Himba Living Muesum

With the direction given by the tour guide in the lodge we found the “living museum” pretty easily. We first stopped at the grocery in Opuwo and bought more milk, juice water, and snacks for ourselves and bought breads, potatoes and carrots as gifts for the Himba people. Some women and children gathered around the car before we walked in the grocery store and asked for food or buy “jewelry” from them. Finn gave them a loaf of bread and a big bag of potatoes then drove off. Twenty minutes later he found a quiet place along side the road we then organized the grocery, put some of them into the fridge.

The admission fee for the museum was N$500. The young man was a college student, the museum was founded by his brother. He spoke decent English so we could have some understanding how Himba people live. Their main diet are the milk/meat from goats they raised. Each so-called village normally started with a husband and a wife. More huts were added when they had more children.

The guide pointed out the Mopane tree, leaves for cure, drink the water after boiling, paste to cover the wound, ashes to clean the hair for women. We saw a lot of them in Etosha but wondered why no animals ate them. He said the full grown leaves tasted bitter. Animals would only eat new leaves when they just sprouted.Read more