Tribal culture in Namibia

The San – Namibia’s first people

Believed to be Southern Africa’s original inhabitants, some 90,000 San, also known as Bushmen, live on the continent, with around a third of those in Namibia. Snippets of ancient San life can be found across the country, most notably in rock paintings and carvings at Brandberg Mountain and Twyfelfontein, thought to be over 2,000 years old.

Life for today’s San has not been easy. The darker side of Namibia's celebrated conservation successes has been the eviction of the San from their ancestral grazing and hunting lands, leaving many communities landless and reliant on food aid. Without their land, traditional skills and knowledge passed down through generations are at risk of being lost.

The Herero

Officially the Herero encompasses a hugely diverse range of tribal cultures, including the Himba, Tjimba, Mbanderu and Kwandu, However it is the Herero proper, the largest of these groups which reside mainly in central Namibia to whom the term usually refers.

It’s not easy to miss Namibia’s Herero women – decked out in voluminous, brightly-coloured, Victorian-style dresses and peculiar cow-horn hats. Unlike other ethnic groups in Namibia which preserve pre-colonial ways of life and traditions, the Herero’s dress in particular is directly influenced by the German colonists. Originally forced into their distinctive dress – albeit in more subdued colours - the style is now a unique part of their cultural identity and a point of pride. The iconic hat is a nod to the group’s pastoral heritage. The colonial style dress is particularly poignant as the Germans were responsible for a horrific genocide at the turn of the 20th century, which resulted in the deaths of up to 65,000 Hereros – some 80 percent of the population. Some of these were starved to death while trapped in the desert, and others were killed in concentration camps. Unsurprisingly, the community remains scarred by these events to this day.

Responsible community tourism in Namibia

At its best, cultural tourism in Namibia offers an authentic insight into some of the world’s most unique ways of life, while giving those communities a sustainable source of income and a way to celebrate and keep their customs alive. At its worst, tours to tribal villages and townships can feel akin to visiting a human zoo.

Responsible tour operators work together with these communities, whether San, Himba, or Herero, Damara or Nama, to create a sensitively managed and fulfilling cultural experience. But as a traveller how do you know which tour to choose?

At Responsible Travel we recommend you ask questions before booking a trip. Does your guide speak the local language? How much involvement does the community have in the planning the tours? How do they benefit from your visit and how are they compensated? What community projects does the tour support?

The best memories from these tours come from genuine cultural exchange, so step out from behind your camera, duck into a Himba hut when invited and ask questions about your hosts’ lives. They’ll be fascinated to hear more about you too, so sharing your own stories is bound to raise a smile.

Finally, ask your guide if they can teach you a few words in the local language to greet and thank your hosts. It’s worth noting that the Himba and Herero are two branches of the same tribe – and they speak the same language. The devilishly difficult clicks of the Damara, Nama (four clicks) and San (seven clicks) languages may leave you a little tongue-tied, the effort will be enormously appreciated. And it’s always a laughter inducing ice-breaker if nothing else.