The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Monday, December 16, 2013

More on our visit with the Himba

Yesterday, we drove 350 kms from Opuwo to the Damara Mopane Lodge. But before we get to how the day went, I wanted to mention a few more things about the town of Opuwo and our visit with the Himba.

A few of you asked about the food and I had forgotten to include that end of the story!

So, we had bought about N$200 ($21.20) worth of food. At the end of our visit, our guide had said we could bring the food over and present it to "the granny" as he called her. The apparent matriarch of the clan. I didn't get much response when I dropped the bag of maiz meal and the bag of corn balls snacks for the kids. I don't think she was overly impressed with the snacks, but it was our guide's idea. She said something to the woman beside her that sort of gave me the idea that she was saying "what the heck is this??" It was kind of funny.

They were however, happy to have the bag of sugar and the cooking oil. Apparently they were planning on making some kind of cakes or something for Christmas, at least that was what our guide said.

Another thing I wanted to mention. They appeared to enjoy the visit and discussion as much as we did. Seemed like it gave them something to do and they were asking us questions as well..."how old are you?", "how long have you been married?", "how many children do you have?". When we answered "Two", one of the ladies wanted to know why we stopped there!

Oh, and this was funny. They don't keep track of age. Most of them have no idea how old they are.

Also, the town of Opuwo itself is really interesting. A totally multicultural town.

Himba lady walking down the main street.

There are a lot of questions we've thought of now that we wish we would have asked. Such an interesting people. Anyhow, let's get back to our drive yesterday...

We did 350 kms (217 miles). A lot of it was on dirt road.

Dusty dirt road. A little slow going in spots.

But then we were also on some nice paved roads. So we're driving along a paved section when Ruth says, "there's a giraffe!"... and there was...

Young giraffe by the roadside.

You could tell he was a little distressed and he was just a young fellow. We drove a few more meters further and we saw that his Mom was on the other side of the fence! Sure hope they got back together okay.

Made it to Domara Mopane Lodge with no problems and relaxed for the afternoon. Then, they do a sunset walk up to their "sundowner deck" where you have a cold drink and watch the sunset before dinner.

Having a drink of Savanna Dry Cider while waiting for the sunset. What do you think of my new Tom Cruise sunglasses. They were only $3.00! Can you tell?! But I needed something, and these were all I could find.

Saying goodbye to another day.

Speaking of saying goodbye. We are sad to hear the news today that one of our long time readers passed away on December 11th. 

James "butterbean" Carpenter. November 1, 1935 - December 11, 2013

Our thoughts are with you Joyce.


22 comments:

  1. Love the glasses and the sunset picture. So sad about butterbean. He will be missed.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought everyone kept track of their age. I know some cultures start on day 1 and year 1 as in 'that was my first birth day.'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess there are some cultures that don't keep track. I think it would be strange not to know but then again maybe it is a good thing not knowing. After all age is just a number! :)

      Delete
  3. RIP Butterbean, I will miss your colorful comments. :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh my, sorry to hear about Butterbean. I enjoyed reading his comments, too.
    RIP Butterbean! Our thoughts to his family - God Bless!!!!! hugs from PA!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Connie and Barry and I am sure his family thanks you too!

      Delete
  5. I think I'm going to take up that idea of not keeping track of how old I am. I feel younger already... ;c)

    Sad news about Butterbean. Loved reading his comments on our blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Age is only a number, how we live our lives is what makes us either old or young.

      Delete
  6. I like your sunglasses just fine and think the idea of not knowing how old you are would help this society in many many ways. I just can't get over motoring along and looking over and seeing a giraffe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is rare to see giraffes that are just "wild", they are normally in Etosha National Park or private Game farms/parks or on reserves. This particular one had somehow or other gotten through his fenced area and was out by the road. Sure hope he got reunited with his/her's mom.

      Delete
  7. Why would anyone want to keep track of people's ages? Really? What purpose is there? There is no value and no real reason, we just do it because we always have done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are totally right 2 Coops. As I said further up in the comments, age is only a number, it doesn't or shouldn't define who we are.

      Delete
  8. All sounds great, do take care with the cheap sunglasses. The sun in the southern hemisphere is pretty strong due to lack of ozone layer and cheap glasses can leave your eyes unprotected unless they have good UVA/UVB screening. We've used to go for cheap ones until we learnt better - or have we been duped !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure about the truth in that, I have only once had perscription sunglasses and never really noticed a difference between the two. It is still better to wear something than nothing.

      Delete
  9. Granny was probably expecting more. That was a good post though! I wonder if you'll still be interested in Mexico after you return or will be off to other destinations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure if she was expecting more because the guide was with us when we were shopping and he is the one that picked out the things that we needed to buy.

      We will always love Mexico but we have to admit that there is so much else out there to see. We have very mixed feelings about that.

      Delete
  10. Another fun day ending with a cool drink and nice sunset.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Butter Bean Carpenter had the most entertainingly delightful posts. He will be missed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Leah, he sure did and he will certainly be missed.

      Delete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.