children don’t really want to go, and it’s not really necessary for life here.” Alas, the desire for knowledge has not yet seized the younger generation of Himbas; they still have dreams of a better career than a shepherd.

We were invited to enter the house, where a girl, whose name we would never be able to repeat due to its complete unpronounceability for a Russian person, showed all the intricacies of applying the famous paste to female body and all the subtleties of the procedure for giving it pleasant aromas.

The Himba monastery is clean and practically empty - only a few utensils. The skins or rugs that people sleep on at night were all taken away. During the lesson, the hostess and I sat together on the earthen floor, smooth as the bottom of a pot. The girl sat somehow especially deftly, it was clear that she was comfortable. And I was on pins and needles.

And yes - sit hard. But what was more important was that the cramped space of the home forced me to communicate at a distance that was too close, and therefore uncomfortable for me. And, to be completely honest, I confess to you, my friends, that a feeling of disgust unworthy of a true traveler prevented me from fully enjoying the lecture. But what can you do - we are all human.

Although there are no complaints about the girl herself. Sweet, natural, smiling. We showed her the photographs we took. She was delighted with the way she looked on screen and demonstrated it so directly.

At the end of the tour, we were invited to a platform in the center of the village, where Himba women sat in a semicircle and laid out bracelets, toys, beads and other crafts in front of them. Nothing in common with the image of noisy traders - embodied sedate dignity, friendly smiles. If you want it, buy it, if you want it, don’t.

But it’s hard to resist buying a small souvenir. We bought a pendant - wooden birds on a string and a bunch of bracelets for gifts.

From the Himba tribe, in a childlike state of expectation of happiness, they went to a cheetah farm. But here we were miraculously unlucky: the farm worked on a limited schedule, which in no way correlated with our plans. We quickly held a military council, added the cheetah farm to our list of must-see attractions for our next trip to the country, and moved on.

Advanced or untamed Himba?

One of my friends wrinkled her nose: “If only you could visit such Himbas who don’t even know what country they live in, and so…”. It's clear what we're talking about. About the authenticity of a tribe, which is disrupted by contact with the civilized world.

Nowadays the whole world is obsessed with authenticity in different areas culture - from food to furniture. Doesn't lag behind travel business- the fashion is now to travel to exotic and secluded places and communities that are still supposedly uncorrupted by modernity. The search for such authenticity often leads to Kaokoland, where the Himba people live in almost primitive conditions.

Needless to say, it would be much more interesting to see absolutely untamed Himba... But... And there are too many of these “buts”.

• In this remote northwestern part of the country, where there are no roads, travel is only possible in four-wheel drive vehicles with self-sufficient fuel and food supplies.
• The arid terrain and harsh climate affected by the proximity of the Namib Desert require a knowledgeable guide.
• And the few people of the tribe do not live compactly on the territory.
• Moreover, they are not tied to any specific location, so searching for them may take a while. For a long time. Or even for a very long time.

So such a task already entails organizing a serious expedition, large financial costs and a decent amount of time on hand. This is clearly not our case.

Yes, here's another one. Almost the main sign of authenticity is considered to be true “simplicity” - the poverty and primitivism of primitive tribes, contrasted with the wealth and materialism of the modern world.

The simplicity and poverty that reigned in the tribe in real life brought tears to my eyes. The porridge for the children was cooked in some tin can, the mother picked it with a stick picked up from the ground, and the children then dragged the slightly cooled brew into their mouths by the handful, doing without a spoon. Appearance the inhabitants of the village are at the proper level, observing customs - everything is as taught.

In short, we are unshakably confident that the place we visited meets the strictest criteria for authenticity of the Himba people in all respects. Whoever doesn’t think so is his business, there’s Kaokoland - it’s nearby, look for suitable ones...

About the inevitability of coming changes

The Himba have jealously guarded their customs and traditions for centuries, but now the time is coming when they must abandon some of their cultural practices. First of all, from the customs of polygamy and widespread extramarital affairs, in order to curb the HIV and AIDS epidemic raging in the tribe.

It is very possible that a change in the way of life that they have stubbornly maintained for so long will be brought about by government policies that provide Himba children, even in the most remote corners, with the opportunity to study in unique mobile free schools.

At school, the younger generation of the tribe is taught not only to read and write. There they also learn about the existence of another world. And it is quite possible that one day they will want to abandon their kraals with cows in this practically isolated region and go to live in the city for a while. And then completely different Himbas will return home.

The popularity of the tribe, which appeared on television and became the subject of many documentaries, has become a source of constant income for its members. More and more of its members are starting to work as tour guides, translators, and creating campsites for tourists, providing so-called “Himba tours.”

The growing flow of tourists, photographers and filmmakers disrupts daily life tribe and involuntarily they are gradually losing those features that once made them so attractive in the eyes of foreign guests and the media.

The ancient and amazing Himba tribe with its elusive authenticity... But, if you think about it, the culture of the people is not a given, it changes over time, it is changed by contacts with other cultures. Therefore, perhaps authenticity should be considered not as something immutable, frozen in the past, but as a property that is dynamic?

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