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The scent of the Himba in Namibia

7/1/2015

5 Comments

 
The scent of the Himba in Namibia
By Roxanne Reid
If you’re travelling to the far north-western Kunene region (Kaokoveld) of Namibia, you’re most likely looking for an off-the-beaten-track adventure and an encounter with the Himba nomadic pastoralists. What you might not know is that there’s an underlying story here that connects the scent of the Himba in Namibia with a Fair Trade manufacturer in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Rain Africa makes a wide range of natural bath and body products at its factory in the Swellendam township of Railton in the Overberg. The products use African oils of that are harvested sustainably, thus helping to provide jobs for local people across southern Africa. 
Rain Africa
Rain Africa uses African essential oils in body and bath products that are hand-made in Swellendam, South Africa
Although you’ll quickly fall under the spell of these lovely products, which appeal to the eyes, nose and touch, the most intriguing product hasn’t even hit the shelves yet.

It will be an artisanal perfume range and it's hoped to introduce it time for Mother’s Day in 2015. [It was introduced in September 2015, see comments below.] The project was delayed because of hiccups in the
design of the perfume bottle. ‘It’s unique and very special,’ says Rain owner Bev Missing. ‘It’s made of porcelain and it has been a nightmare to get the lid and base to seal properly because clay shrinks when it’s fired.’
Himba woman, Namibia
Himba women use omumbiri resin mixed with butterfat and clay as a beauty treatment
Some scents will come from Moroccan rose, Egyptian jasmine and East African sandalwood. Rain is also working with the Himba people in Namibia, where women harvest a potent perfumed tree resin called omumbiri (Commiphora wildii) to mix with red ochre as a beauty treatment. The sticky resin, produced in the dry months of October and November, is also known as Namibian myrrh. 
Himba, Namibia
Himba women harvest the resin and sell it to the processing plant in Opuwo
The women hand-process the resin and mix it with butterfat to protect them from the sun and keep them clean and sweet-smelling in a dry area where there’s little or no access to water. Now some 600 harvesters are also selling some of it to Scents of Namibia’s processing facility in Opuwo where it is steam distilled into fragrant oil.

‘Around 70 kilograms of raw material produces 5 litres of essential oil,’ says Scents of Namibia’s Jeckey Kasaona. The facility can produce up to 1 000 litres a year, and sells both the omumbiri oil and mopane oil to Rain and other manufacturers in southern Africa, the EU and the Americas.
Himba, Namibia
Accurate records must be kept to ensure everyone gets paid fairly for what she has harvested
If you’re in Kunene (Kaokoveld), Namibia, take an hour off in Opuwo and visit the processing plant. There’s a one-hour tour every weekday at 14:30 at the visitor centre.  
Himba, Namibia
Scents of Namibia works with the local community to create an income for Namibia's Himba women
Need to know
Find a Rain Africa store near you in South Africa or New York. You can also shop online.


Like it? Pin this image!
Scents of the Himba #Namibia #travel #perfume #Africa
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
5 Comments
Mike Thurtell
30/1/2015 04:02:33 am

Your story about Himbas flooded me with memories of when I was an infantryman based at Opuwo and then Sodiliet near the river. A major ("Rooibaad") had alsmost decimated the elephant population with his hunting sprees - senseless and violent but he and his officers enjoyed themselves. When I arrived at Opuwo the dried elephant skins stood stiff and upright like old baobab trees. The lack of bad odour of the Himbas never ceased to amaze me - their drycleaning method of cleaning clothes over smoked natural herbs and butterfat covered beautiful smooth skin. We just stank. So much for our western civilization. We usually felt stupid when hiding camouflaged to set ambushes, trying to stay undiscovered, and invariably Himba tribesmen would walk jolly jolly through our hiding places with their goats jangling merrily and greeting us happily, while making it obvious to the enemy where we were - both of us knowing that the other knew knew what the other was doing! I wish the Himba well and hope their elephants are doing well.

Reply
Roxanne link
30/1/2015 06:34:10 am

Thanks for sharing those interesting memories, Mike. Terribly sad about the elephant hunting. I chuckled out loud at the picture of the Himba walking jolly jolly through your hiding places - so much for your painstaking efforts at camouflage!

Reply
Greg Mason
23/9/2020 12:47:28 pm

It is a pity that those brain dead officers in the army did not get gored by one of the Elephants.

Reply
juani walters link
26/1/2016 07:52:37 am

Our exclusive artisanal perfume range was launched in September 2015 and each of the three fragrances is as unique as its name: Leaf, Twig and Nectar. You can visit www.rainafrica.com to read more about them :)

Reply
Roxanne
26/1/2016 08:36:43 am

Thanks for the update, Juani, they look beautiful.

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    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
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