No apologies. It is what it is.  Or as I like to say, que sera, sera. So yes, another post about beading.

I am a late comer to Andrew Zimmern (on whom I had a celebrity crush after watching the episode I am going to tell you about, but the crush details are for another day [and has passed]). I first started watching him on his Driven by Food series, where he has taxi drivers take him to their favorite eating (and sporting/exercise) spots. It truly is delightful and a great concept for traveling and learning more about the local fare.

Then I segued into Bizarre Foods which is not really completely about eating insects and goat’s eyes as earlier commercials had led me to believe. And here’s a disclaimer, I am not against eating insects or goat’s eyes.  I just don’t know how many episodes I would want to watch about it.  Luckily it’s not just about “bizarre” foods, it’s about the cultures and lifestyles.  Well, I DVR’ed a bunch of the shows and was terribly moved by his visit to a Hunter and Gatherer Tribe in Botswana, in the Kalahari.

The tribe easily accepted the TV show crew after ceremoniously cleansing them and were willing to share their lives and culture with these strangers.  The tribe is extremely resourceful using what nature has provided.  Their lives are incredibly full without modern “conveniences,” and are so joyful and creative. The TV crew was allowed to watch a trance ritual that was incredibly powerful, and I was terribly moved just by watching it on TV.

But I kept pausing the show to take pictures.

Men and women alike all wore decorative beaded headbands.  I was fascinated!  Andrew briefly mentioned that the beads are made from ostrich bones, I think.  They were incredible.

These designs look so modern, yet these artisans have not been exposed to other cultures (except for visitors).

I think I have multiple images of this particular headband. I am captivated by the design!

Just gorgeous!

I couldn’t get a full view of the necklaces everyone was wearing, but they were bright colors! So pretty against their skin too.

Here is a close up.

And finally, here is a photo with the show host. But honestly, the attention really goes to the headband detail.  Just beautiful.

Because the tribe has had visitors, one of the members was wearing a T-shirt with English writing on it.  It made me wonder if future designs will incorporate some of the letters.  That would be pretty cool, but at the same time disappointing. It would be disappointing because it would symbolize that they are slowly becoming integrated with modern society and losing their pristine world. That will be sad…though I did appreciate being able to enjoy their culture.

Before I end this post, I wanted to relay that I recently watched some of Season 7 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I had to pause the show many times to take a further look at the necklaces she was wearing.  It is truly becoming an obsession.