Himba people: where the most beautiful women of Africa live

Himba tribe is one of the few in modern Africa, where they continue to lead a traditional lifestyle. They do not use the benefits of modern civilization and are in no hurry to leave their homes for life in the city, and the women of this people are rightfully considered the most beautiful on the African continent.

Himba, the number of which does not exceed 50,000 people, is a visiting card of the tourism industry in Namibia. The people of the Himba tribe living in the arid regions of the country provide their livelihood by doing cattle breeding and gathering. Just like their ancestors hundreds of years ago, himba raise goats and cows. Their pets are not too well-fed: the lack of succulent food affects them. But thin goats and cows provide the tribe with nutritious milk, which, along with plant foods, forms the basis of the himba diet. They eat meat very rarely, only on major holidays. People of the Himba tribe are engaged in physical labor all day long: men graze cattle, daily go several kilometers from the village, repair and build huts, women raise children, prepare food and devote time to needlework.

Their traditional home is an ordinary clay hut, sometimes covered with straw. Food is cooked at the stake, and the baby has porridge with his hands directly from the common boiler. Polygamy was traditionally practiced in the tribe, but today it is often abandoned from this custom. Himba actively communicate with neighboring tribes and can join in taking not only representatives of their people.

Interestingly, many missionaries tried to convert the Himba people to Christianity. For more than 150 years, white people constantly visited their tribes, but the himba remained at their traditional values. They believe in natural spirits just like their ancestors.

It is noteworthy that himba still prefer traditional clothes, which is especially noticeable for women. A goatskin skirt, many bracelets and a magnificent hairstyle - these are the external signs by which you can easily recognize women of this tribe. Among other African peoples, most of whom wear short hairstyles, the himba stand out with their long hair. Such beauty requires careful care: these beauties spend several hours a day on cosmetic procedures. In conditions of a small amount of water and constant savings, a himba braids its hair in braids. And so that they had to be washed less often, the braids are coated with a special composition of a mixture of goat milk, powdered ocher and herbs. When the girl is still small, two pigtails and they are braided forward. And when the girl is ready for marriage, she braids her hair back and makes a beautiful hairstyle on her head.

But hair care is not limited to the care of women himba about their attractiveness. They smoke hair and skin daily with smoke, and also rub a nourishing cream based on the same goat milk and ocher. Such efforts pay off with interest: women of Himba are reputed to be the first beauties of Africa. Tall, slender, long-legged with stunning hairstyles and beautiful faces, they cause genuine interest from the outside world.

Visiting Himba villages is included in all Namibian travel programs. But, despite the growing interest in themselves, the tribe did not acquire those features of ostentatious "originality" inherent in many peoples involved in the tourism business. They do not impose their souvenirs on guests and do not run to dress up in traditional clothes before the arrival of the next group, although they communicate with visitors with pleasure. With the money earned, Himba women buy food, mainly cereals, as well as combs to care for their beautiful hair.