Himba Village Tours

Every Tour Group that arrives at Omapaha, normally will be greeted in English by one of our well trained Guides on the premises upon arrival at our Reception.

The guests will be taken to finalize the paperwork, like Guest Register and payment, or handing over of the Voucher in case of a pre-booked Tour, etc.

A normal Guided Tour will take between one and a half to two hours to complete.

The guests will be accompanying our Guide from our Reception towards the Village some distance away on foot, where the explanation about the do’s and don’ts of the Himba culture and Traditions will start already outside of the Himba Village. It is very important to know the rules already beforehand, before you enter any Himba village.

Inside the Village the guests will be taken to firstly great the chief or head of the homestead and the woman and children. During the Tour inside the Village, the building of the structures of the Huts, the materials used, the Kraal, the Holy Fire inside the Village and the meaning thereof will be explained. Our Guide will take the guests throughout the Village from Hut to Hut where he/she will explain the clothing, the hair and the time and process it takes, the jewelry, the meaning thereof, the difference between the boys and the girls.

Some activities can be seen such as Grinding of Red Ocker, tanning of skin for making of clothing, making of butter in a calabash, preparing of herbs for the cleansing ritual, making of handcraft and jewelry. Milking of goats in the morning or afternoon.

Inside the Main Hut, the guests will be demonstrated the equipment and clothing used, the difference between the area for the man, and the woman and children, fireplace inside, also the cleansing ritual will be performed by one of the Himba ladies.

At the end of the Tour there will be a demonstration of singing and dancing and clapping to express their gratitude towards the guests for visiting their Village.

Afterwards, the Himba people will put out a Craft Market on the ground where the guests is welcome to buy any.

Throughout the Tour, guests is welcome to take pictures and also make small videos of their own experience.

Guests is also welcome to ask questions throughout their Tour to our Guide, or to use our Guide as a translator when they want to ask the people some questions.

No tours will be done between 13h00 until 15h00!

Most companies have a lunch scheduled agreement and tours will be scheduled straight after lunch @ 2pm! As the Himba children are the only children, culturally excused from not going to school, by the government, 95% of the children in the village is raised traditionally as per decisions from the elders when this village was started.

Only 5% is allowed to go to school. Another reason is that in Himba Tribe, the children is responsible for the work (herding cattle, sheep ect..) so when all the children goes to school, the tribe will not be functioning traditionally and the children will become too westernized, as a result, the culture will seize to exist.

This decision is made solely by the elders and the chief of the tribe and we, Jaco and Jakkie as head men of this Project does not have any influence on that. For those of you who would like to donate some stationary for the children, we would ask that it is handed over to the teacher at the school and not at the village, so that it can be distributed among the children currently going to school as they need it.

NO ALCOHOL WILL BE ALLOWED ON THIS TOUR WITHIN THE VILLAGE!!!
This is one of the main reasons this culture is becoming extinct and corrupted!

TOURS:

• Tour times: 08h00 until 18h00.
• Tours last between 1,5 to 2 hours. We prefer not to do tours between 13h00 and 15h00 because it is the siesta time of the Himba people and you will not be able to see much activities during that time.
• We do have special arrangements with some of our regular companies and clients for alternative times, however we would like to ask that if you are unable to keep to your scheduled time (flat tire, car trouble, late departure, etc.) that you phone the village (+264 81 322 4345) to inform us of your situation and we will do our best to reschedule your tour at time that suits the Village. Otherwise, you will arrive in the middle of another group’s tour and will not get all the information and time you pay for. We do not take any responsibility if we are not informed beforehand.

Please remember: We prefer not to do tours between 13h00 and 15h00.

We would like to thank you for your understanding and support in this project and trust that with your co-operation, we will be able to provide you with a well-organized and informative tour and service.