28 Feb Namibia: The kaokoland, the last frontier

As I told you last week, I am back to show you two regions in the north-west of Namibia that I love.

To visit the Kaokoland region, one option is to head west out of Etosha National Park to the town of Opuwo. I don't know which part of the region impresses me the most, whether it's the incredible scenery, the possibility of encountering desert elephants or the Himba and Herero villages that inhabit it.

For the Himba, polygamy is allowed, with no limitation on the number of women. The only rule is that a man cannot spend more than two nights in a row with the same woman. The Himba may be uneducated, but I don't see them as fools.

I was telling you the other day that to return to Windhoek, I had 700 km on tracks and another 500 km on the road ahead of me, so I decided to take it easy. The truth is that the road was worth the effort, both the Kaokoland region and Damaraland.

I spent the first 200km enjoying the scenery and being amazed by the scenery. Although I was a bit afraid of getting a puncture, not a soul to lend a hand, the average density is 1 inhabitant per 2 km².

On the way I met three tall redheads who were hitchhiking half-naked. As that only happens in dreams and porn movies, I decided to stop them. And so I fulfilled that dream that all men have had at some time, although I assure you that it was not as I had always imagined it. Well, the fact is that I took them to their village.

And at what point did it occur to me to take them, (and I don't like to speak ill of some ladies), because apart from getting the car red, they left me a tigrillo..., what a smell, I had to spend the next 200km driving like a dog, i.e. sticking my head out of the window.

It is not strange that they smell "intense" if their daily grooming consists of smearing themselves with a red ochre powder that they mix with cow's butter. They only wash once in their lives, on their wedding day, which is a nice touch...

I'm putting this girl on, because I think she's a cannon.

Well, let's continue along the tracks towards Damaraland in the south. Gradually the landscape becomes drier and drier.

Apart from encountering many Springbox gazelles and the occasional giraffe in the middle of the road, this area is a haven for desert elephants.

I don't put the pictures of the elephants, because I don't remember if I saw one or none, I'm confused...

The road passes through Sesfontein, a village inhabited by the Herero majority, who live in the area with the Himba.

Women dress like this every day, not just on Sundays. What I wouldn't give to be able to see the wardrobe of a blacksmith woman, it must be curious...

The last 400 km of the road, I was already in need of asphalt, and I didn't even feel like taking a photo, although Damaraland is also impressive.

This area I have shown you is considered the last frontier. I am sure there are villages that have never seen anyone else. Here you can feel like the arctic explorer William Parry, who in 1821 when he found himself on Baffin Island with a group of Inuit who believed they were the only inhabitants of the earth, asked him: Do you come from the sun or the moon?

Don't stop feeling this way.