Tribes

The Himba lives in northern Namibia and southern Angola. The women are easy recognisable with their red clay hair, which actually is made up by butterfat and ochre pigment. As they originate from the arid desert, where water is scarce, the paste is used for both protection from the heat and against mosquito and insect bites, but also as a cosmetic as it's usually perfumed with natural resin. Though it's not the perfect setting, it's possible to see Himba in Lubango, either just by walking around town or at the Cristo Rei Statue, where they pose for kwanzas.

Not all of Bangladesh is flat. Near the border to Myanmar in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the landscape folds into green rolling hills divided by ravines and winding rivers. Here on the slopes, among bamboo forests and rice fields, live different indigenous hill tribes in simple villages. There is the Marma, Mru, Bawn, Tripura and probably a few other ethnic groups. The Bawn people are fairly modern with solid houses and satellite discs on their roofs, but both the Mru and Tripura live in stilt huts made of bamboo and wood. Some of the elderly women there even walk around bare-chested with gaping earlobes. This is probably the most exciting region in Bangladesh and can be explored from Bandarban, either by hiking or by car.

The old system of local kings is still in place in Burkina where it forms the backbone of civil society. The kings (or Nabas) are still responsible for the communication with the ancestor spirits and of solving family disputes. The Nabas also yield political power as politicians use the kings to seek advice and council on behalf of the wider community. The most powerful Naba is the one based in Ouagadougou. He is, in general, inaccessible, but for a weekly ceremony on Friday mornings around 6:30, where he rides his war horse, threatening the Naba of Ouahigouya with war before his advisers talk him out of it. The cause of dispute dates all the way back to 1540 when the royal amulets that symbolise the Naba's power were stolen during a succession dispute. Ceremonies in Ouahigouya are rarer but usually include a showing of all the village chiefs arriving to pay their respect at the palace. To make up for the lack of regularity of ceremonies, there is a relatively good chance to be granted an audience with the Naba, who is a treasure trove of local history.

Inhabited by more than 450 people, the traditional royal court of Tiébélé isn't just a palace. It's a whole little village build as a labyrinthine compound of small mud houses, some with impossible small doors to fend off the slave raiders in the past. These little houses are decorated in various natural colours and patterns – all having a particular meaning. The compound is home to the most prominent chief in the Gourounsi region and his extended family. Rather than meeting the chief, it's more likely that you will be shown around by one of the community's guides. Watch out for fake guides at the village's entrance, who will try to lure you to a fake compound.

A tradition still practised in much of West Africa; mask dancing is probably easiest experience in Côte d’Ivoire. Each region has its traditions, symbolisms and taboos surrounding the practice, which the dancers are happy to explain to visitors. Unless you happen to run across a ceremony by accident, dance performances will likely have to be arranged through the local department of the Ministry of Tourism. Certain dance troupés have performed their art in Europe, however, there are distinct differences between these shows and the sacred dances carried out at ceremonies. If arranging a dance performance, it's worth checking which of the two kinds of dance the masks will perform. Also worth inquiring about is the traditionally held taboo against women attending some dances, as there are masks designated men and women specifically.

It might be a surprise to find Hmong villages in French Guiana since they originate from the mountain regions of Laos, Vietnam, China and Thailand. When many Hmong people became refugees after the Vietnam war, several thousands of Hmong people were relocated to French Guiana where they were given land. There are two main Hmong villages in French Guiana: Cacao and Javouhey. They feel very much like Laos.
The Cacao Sunday market attracts many day-trippers from Cayenne. Most people just come to eat the fantastic Laotian food, but you can also shop for Hmong souvenirs such as hats and embroidered cloths.
There are also great walks in the Cacao region, the most known and important one being the Molokai trail that takes you through the jungle in one very long day or in two regular hiking days.
Another popular thing to do in Cacao is to go to the Saut Bief, a pretty river with rapids that make a great place for a refreshing swim after hiking or just to go digest the lovely Laotian food.

In the highlands at the foot of volcano Inerie, around Bajawa town, the people of Ngada lives. Though some Ngada villages are fairly modern, traditional ones still exist. The wooden houses are high roofed facing each other in two rows along an open courtyard with several ancestral structures. The ngadhu, a carved pole with an umbrella-like thatched roof, and the bhaga, a small spirit house, always come in pairs. The good spirited Ngadas are betel nut chewing and machete wearing, and very welcoming. The pretty village of Bena is probably the most famous, but also the one that sometimes receives busloads of tourists. Other villages, like Bea, hardly see anyone and can be more rewarding regarding traditional life. If you are lucky, you might bump into a ceremony with a traditional pig or buffalo sacrificing. It is best to bring a guide from Bajawa to translate and make sure you don't commit some cultural suicide.

The Akha people is one of the many hill tribes in Laos. They live in the mountains in small villages made up of bamboo houses raised from the ground. They are mainly farmers growing dry rice and corn, but previously they were also keen opium producers, a production the government is now trying to put an end to. The women are fairly easily recognized by their headdresses that are adorned by silver coat buttons. It is possible to visit and stay overnight in an Akha village on a trekking trip, which is a great way to support the otherwise poor tribe.

Muang Sing used to be the biggest opium market in the Golden Triangle. Today, you can still be offered some of the black stuff in the street, but the new market is now for other stuff, like live frogs on a string, fried insects and rice wine by the bucket. Ethnic tribes come in from the surrounding hills to buy and sell their goods, making the morning market a colorful event and a great opportunity to mingle with so many different tribes at once. People from H'mong, Lao Lu, Thai Dam and Akha are among the usual crowds, but you need some practice to tell them all apart.

Madagascar has about 20 different ethnic groups. The Vezo people live at the coast in the West of the country, pretty much the region around and North of Toliara (Tulear). Their main activity is fishing. Every day, the Vezo people take their sailing pirogues, which are wooden dug-out canoes, out to the reef and beyond and mostly return about mid-morning with their catch of the day. The Vezo people are skilled sailors and fishermen and it is fascinating to watch them navigate their boats to shore and seeing the crowds of people getting in the fish and seafood. At these moments there is a market atmosphere with sometimes quite a bit of fuzz.