THESE stunning pictures capture a group of indigenous tribeswomen whose colourful necklaces serve a very special purpose.
The Angolan women wear the jewellery day and night as part of an age old tribal tradition to represent their ages.
Each tribe in remote Angola has different colour schemes for their necklaces, known as vilanda, with the colours representing different stages of their life
The more necklaces they have, the more life they have lived.
Though it looks more like wool scarves the jewellery is actually made using wicker, mud and hundreds of beads.
The women also plait their hair, coating it with mix of oil, crushed tree bark, dried cow dung and herbs.
Specialist tour operator and photographer Evi Arbay was taking a group of Indonesian tourists on a tour of Namibia and Angola when she captured the photographs of the Mumuila tribe.
Ms Arbay, of Jarkarta, Indonesia, met the tribeswomen in the Huila Province of Southern Angola.
She said: "On the tours we love to meet special people wherever we go and this encounter with the Mumuila people was a special thing.
"The women we met are strong and hard working, in some places I saw them work harder than the men.
"The colours in their hair, their necklaces and the unique way they dress is how they keep their tradition alive.
"They coat their hair with a red paste, called oncula, which is made from crushed red stone and also put a mix of oil, crushed tree bark, dried cow dung and herbs on their hair.
"Mumuhuila women are also famous for their mud necklaces, which are important as for each period of their life corresponds a specific colour of necklace."
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