Windhoek is a European city. At least it almost looks like it. But there is still the real Africa every now and then. Such as today. A Himba woman came into the pharmacy where I work. She asked for some tablets in a language I did not understand. I needed the help of our security guy to find out what she wanted. She stood there in front of us in her traditional clothing which is almost nothing: a peace of animal hide wrapped around the hips and some necklaces made from animal bones and plant seeds. Bossoms bare, hair held together by a type of clay topped with a crown made of leather. She wore ockre paint on the naked body and smelt nicely of aetheric oils from a bush. Just as well as they never wash themselves. I found that contrast very strange, this woman as she comes from where she lives and the neon-lit glass shelves of a pharmacy with all its cosmetic range in the background. The spice of Africa.
Sorry, no, I did not take a photo, but the picture will stay in my mind.
