Bates' Adventures in Namibia

Fishing and Kayaking in Swakopmund

2009-12-11T06:12:00.000-08:00

Went fishing again while here in Swakopmund with Terrence Clark our favorite guide. Caught a number of sharks from three different species: Bronzee, Spotted Gully Shark, a muscle Shark. Caught so many cob that we’ve been eating it for the past three days. Delicious stuff. Forgot to put sun screen on our feet—this is surf fishing so of course one is on the beach with his toes exposed----and even though it was overcast most of the day, the top of Reid’s feet got so burnt they’re blistering. Annie had a blast chasing waves again and examining each catch with the eye of a scientist. I even gave it a go for a while, but didn’t have the stamina to stay with the 2.24 m, 75 kg Bronzee that was on the other end of the line.

Today we did the Kayak Tour of Walvis Bay. It was a bit disappointing because we didn’t get to see any dolphins nor whales. We did see loads of flamingos and those stinky cape fur seals again. It was a bit chilly and we had an early start of it so the girls complained about being cold. Augustus manned his kayak alone and did manage to get the hang of it by the end. Annie and I were paired and we just kind of took it slow. We did have fun paddling about in the bay and saw tons and tons of jelly fish—apparently a by-product of global warming and over fishing.

Our guide was a young fellow named François duToit. The duToit family name can be found throughout South Africa and Namibia. The first duToit to arrive back in the mid-1600’s were fleeing religious persecution as they were Huguenots (Protestants) seeking a better life outside of war ravaged Catholic France. It was a bit strange chatting with him since there are virtually no vestiges of French culture left among the family who’ve been so totally assimilated into the lifestyle of Southern Africa. We in Louisiana are rather proud of our French heritage and work hard at trying to preserve it………

Tommy's Living Desert Tours

2009-12-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

Went out into the Namib with Tommy Collard of Tommy’s Living Desert Tours. It was truly like being on NatGeo Wild or Animal Planet. Tommy drove this souped up LandRover through the dunes that end at the edge of the city of Swakopmund. He reads the “Bushman Newspaper” i.e. the faint tracks in the sand to locate all of these fascinating creatures that inhabit the seemingly desolate Namib Desert, the world’s oldest. When he spots something, he jumps out of the Rover and starts digging like a rabid dog and pulls up such interesting beasties as a Fitzsimmons Burrowing Skink, or a sand-diving Lizard or the Palmato Gecko. The Namaqua Chameleon was the most appealing of the bunch and sat in everyone’s hands very obediently. He even ate mealie worms right out of Tommy’s lips. I did get a bit frightened when Tommy fished a Peringuey’s Adder (sidewinder, yes exceedingly venemous) out of one of the desert bushes and started handling it very close to the girls. The girls were un-fazed and of course Emma volunteered to hold everything—not in the least bit squeamish. Tommy said she was one tough little girl. She sure enjoyed the “adulation.” We had a terrific time, learned loads about the Namib and flat out enjoyed going over the dunes. It’s definitely an excursion everyone who visits Swakopmund should undertake.

Cape Cross

2009-12-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

We are spending our last weeks in Namibia in Swakopmund. We thought that would be an appropriate Grand Finale to our Namibian Adventure. We arrived on Saturday to stay in our favorite beach house in Vineta. Vineta is a nice neighborhood located at the northern part of the city. On our way, Karin, the woman who keeps an eye on the place texted us to tell us, “the geyser has given up the ghost!” The geyser, by the way is the hot water tank, so when we arrived, the repair people were on their way to install a new tank, I mean geyser. I’m always tickled when I hear such expressions. Not to worry, they didn’t bother us as we made our way to the supermarket and most importantly, THE BEACH. Love being able to say we’re spending a week at the beach in the middle of December.
Swakopmund, although situated at the edge of the Namib desert is usually always cool. This is why people vacate Windhoek in droves to come here during the summer stickiness. The Benguela current is responsible for the cool westerly breeze that characterizes the area and the chilly, chilly water. The Benguela rises up from Antarctica. Frequently, the rising cool air off of the ocean colliding with the desert warmth will produce a heavy fog that shrouds everything in greyness and it was indeed one of those grey days when we arrived. Sunday also presented itself in the same manner, so we headed up the coast to Cape Cross to see the seal colony. By afternoon though, the fog had burned off and it turned out to be quite marvelous.
Cape Cross is noted as being one of the first places that Europeans ever set foot in Southern Africa. Diogo Cao, a famous Portuguese seaman, erected a cross here in honor of John I of Portugal. The cross was later “appropriated” by the Germans who recognized its historical value and now it sits in some German museum back in Europe. The cross that currently resides there is a replica. We took pictures of it anyway since we’ll probably never make it to Germany to see the real thing.
What makes Cape Cross interesting , though, is that it is home to the largest population of Cape Fur Seals in the world: 80,000-100,000 at any given time. Cape Fur Seals are actually a type of sea lion according to scientists. The way they can tell is that they have visible ears, whereas true seals do not. The females give birth in late November and early December, so we got to see the pups: thousands upon thousands of seal pups. The stench emitted by all of these clustered mammals is indescribable. The combination of ammonia smell from the excrement along with rotting carcasses of pups which have perished due to abandonment, sickness or trampling cannot be conveyed by mere words. This combined with the awful bellowing of mothers who have misplaced their pups or pups who’ve misplaced their mothers or big bulls trying to make themselves seen and heard is truly something that can only be appreciated if experienced firsthand. We managed to withstand it for about a half hour.
There is a picnic area within the reserve, but we were too grossed out to try and partake of any lunch. Additionally, we’d made the mistake of leaving our windows slightly open and Ole Bess was filled with flies—the big green, bottle flies that usually alight on feces. We drove many kilometers with the windows down to blow them out and headed for Henties Bay and the Fishy Corner, family owned restaurant which had been recommended by the Powells. We weren’t disappointed. The food was quite good. It took a bit of time though and we didn’t make it back to Swakop until mid afternoon. By this time, the fog had burned off and we had a nice walk on the beach. Tomorrow, Tommy’s Living Desert Tours!

Emma has a summer birthday!

2009-12-01T05:48:00.001-08:00

Emma got to celebrate her birthday early this year since school lets out the first week of December for the holidays and most people at WIS return to their home country for the month long holiday. Emma wanted to be able to share her birthday with her friends before they went off on holiday and we repatriated to the States. She was especially delighted that it’s summer here and she could plan a summer activity for her party. She chose a slip n’ slide kind of thingy that the kids really enjoyed. She also had a shark theme for the décor which matched perfectly with the warm weather. There was a great turn out of her friends and everyone seemed to have a good time. We, her parents, were especially thrilled that no one broke anything given that her good friend Sofia had just recently broken her cheek on a similar apparatus!
It’s off to the coast on Saturday for us where we’ll conclude the grand finale of our Namibian Adventure. We scheduled to head home on Dec. 17th!

Ole Bess declared Roadworthy

2009-11-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

Soooooo, Reid returned the next day to NaTIS, after first spending the morning at Minz Garage. Minz, by the way, found nothing out of the ordinary with Ole Bess, but cleaned her up well and wrote out a ticket indicating he had traced the leak. This satisfied the “inspectors” and Ole Bess was declared Roadworthy. Reid was issued the proper documentation and tried to hurriedly make it back to our last session of baseball at WIS. Because he was in such a hurry, he didn’t notice that the one piece of computerized documentation in this whole process was replete with errors. The woman has the thing listed as using petrol/gas when it clearly does not (she's a diesel)---- among other mistakes. Ah Africa! The photo above is of the number of official stamps of the kingdom that we had to collect. We’ll then hand all of this over to the buyer and he’ll have to go about collecting the stamps, signatures and documents that he needs and of course pay the all important fees at each step in turn.

NaTIS, by the way has its own website where one purportedly can download the correct forms and access all the info one needs to know when embarking on this grand adventure. Of course, when one clicks on the links, nothing comes up because it’s still all under construction!
http://www.ra.org.na/VehicleRegistrationAndLicensing.html

How to sell a car in Namibia in three easy steps—yeah right!

2009-11-24T23:10:00.000-08:00

Selling our vehicle has been an interesting exercise into the inner workings of African bureaucracy. Of course no part of this process is computerized and so one must advance through the steps collecting the all important “official stamp” of the kingdom without which one had better not present himself at the next level. I'd never thought I would come to view American bureaucratic systems as being efficient (at least some of them especially regarding car sales), but this experience has permanently altered my perceptions.

We knew a bit about the process prior to embarking upon this adventure from having purchased the vehicle from an individual in the first place. We knew that a police clearance of the vehicle was the first hoop through which we had to jump. We didn’t know though that the clearance in and of itself consisted of several steps very little of which is explained or indicated by signage or handout or verbal cue. We located the correct building down on Banhof and Independence, parked our vehicle and presented ourselves at several windows to determine what needed to be done. It was basically those who were waiting in line, essentially the customers, who explained the process to us. No one person of course could explain all of the details, so we put it together piecemeal from each of the individuals we encountered along the way. At PHASE ONE, we waited in the vehicle until we could pull into the parking bay. Once parked, we propped the hood like everyone else, we were told we needed to complete a form. The guy with the forms, however was nowhere to be found. Once he did show, and once the form was completed, no one even bothered to look under the hood. The papers were then submitted to some women who sat behind what looked to be end tables in the alcove of the stairwell leading up to the second floor. They stamped the registration form with great enthusiasm. They then indicated that we should wait a few days before proceeding to PHASE TWO of the process.
The following Monday, we presented ourselves at the entrance marked PHASE TWO. Here there were at least posted notices telling the clientele to first go to Office One. Of course, the woman who inhabits Office One was not present. So, we took a seat and waited and waited. Several customers asked if someone would be coming to assist us and were told, “She is coming just now.” Finally, a woman arrived with a liter bottle of a name brand soft drink in tow and entered the office. Reid went in armed with copies of the registration, copies of his passport, his international driver’s license, etc. Our little stack of paperwork had become quite thick. She matched up the names and numbers with the documents, wrote a few things into a notebook and stamped, stamped, stamped.

It was on to Office Two which fortunately was adjacent. Several women inhabited this office and gave us essentially the evil eye when we arrived with our stack of documents. There was not one single object of technology in sight. They too were recording everything by hand in their little notebooks filled with forms and carbon paper. We received a couple of stamps from Dame #1 and a few more stamps from Dame#2 after paying the appropriate fee. When they deduced we were foreigners from the “duh” nature of all of questions, they did drop their air of being put upon and projected a somewhat more friendly attitude, but only somewhat and we ascertained that we needed to go up to the NaTiS (Roads Authority) Bureau in a different section of town to complete the Road Worthiness portion of the process.

Armed with all of our documentation replete with the appropriate stamps, we headed for NaTiS in the Northern Industrial sector of Windhoek. NaTiS is billed as your one-stop transit authority where you can meet all of your transit needs. We now needed to complete the Roadworthiness test to make sure the vehicle is fit for the road. We arrived about 8:10 in the morning, but that was actually a bit late. We should have gotten in line in the wee hours, sort of like waiting for rock concert tickets to go on sale, so that we’d have been up there in the queue. As it was, we were clueless as to which queue we needed to line up in. The guides directing us spoke little to no English, they grabbed one of the clients who translated. We were in the wrong queue. Additionally, another form needed to be procured and completed. We headed for the right queue behind a retaining wall. To our surprise, the wall was hiding a mass of cars equivalent to a 50 meter section of Los Angeles freeway traffic during the rush hour standstill. It was already 35 degrees Celsius and no cars were advancing.

Reid went to retrieve the correct form. He returned to our car to fill it out and then headed back to the “office” to pay the fee. He returned yet again, but without the form, just the receipt for payment. Everyone around us though seemed to have the form in hand. What to do? Absolutely no signage even hinting at the process. A couple of guys wearing uniform shirts with the logo of some local car dealerships stood ahead of us in line, surely they’d know what to do. Indeed, one kind young gentleman named Vernon took us in hand and ran our document down for us. He then proceeded to explain the process in intricate detail. It appears he does this everyday for a living for the car dealership where he works. Bless him! He even filled out some of the missing info on the form for us.

The inspection process, and that’s all the Road Worthiness test essentially is, took place in three steps. After several hours of waiting and advancing in tiny increments, we finally encountered the first “inspector” who checked out that the signals, lights, wheels, engine and doors were in order. This took maybe 45 seconds in total. The freeway of cars then narrowed down to one lane so that they could straddle the pit and have the undercarriage looked at, step two. It was a mad jostling to position the cars (if cars can jostle each other) in the one queue. Once the cars had been run through the pit, they were parked in the area to await someone to drive them round to their waiting owners at the gate, hence the completion of step three. Just as we approached the pit, we were stopped to wait for the inspectors to clear out the waiting cars. That took another 45 minutes or so as the hot, hot Namibian sun climbed higher in the sky.

When we did get our car over the pit, the inspector indicated that we had a bit of an oil leak that needed repair. We then had to park the car and wait yet again until the lot was cleared. The young lady who drove our car around tore off the bottom of the form and handed it back to us so that when we returned, they’d be able to locate the original form to which the stub had been attached and we’d not have to go through the entire process again. She put the form in a drawer of one of those plastic stacker organizers. Nothing was entered into a computer, so we hope that they will still have the documentation when we return. We won’t be holding our breath on that one.

Soooooooooo, Reid’s going to the mechanic today who will hopefully be able to correct the leak in a timely enough fashion for Reid to report back to NaTiS to complete the retest. Retests are only performed from 8-9 a.m. and 1-2 p.m. Ahhh Africa!

We’re trying to maintain a sense of humor about all of this, but sometimes it’s just not funny. My neighbor who is of Afrikaaner origin says one day, she’s going to get tired of laughing and have to move out of Africa. It’s really a good thing we got started early in this endeavor because it’s taking weeks and weeks just to make a simple car sale! When we bought it, it took weeks and weeks so we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it does make me wonder about the people who really have to live here and try to function with that type of bureaucracy for things that should be so simple. I don’t even want to imagine what one has to do to buy a house around here! Well at the current 11.75% interest rate, most people don’t have to worry about that one…….

Visiting the Newspaper

2009-11-24T22:58:00.000-08:00

Went to visit the newspaper printing plant. Our neighbor, Esther, who is an events photographer has lots of connections in the paper business. One of the reporters for the daily newspapers, The Republikien, took us around the plant and explained the process from gathering and collecting information and writing the articles to the actual printing. There are many newspapers in Windhoek, published in various languages: Afrikaans, German and English. Each caters to its particular language speaking clientele. However, most are published at the same plant we visited. This is quite refreshing given that in the States most local papers are being gobbled up by the likes of the USA Today crowd. Because so many papers are published at this one plant, the place never shuts down—it’s 24 hours of non-stop printing.
Ruan (the political reporter for the Republikien and Esther’s friend) showed us the presses, the prep area, the ad department, the writer’s pit, and the archives. It’s a full color operation and the newspapers produced are quite sophisticated in their layout, color and design. We also got to see the storage area where the huge rolls of paper are kept. It was a most interesting tour and worked out well with the unit of inquiry for Annie’s class—Get A Job. Who knows as much as Annie likes to peruse the paper, maybe she’ll be the next Nellie Bly.

Thanks LSU's Coach Mainieri

2009-11-15T05:52:00.000-08:00

One of the former Fulbrighters to Namibia, Steve Grey, had the idea to start a baseball team during his stint here. Steve’s kids also attended Windhoek International and so naturally that is where he chose to base the team. He went through considerable effort to get equipment shipped over here since Cricket and not Baseball is what is practiced in these here parts. He was in contact with a little league team back home in his native Michigan. They sent uniforms, balls, bats and gloves among other things. When his tour was up he needed someone to whom he could hand over the reins. Naturally this then fell to Reid and his Fulbright colleague, Larkin Powell.

“The team” is an extension of WIS’s after school activities program, so it consists of just about anybody and his brother from year 4 on up. There’s also a number of boys who participate from a nearby orphanage associated with the school, Orlindi. Kelly usually runs over there and fetches the boys, typically about 6 or 7 in number, who then pile up in the back of the Polytechnic’s Toyota Corolla. They pile back in after practice to return.

The practice field may see 20 to 25 kids at any given time. The numbers vary depending on what else is going on that day. There hasn’t been a day when someone new hasn’t shown up and asked to play. Play, for us, has been the main objective of this all so international of exercises. We’ve tried to give the kids some basic skills and a general background concerning the rules, but we’ve also just approached this with the idea that it should be fun. Given that we’ve got kids from Israel, the US, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Namibia (just to name a few places) and from all income levels—the sons and daughters of ambassadors to orphans—it’s been an amazing lesson in the power of sport to unite all participants in a common sense of purpose and in the spirit of having a little fun together no matter how diverse their backgrounds might be.

We, of course, immediately thought about a role for LSU’s Baseball Program, National Collegiate Champs, in all of this. Reid wrote to Coach Mainieri and requested any kind of leftovers from the camps LSU runs for aspiring young athletes. Coach Mainieri’s reply was prompt and he put his assistant, Will Davis, right on it. Will had a bunch of t-shirts and caps all emblazoned with the LSU logo sent over FedEX for our rag-tag group of budding baseball aficionados. We held somewhat of a lottery among the kids in order to distribute them since there were an unequal number of shirts vs. caps. My brother also sent over a couple dozen baseballs and it felt like Mardi Gras handing these out. I was completely mobbed by the little munchkins. Although the shirts tended to run to the extra-large sizes, the kids were tickled pink with their acquisitions. They were especially pleased after Reid explained to them just who the LSU Tigers were and what kind of a baseball legacy they have. Who knows, maybe one of these days one of these kids will end up in Louisiana batting for the Tigers. There are a few of them that can really whack the ball.

Unfortunately, we’ve yet to find someone to whom we can now hand the reins and time is running short on us. We’ve harassed everyone we know, but we’re not yet ready to give up on it!

Namibian National Elections

2009-11-04T02:45:00.001-08:00

The Namibian Parliamentary and Presidential Elections are scheduled for Nov. 27 & 28th. The ruling Party, SWAPO (Southwest Africa People’s Organization) which worked and fought to gain Namibian independence back in the 80’s & 90’s is predicted to win without too much of a show from the opposition. Although there’s been a few incidents of some wild talk, most of which has been directed at the former colonizers, Britain and Germany, there hasn’t been any violence per se accompanying these speeches. In fact, we’ve heard so little in regard to campaign speech as compared to American elections, where the presidential candidates begin advertising two years in advance, that we’ve hardly noticed there’s an election on. This week however, Reid and I have begun to get a little antsy in regard to what might accompany the voting when we read the pictured advertisement hawking riot insurance! This is Africa after all and no one ever really can predict what’s going to happen come election time. All one has to do is look at Kenya or Zimbabwe for examples of things gone wrong. I guess that’s the fear this particular insurance company is trying to capitalize on. We'll keep everyone posted on the progress of the elections.

Halloween in Namibia

2009-11-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

Although Namibia’s population has a large component of British heritage, Halloween is not a widely celebrated custom here. There weren’t a whole lot of costumes available for purchase in the stores and most businesses are already focused on Christmas and their displays and product lines reflect this accordingly. The kids’ school, WIS, did allow the students to dress in costume on the Friday before and did hold an afterschool activity in the spirit of the tradition.

One of the mothers, incidentally of Brazilian origin but who has spent time in the States, organized a ‘Trick or Treat’ event in her “neighborhood” on the Friday evening and invited the kids from school as well as the neighborhood to participate. It must be noted that neighborhoods here don’t exist in the same way as they do in the States. In much of the city of Windhoek, houses are surrounded by high walls topped with electric or concertina wire. Every house is equipped with an electric gate. This makes it a bit difficult for people to get to know each other and house to house Trick or Treating virtually impossible. Eloisa’s neighborhood on the other hand is attached to the Country Club and is gated, so there are fewer walls and bars and the kids were able to walk down the street and knock on neighbors’ doors. Fewer bars do not equate to no bars and a couple of residents did hand out sweets between those that surround their porches it must be said (see photo above).

Despite the fact that Eloisa had sent out a notice, many of the residents weren’t exactly sure what to do when the gang of disguised munchkins appeared at their doorstep. One fellow was apparently caught unawares and so he invited the entire group into his house, opened his fridge and allowed them to take a soda of their choosing. By the time the last kid reached the fridge, he was down to one can of Tab (some of us are old enough to remember the first diet soda that’s still marketed here). I’m sure his wife wasn’t real happy with him when she got back from work! At another house, when the lady ran out of treats, she began distributing packages of yogurt.

All in all, a fun time was had by kids and adults alike. The kids especially enjoyed stuffing their mouths with treats and running from house to house with complete abandon. It was a bit strange though engaging in Halloween fun in the middle of Summer. I came home sporting a sun burn and guzzled down at least a liter of water to try and quench my thirst after running to keep up with Annie who was literally crazed from the unaccustomed sugar rush.

The following day, the Embassy community also engaged in its own version of Halloween. No one distributed soda, but we did have to jump in our cars and drive around town to the various embassy houses that were distributing treats. It did put an interesting twist on the custom as a convoy of American vehicles snaked its way from house to house and the masked kids jumped out to collect their treats.

I’m not sure that the custom of Halloween has a future in this country—it demands too much trust among residents and requires people to open their gates and let strangers in, strangers in search of free treats nonetheless! Perhaps if they did do so every now and again, they could finally rid themselves of the architecture of apartheid that continues to characterize this place. What a concept!

Camping at Hochland Nest

2009-10-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Went camping this weekend with another American family from the embassy community. They also have three kids roughly the same age as our own. So, six kids out in the African bush....wow! We camped at a place called Hochland Nest. It’s got a lodge, but its camp site is located a bit of a ways away from the lodge on a lake called Friedenhau Dam. The lakes and rivers typically dry up outside of the rainy season, so the water authority, NamWater, will dam up the rivers and create lakes so that there’s some standing water in the dry season. Some of the lakes serve as a water supply to different communities and/or also have a recreational function. This particular place apparently attracts fishermen from neighboring Windhoek. They host bass tournaments and so the camp sites are well frequented by the locals.

We weren’t sure what we were getting into. The website info on these places tends to be sparse and talking to people on the phone is an experience in and of itself—they’ve got an accent, we’ve got an accent, there’s an echo, yada, yada, yada—so communication is often sketchy at best. We did know beforehand that there wouldn’t be water at the pitching site itself. We knew there were ablution facilities (toilet & shower, such a medieval term), so our family had assumed that there would be drinking water available somewhere on the premises. Wrong! The water used in the showers was pumped up directly from the lake. Not sure whether or not it was then treated in some manner, but from the looks of it when we filled up our supply bottles, not likely. Never, never, make assumptions in Africa. Things turned out all right nevertheless and no one went thirsty since I had frozen a couple dozen juice boxes to use in the cooler in lieu of ice and the kids drank so much of that, that they were actually begging for water by the trip’s end.

The kids fished (didn’t actually land any though), played badminton, swam (until they discovered the leeches) and generally cavorted to their hearts’ content. The adults worked like dogs on the other hand getting tents and meals prepared. We took the first night’s shift on dinner and braaiied lamb chops, steak and sausage over a barrel that didn’t have a grill. Luckily we had brought our little grill, but had the devil of a time getting it so that it actually supported the meat over the fire in the barrel and didn’t collapse right into it. My friend Stephanie experimented the second night and made a ‘potjie’ which in Afrikaans means pioneer’s stew. We used hartebeest and other game meat just like they would have in the olden days. It turned out pretty good even though Steph had forgotten the red wine. We substituted Savanah Light Hard Apple Cider, so it gave the stew a rather unique flavor that we all enjoyed.

We didn’t see a whole lot of wildlife on this trip with the exception of baboons. We noticed their scat all around the campsite and I could have sworn that I heard them digging through the garbage one night. We saw a fine specimen on our way out of the campsite as he was foraging for breakfast. Baboons can be very aggressive, so being prepared for an encounter with one is the best advice. Just an added note, it was Emma's weekend to bring home the class pet, Jerry (a dwarf hamster). So, Jerry came along on the camping trip with us and spent the night in the tent. It's probably the biggest adventure he's ever been on! He did make it back to school in one piece. Thank goodness!

This will probably be our last camping outing here in Namibia and we sure enjoyed being out in the wilds of the African bush.

Photos: Kids from the two families in the splash pool at Hochland Nest Lodge. Jerry, the class pet, on his wild African Adventure.

Louisiana Makes The Namibian

2009-10-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

The Namibian, Namibia’s foremost English language daily is one of many published here, however, it’s one of the most provocative and thought provoking in our opinion. In the run up to the presidential election in November, it and its editor, Gwen Lister, have been the subject of much controversy. It seems to invite the ire especially of the ruling party, SWAPO because the paper has a tell-it-like-it-is stance that seems to bother the powers that be. This is particularly sad given the fact that the editor worked tirelessly in the run up to independence in the 70’s and 80’s to help point out the injustices of the apartheid system. It is in large part due to her efforts that the ruling party is now the ruling party. It seems that lately though, many in the party leadership have conveniently forgotten this fact.
On the other hand, there are often some really strange things that make the publication cut. The following story entitled “Naked burglar breaks into home, cooks and showers” appeared in the Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 issue of the paper. Interestingly enough, the naked burglar performed his mischief in a house in SLIDELL, LOUISIANA. It’s thought that the naked man was possibly drunk or on drugs. Police Chief Freddy Drennan is appealing to the public to help identify the man and photos captured on surveillance video of his escapades have been published in the Times-Picayune according to the article. Once again, Louisiana makes the news for the wrong reasons and this time it’s not just the national news; it’s the INTERNATIONAL news!

More Photos of WABI & Waterberg Plateau

2009-10-06T08:01:00.000-07:00

Photos: Baboon imitating art? Le Penseur en nature? This guy is sitting atop a skyscraper of a termite mound.

The family hiking in Waterburg Resort

Kids hiking with our guide Morné at WABI (who is living the dream of being a tour guide in the bush)

Female nyala just below the porch railing of our chalet.

Waterberg Plateau Visit

2009-10-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

Just returned from visiting the Waterburg Plateau. The Plateau is located 150 km or so north of Windhoek. It is a most strange geologic formation that resembles many of the mesas of the Arizona/New Mexico region. It began to form over 300 million years ago and is an interesting mixture of sedimentary rock that has also seen volcanic activity. The sheer rocky face of the Plateau contains every shade of orange and brown and is dotted with psychedelic lichens of neon yellow, green or even blue. We hiked all the way to the top on one of the days of our visit. Annie did the best job, especially since we were moving almost vertically towards the top of this thing. I think her lower center of gravity helped her maintain her balance better than the older members of our family. The view was spectacular from the top.
We were pretty pooped when we descended the trail, but we still had a little left in us to visit the German cemetery on the grounds. Waterburg is the site where the Germans and the Herrero people clashed during the height of German colonization of the area. The Herrero, needless to say, lost. And the infamous ‘annihilation order’ was subsequently issued. It was rescinded sometime later by the Kaiser himself, but not before the death of many an indigenous man, woman or child. Most of the Germans buried there, however, did not die as a result of battle. They died mostly from disease or from the lack of appropriate medical attention after the battle.
In more modern times, the place has recently been turned into a resort complete with “chalets”, a restaurant and a humungous pool (which of course Annie fell into with all of her clothes on). There’s also camping for the more modest budget. Game drives are offered as well and guided hikes. Since we were staying up the road a bit which offered its own game drives, we just availed ourselves of the well marked hiking paths. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to spot the black rhino that inhabits the top of the plateau.
The lodge we stayed in was called WABI and it is a most interesting place indeed. Its décor is a bit of a throwback to the early eighties. It's also filled with hunting trophies from its earlier days when it was a hunting lodge. Its owner, Christine, is the ultimate hostess. She is the type of person that seems to anticipate one’s needs before one can even verbalize them. Our kids ate up her three course dinners with gusto, which is saying quite a lot. Because WABI is located so far in the bush, much of what is needed for the lodge is produced on site. There are ducks and chickens whose eggs are eaten at breakfast. So the experience was also much like being on the farm. The meat course is usually of some sort of game variety so we were offered kudu steaks, kudu stroganoff and springbok in a nutmeg sauce. Yum!
There were other animals just for the viewing—giraffes, sable, oryx, white rhinos, hippos, wildebeest, kudu, lechwe and black-faced impala—just to name a few. The lechwe are bred there for live sale to other lodges. It is normally an animal that inhabits Northern Namibia in the Okavango Region. Additionally, there was a flock of magnificent peafowl; the alpha peacock of the bunch being the most beautiful and well kept we’ve ever seen. They tended to roost on our doorstep, the roof, the exterior window sills or just about anywhere they darn well please. A small herd of nyala roamed free among the ‘chalets’ and the kids were able to get some really up-close and personal shots of them. Lastly, a pair of injured and / or elderly cheetahs were kept in a huge enclosure where they could be fed and kept safe from predators. On our last morning there, Christine took a group of tourists into the enclosure and one of the cheetahs began to express his discontent over the situation and it looked like it might be curtains for the tourists, but one of the bigger women in the group averted disaster by shooing him away like one would a troublesome dog. Emma said her knees were shaking after witnessing that little scene. What an interesting departing gift!

More on Driving in Namibia

2009-09-16T01:59:00.000-07:00

Well, you all know how I feel about driving here since it was the topic of one of my first blog entries. It’s not just the fact that driving is done on the “wrong” side here that makes it difficult to adjust to; it’s all the various and sundry other crazy things that occur as well that contribute to my being a nervous wreck behind the wheel.
First anything goes here. Like the photo above demonstrates, four-wheelers are allowed to be driven on city streets. As you can see from the picture, they’re even licensed! We’ve seen dune buggies, three-wheelers, elderly chair scooters, etc. If it’s got wheels and a motor, we’ve probably seen it on the streets of Windhoek.
Additionally, there seems to be a high tolerance for risk taking behavior here. Safety appears to be a non-issue for Namibians. Parents think nothing of driving with kids in their lap, in the front seat unrestrained or packed to the gills in an open-bed bakkie (pick-up truck). I cringe every time I come up behind one of these vehicles because I can envision a kid falling out right in front of my on-coming vehicle and me running over him/her with my kids in the car.
Taxi drivers are the absolute worst, however. They will make two lanes where there was only one originally. They’ll turn right in front of you even if you’ve got the right of way. They typically jump the light before it turns green and run the red ones. They’ll pass you in town, in neighborhoods or any time they feel like it even if the road signs indicate against such. An acquaintance from school is currently driving around with a huge dent in her driver’s side door where she “was kissed” by a taxi! Because there are zillions of taxis, they can't be avoided either.
Perhaps it’s the German influence, but excessive speed is a major factor in road accidents here in Namibia, so many of which end in a fatality. Drivers treat these little two lane shoulder-less roads as if it were the Autobahn. Posted speed for the “highway” is 120 km. That’s 75 miles per hour on a road that’s not even close to being in interstate condition. Mind you, that’s the posted speed; people are typically flying by us and so we figure they’re up to 150 or 160 Km. Encountering a wart hog or an oryx at that speed would spell sheer disaster, but it’s as if most drivers don’t even give it a second thought.
She may be slow and lumbering, but she’s built solid like a rock. With her bull bar in the front, Ole Bess can out intimidate most other vehicles, so we’re hoping that we can stay safe and sound for the remainder of our 3 month stay here in Namibia. We’ll be sad to part with her when the time comes. She’s been such a good girl.

Gus Wins Silver at the 27th Annual Namibian National Science Fair

2009-09-11T03:15:00.000-07:00

Held September 8-10, 2009, Gus’s Birds in My Backyard project earned a score that qualified him for the silver medal in the category of Biology. Hundreds of kids from around the country descended on the exam basement of the Polytechnic, Namibia’s premier university for the three day event. WIS had only two entries to advance to this high level, Augustus’ and his classmate Sharifa’s. The competition was pretty stiff especially from St. Paul’s and St. George’s, well noted for their strong programs in both academics and athletics (somewhat like Catholic of Baton Rouge and Episcopal), but his research held its own in the end. Incidentally, Sharifa also received a silver (they are pictured together above). Both may qualify to attend the next level in South Africa—we’ll keep everyone posted. We, his parents, are extremely proud of him, needless to say!

The “Eisheiligen”—Being Cold in Africa

2009-09-09T02:00:00.000-07:00

When Reid was finally awarded the Fulbright and we had to make decisions about what to bring with us to Namibia, we did a bit of research into the climate. We knew that Namibia, being a desert country, was prone to some pretty low temps especially at nighttime. The statistics indicated that during the Winter (June-August here) nighttime temps typically fell around the freezing mark (0 degrees Celsius). Daytime temps however were quite mild according to the literature—hovering in the upper teens and low twenties Celsius (50’s & 60’s F). We thus packed a few sweaters and light jackets. We did not even consider heavy duty pjs or coats. What with Reid being the packing Nazi that he was, we were lucky to make it here with enough underwear in tow. Upon arrival in December, mid-summer, we were glad we had brought our Louisiana cottons and clothing of other light weight fabrics. With the approach of winter, many of our Namibian acquaintances kept telling us to brace ourselves. We tended to down play it, after all being from the Northern Hemisphere and Reid a native Iowan to boot, it would take snow and ice to scare us, a most unusual sight in Namibia to say the least. Little did we understand, however, the ways of Namibian construction. Most of the houses here are built with the heat in mind. Walls are made of thick brick that are designed to keep the interior cool. The exterior is usually painted a light color so as to reflect the sunlight. Windows are just basically panes of glass and don’t do much to resist either the cold or heat. Insulation as we know it is virtually non-existent here. The term furnace as a household item does not exist in the Namibian vocabulary. So when the Namibians experience freezing temperatures; it is not only freezing outside, it’s literally freezing inside as well! Literally!

To try and keep warm during this time, we’d turn the oven on and open the door to let the heat warm the living space of our tiny flat. We baked a good bit (needless to say, I’ve put on a few pounds as a result) but we finally had to succumb and purchase blankets and an electric space heater even though we’ve been trying hard not to spend money on things that we’ll just be leaving behind in a few months time. Finally the first of September drew nigh and we thought we were home free, this date being the first day of Spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

As if by magic, plants and trees that looked utterly spent have begun to sprout leaves and the most exquisite and exotic blossoms. We’ve had to really rethink our understanding of the workings of the natural world during this time. For us in the Northern Hemisphere who understand that April showers bring May flowers, we are taken aback with the complete lack of rain prior to the onslaught of Spring. It hasn’t rained in months and won’t do so we’re told until November and yet trees have begun to green up and the flowers are popping out everywhere. Nights had begun to get warmer too. We had even broken a sweat at the first session of baseball practice we’d conducted at WIS. But lo and behold today we are experiencing what older Namibians refer to as the Eisheiligen. I’m not sure the origin of the word, whether German or Africaaner, but it roughly translates as the Ice Saints. Suddenly, the wind has begun to blow up from the South (yes, it’s the South wind that brings the cold here) and we’ve had to break out the sweaters again. I’m on my third warm beverage this morning and I can’t feel my toes in my shoes at the moment. We’ve got baseball practice again this afternoon and I hope the wind mellows before we get out on the field to toss the ball around. The Eisheiligen, we’re told won’t last long and the lovely spring weather should return shortly but a true Louisianian, I like my weather warm!

Please take note, with the Spring came the return to Daylight Saving Time here, so we are now 7 hours ahead of Central Time/ Louisiana & Iowa time. That is until you guys go back to standard time in October when the differential will again change!

Photo above: Annie celebrates her 6th birthday on a lovely Namibian Spring Day. We'd have been sweltering back in Louisiana.

Gus Goes to the Namibian National Science Fair

2009-09-07T09:14:00.001-07:00

The National Science Fair of Namibia begins tomorrow, September 8, and Gus will be there. His bird project has taken him far and he’ll present his findings to the judges on Wednesday. Being held once again in the exam basement at the Polytechnique, Augustus is beginning to feel like an old pro at this business. What a wonderful experience for him as students from around the country will be there mingling and sharing their findings as well as their culture. We wish him the best of luck!
The pictures above are of the Long-Tailed Paradise-Whydah and the Southern Red Bishop.

Hippo Talk

2009-08-30T23:50:00.000-07:00

Ndhovu Lodge, Rundu, Otjiwarongo & Ole Bess

2009-08-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

While at Ndhovu we went on two game drives, one with Horst in the Bwabwata National Park, the other on our own in the Mahango Game Park. We saw a wide variety of wildlife in both: hippos, crocodiles, kudu, roan and sable antelope, water monitor, vervet monkeys, elephants, water buffalo galore and even a python. Although not in evidence in the same numbers as in Etosha, we did feel like we had seen more types of birds and animals than in our previous experience. In Mahango, we even had an elephant just about charge into us as he was wanting to cross over to the other side of the road just at the spot we had stopped the vehicle. We managed to get Ole Bess cranked up and out of his way just in the nick of time. The kids found that to be very exciting and Augustus was able to get a number up close and personal shots of him as he nearly grazed the Rover. He didn’t appear too angry though, so Reid was thinking that maybe we could have waited him out another click or two….I for one am glad that we made our escape when we did. Saw huge Baobab trees along the drive and were treated to dancing and singing by the lodge staff at Ndhovu after dinner that evening. Speaking of Ole Bess, well what kind of adventure would it be without some sort of input on her part? After our game drive in Mahango, Reid noticed that the steering was getting a bit tight. He got under her and discovered that the power steering line was leaking rather badly. Reid made mention of our circumstances to one of the staff, who in turn radioed Horst, in town to pick up provisions, who picked up some power steering fluid for the old girl. What was to be done about the leak, however? Horst indicated that we could get the line repaired in Divundu. Divundu, readers, is about the size of Morganza and then again I might be exaggerating. Next door to the Engen combined petrol station and supermarket is the 435 Garage. This place looks more like a car graveyard than a repair shop. It consists basically of a shack with a few tables containing tools with derelict cars and car parts strewn willy-nilly about the yard. Reid stood around for about 5 minutes before anyone appeared. When the guys did so, they were fairly efficient but had to send the line off to someone else to have it brazed---ah, the weak link in the repair process. Needless to say, the repair did not remain repaired for very long and we found ourselves in the same circumstances of having a leaking power steering line when we arrived in Rundu some hours later after picnicking briefly at Poppa Falls. Rundu, a hodge podge sort of town with its people spilling out into its streets everywhere hasn’t got a whole lot to offer to its tourists, but we did find a competent mechanic there who got Ole Bess back in her running shoes. Rundu sits on the South side of the Kavango River across from Angola. We took a boat ride with the lodge where we were staying and got a good deal of insight into the everyday life of the people on the Angola side. There were loads of fishing boats made from what looked to be dug out tree trunks, some being used to ferry passengers to Namibia, others for their intended purpose. Since it was nearly sundown, many of the villagers were bathing, brushing teeth and washing clothes in the shallows and on the river bank--the children splashing happily, oblivious to their poverty. The Kavango is also the source of their drinking water so it’s a good thing that it flows rather rapidly at this point given the heavy usage it gets by the local inhabitants. Rundu offered a glimpse to our kids of the Africa with which Reid and I had been acquainted through our Peace Corps experience. It’s a place that has largely escaped the influences that Windhoek and environs were subjected to and as a result retains its “disorganized” qualities that lend a certain charm to the town. Stopped in Tsumeb on the next leg of our journey. Tsumeb is a pretty little old mining town that is well kept and one can still find lots of interesting stones and minerals in the vicinity. Of course, Augustus obtained several new acquisitions to his rock collection. Visited the museum there and had lunch at a “biergarten.” Stayed the night in Otjiwarongo and toured the Crocodile Farm in the morning. Would have had lunch there, where what else but crocodile is featured heavily on the menu, but Annie got sick so we headed back to Windhoek. Were glad to get back to our temporary home sweet home and a functioning washing machine after so many days on the road!

Sleeping with the Hippos

2009-08-26T05:15:00.000-07:00

After our interlude at Roy's, we headed up to the Caprivi Strip, a little narrow thumb-like projection on the Northeastern corner of Namibia that touches Angola, Zambia and Botswana. The area is noted for its diversity of wildlife, open-flowing rivers and angling appeal. Our fellow Fulbrighter family, the Powells, had recently been through the area on their way to Victoria Falls and had stayed at a very cool lodge called Ndhovu where the guests are housed in Lobatse military style tents with a detached bath. The tents aren’t in the least bit Spartan, however. They are well appointed with embroidered linens, thick wool floor rugs and sparkling white mosquito netting. We seized the opportunity and capitalized on the Powell’s tip and scheduled 4 days and 3 nights there. We weren’t disappointed.
The main attraction of the lodge is that it sits right on the banks of the Okavango River. There just so happens to be a grassy island right in front of the lodge where a herd of hippos hang out for out 7 months of the year. Our tent was located just opposite the island and we were able to almost literally sleep with the 15 or so hippos that make it their home. Most were mothers with nursing calves. What a treat! The great part is that they’re nocturnal and so as we drifted off to sleep each night, we could hear them milling about in the river and on the bank right in front of our tent. They’ve got the strangest call that resembles the laugh of Jabba the Hut on StarWars.
Additionally, the owner of the lodge, Horst Koch, is very hands-on. He sits and has meals with the guests, takes them out on game drives and will even fetch supplies for one’s broken-down vehicle when necessary. (More about the Adventures of Ole Bess later). Horst is a wealth of knowledge and information and just a downright nice fella. He still owns a farm near Windhoek, but his heart is with the lodge in Divundu and that’s where he spends most of his time. His children live in different places around the world, so he’s got some work to do to get them to come back and take over the farm and free himself up entirely for life in the “unorganized sector” of Namibia.
Indeed, this area of Namibia is vastly different from the Central and Southern districts. The population is much denser up here. Many still live in traditional homesteads that can easily be seen from the road. Non-existent are the huge 20,000 hectare farms like in the South and life appears to be much more hard scrabble for people who engage in subsistence farming. The people must battle malaria here as well. No easy task when there is little money for prophylactic medication. Things aren’t as clean here as in the Windhoek area either and there is often trash on the roadsides especially near the larger towns. It is nonetheless a most interesting place to visit and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

Bushmen Village

2009-08-26T03:23:00.000-07:00

The following day we drove about 65 km to an historic living village of the /Xoa-o Ju/Hoansi gaon, a branch of the San people whom we typically refer to as the Bushmen. Most live in very dire circumstances since many of their traditional activities have been severely restricted. Although they have given up their traditional housing, they've replaced it with tin shacks and basic construction that isn't much of a step up. To try and support the village, they have turned to putting on demonstrations for tourist groups. They will even walk one out into the bush and show how they track and hunt animals. We didn't think our little ones would be able to keep up with such a demanding pace, so we elected their crafts program wherein some of the tribespeople showed how they make jewelry, bows, arrows and fire. Most of them spoke their native tongue; complete with all of the clicking sounds just like in the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy and very little English. So, one of the younger members of the tribe did the translating. He's pictured with Augustus above. Not much bigger than Augustus, he indicated that he was 19 years old. They were all attired in their traditional clothing which is to say very little clothing at all--loincloths, and the women wore something similar looking in the front but with a much longer back piece to cover the nether parts. Many of the women had their babies tied to their backs while they used natural materials to create all sorts of marvelous jewelry confections of seeds, ostrich egg shells, and wooden beads. They did so with the most primitive of hand tools. One man made a bow, set of arrows and quiver in the time we observed him. He used giraffe bone to make the arrows as well as some more modern iron tips. Making fire seemed to be a fine art. The translator, Elias, didn't appear to be as skilled as the older man and seemed to endure some good-natured ribbing from the ladies as a result. Augustus gave it a try and remarked on how difficult it was to keep up the speed on the rubbing stick.

When the older Bushman finished creating his hunting weapons, he showed us how game is tracked in the bush. He had a target set up and shot three arrows. He narrowly missed it each time. When we gave it a try, we realized how difficult it was to secure one's dinner. All of us with the exception of Annie gave it a try and we'd have all gone hungry that day had we to rely on our own prowess because most of us didn't even come close.

The tribe had a "craft shop" set up under the trees, somewhat of a roofless, wall-less, stick kraal with the crafts the tribespeople make hanging from sticks embedded in the earth. Emma bought a quiver and bow that included giraffe bone tipped arrows and the fire starter equipment. Augustus bought a bush knife. Annie's quiver was miniature size that she intends to hunt rats with. I got a multi-strand necklace made out of some sort of indigenous seeds. Our interpreter wrote everything down in his class notebook and calculted the total purchase prices on a scrap of paper while the little ones looked on from a neighboring tree.

It was a wonderful experience to see firsthand how the Bushmen have lived and existed for millennia. It was also somewhat sad to view a culture in the midst of disappearing. Because the San/ Bushmen are a nomadic people, their very way of life has been inalterably changed by virtue of the government confining them to a limited territory where they can no longer hunt the type of animals they were long accustomed to. It would be interesting to return in 20 or 30 years to see what has become of them and how they manage to adapt in this ever changing world of the 21st century.

Roy's Camp

2009-08-26T03:01:00.001-07:00

Began our big tour of the North of Namibia yesterday, 15 August. Ended the day at Roy's Camp, a funky little lodge/campground between Grootfontein and Rundu. The place is decorated with an eclectic collection of junk including such things as a huge wind chime/mobile made of among other things, a whitened giraffe skull. The remains of a 1930's Ford greet the guests upon arrival at the reception. The pool water is circulated through an old claw foot bathtub. We were housed in a two stroy A-frame thatched cottage called Lappa in Namibia. The staircase, made of rough hewn trunks of old trees sits at the exterior leading up to a small exterior veranda where the kids gladly made themselves at home. Since our bedroom was on the first floor and theirs was only accessible via the exterior stairs, they felt like they had their own private tree house club. We partook of the lodge's dinner and were quite surprised by its tastiness. The cook had prepared a very interesting combination of items--kudu steak, chichen wings, macaroni and a variety of salads. The kids actually ate everything on their plates and remarked that it was good. That in and of itself is a remarkable thing.

IWAN visits the Child Development Foundation

2009-08-14T03:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Kelly Powell (the other Fulbrighter's wife) and I joined a women's group several months ago. The group, IWAN (International Women's Association of Namibia), consists of women from around the world. Their objective is to do good works as well as socialize (of course).

We meet every Tuesday morning for what's termed our "coffee morning". Most of the time, we meet at a member's house to discuss all of the group's on-going projects and have a chance to interact in a comfortable setting. Sometimes, however, we make visits out in the community. This past Tuesday, we went out to the Child Development Foundation near Goreangab Dam on the outskirts of Windhoek. The Foundation is affiliated with one of the town's Christian schools, All Nations School. They are a mission school that provides care and schooling for orphans and vulnerable children. It is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit organization. It was established in 2003 to help improve the quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children by feeding, educating and caring for those in need. They service over 65 children. They are regularly audited and have impressed the ladies of our executive committee with their good management skills.

Part of our visit included awarding the center's director, Ms. Ansie Maré, with a grant for the purchase of playground equipment. (See above photo.) IWAN has already ordered the items which will arrive at the end of the month, but we wanted to surprise the director and boy did we! She was nearly in tears, overwhelmed by the magnanimity of the gift. Additionally, we brought over a box of toiletries for use among the kids: toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap. She nearly cried over this as well.

Ansie told us about a program that she is launching entitled, "Adopt an Orphan". You don't get to keep the child, but you do get to assume his monthly financial obligation to help relieve the financial stress on the center. Remember the center feeds each child two meals a day, helps to provide clothing, educates the children and provides transport to and from the child's home. Ansie will update you on the child's development throughout the year should you choose to participate. She can be reached at the following e-mail address: child@iway.na. I can also provide you with the center's banking details if you would just like to donate to its cause; just e-mail me.

Unfortunately, the center doesn't as of yet have a web presence. Kelly and I are going to try to help Ansie at least create a blog so that she can chronicle the center's progress at no cost. That's really funny that here in Namibia, I am considered a tech guru. My friends from Catholic who are reading this are probably laughing out loud.....

The photos are, of course, of our excutive committee members handing over the grant for the playgorund equipment to Ansie in the middle. The other is of IWAN's membership listening to Ansie's presentation in the school cafeteria. The third is of one of the teachers providing one on one instruction to a learner.

Gus Gets the Gold

2009-07-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

The Khomas Regional Science Fair was held July 15-17 at the Polythechnique of Namibia (the principal university in Namibia). Augustus having won the Teachers’ Choice Award at his school science fair in April qualified to attend. Over 250 participants showed up with their projects. For their efforts they received a t-shirt, box of CD-ROMs, and CD holder from the sponsors Kolok (Memorex distributor). Augustus was reluctant to go at first because he thought he’d be all alone in the cavernous examination basement of the Polytechnique, but he did encounter several people he knew when he went in to set up on the first day. He felt a great deal more comfortable returning the following day knowing that he’d have friends with whom he could at least chat.
On the evening of the third day of the event, the awards ceremony took place. The basement had been transformed into an auditorium and there were several hundred moms, dads and siblings in attendance. Fair officials indicated that they’d be as efficient as possible handing out the awards and they were true to their word. Our heads were spinning because children were called one after another with no indication as to what level or category. First the bronze medals were awarded—no Augustus Bates among them. Then, the silver medals were awarded and still no Augustus Bates among them. Finally, the gold medal was being distributed and the official called out OGOOSTUS BA-TEZ. Seeing that my child did not recognize his own name being called, no doubt because of the peculiar pronunciation of the Namibians, I shook his leg and got him to realize that he had gotten a gold medal. We laughed heartily that he didn’t even know he had won a medal until he got back to his seat.
All in all, I think he is pleased in retrospect that he spent a part of his break time doing “school work” while most of his classmates were vacationing. He has certainly racked up on the freebies that have been handed out at each level—t-shirts and the like. We’re not yet sure whether or not he’s qualified to attend the National Science Fair, but we’ll know shortly.

Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken Jambalaya

2009-07-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

There are very few options regarding fast food here in Namibia. Neither McDonald’s, Wendy’s nor Burger King have yet made it here. This may or may not be a good thing. The only American chain in evidence is KFC. Additionally, the local equivalent of the burger joint, Steers or the Hungry Lion, just don't cut the mustard. The kids are really missing Raising Cane’s chicken tenders, which probably goes without saying. One chain that we have come across and like very much is Nandos. Nandos produces a Peri-Peri grilled chicken for which it is famous throughout Southern Africa. Peri-Peri has a unique flavor that takes a little bit of getting used to, but man do we like the spicy hotness of it. We have been buying 2 family packs which total a whole chicken and comes with fries and coleslaw for well under twenty American dollars. We’ll usually have a bit leftover depending on our appetite for the evening. Lately, I have been taking the leftovers and remodeling them in the form of chicken jambalaya. The kids absolutely love it. Add a little Tony’s and it’s almost like home! Talk about Cajun ingenuity.
By the way, we’re running a little low on Tony’s (even though I brought over 2 industrial size cans of it when we came over), so if anyone is interested in making a kind gesture toward our cause, our mailing address appears at the bottom of the page. The stuff they call Cajun Spice here just isn’t the same.........

Augustus the Budding Thespian?

2009-07-13T07:18:00.001-07:00

Is there a doctor in the house? Dr. Brown, Dr. Brown please report to the stage.
To help illustrate the dangers of smoking, the year 8s at WIS (Augustus’ class) decided to put on a skit that they had written. This coincided with World No Tobacco Day at the end of May. One of the main characters was Dr. Brown. Augustus got selected to perform this role. He acquitted himself quite well having never before acted---at least not in front of an audience. Students from other levels also created anti-smoking posters and literature. Hopefully their efforts will not fall on deaf ears. Unlike in the U.S. where smoking is banned in most public venues, people smoke quite freely in Namibia. Often there aren’t even any designated smoking areas to separate the smokers from the non-smokers. It is particularly difficult to stomach in restaurants. Who would have ever thought that Louisiana is ahead of the game in this regard where smoking isn’t allowed at all in restaurants, other public venues and even in many bars?

My Class Field Trip to Rock Lodge by Gus Bates

2009-07-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

School Field Trip

I woke that morning excited because today was our school field trip. We were going to spend the rest of Friday, all of Saturday, and a little bit of Sunday at Rock Lodge, Okahandja. Okahandja is about an hour away from Windhoek.
THE TRIP:
Day 1
I made it through English and I.T. my first two classes, but when math came along, I thought I might die. My math teacher Ms. Laura-Ann Rainy gave us home work!! On a Friday and on the day of our Field trip!! When we left math we went to our other homeroom teacher’s room (we have two homeroom teachers Ms. Madri and Mr. Buckland) and we got our bags that we dropped off that morning and headed for the bus that we were going to take to Rock Lodge. Mr. Manley (the elementary school’s principal) drove the bus. When we got to the lodge we drove to our bungalows and put our bags inside on the beds that we choose. I shared a bed with my friend Jonny.
After we put our bags away, we went to the ‘hall’ to play a few games. The first game was involved hula hoops and we had to get them to the ground by using just our index finger. All the girls were on one team and all the boys were on another. We lost the first challenge. The second challenge was everybody had to join hands and then everybody had to go through the hula hoop without breaking the joined hand circle and the team in which everybody had gone through the hula hoop won. We lost…..again. The last challenge was an all-against-all. You had one stone and you had to tell a random person a truth and a lie and they had to choose which the truth was. If they chose the lie then they lost their stone and you got it. If they picked the truth then you lost your stone and the other person got it. I lost. Then we broke into teams and we came up with names. The team I was on was the El-Tigres, Kitty Got Claws!! After each team made their names and mottos, we presented them to one another. The other team’s name was The ASSASSINS We Kick A…! Then we went to an obstacle course which had a lot of puzzles in it. The first one we did was one where you had to move the tires with numbers on them to 3 poles. You couldn’t put a tire with a bigger number than the one under it. You could only move one tire at a time and all the tires had to end up on a certain pole in number order, 1-5. Then, we had to make a bridge over a pit of lava (sand.) Then, there was an obstacle course with platforms and you had 2 logs and you had to get across without touching the ground. Finally, there was a course that wasn’t really a course, it was rope tied around a big square made out of wood and was made to look like a spider web, and what you had to do was get through the spider web without touching the rope. After that we went back to camp to have dinner.
We had a variety of things for dinner like, mystery meat, rice, corn, and peas. About an hour after dinner, we all gathered in the hall to watch a movie, Radio. When the movie was over me and five other people were left. Me and My two male friends (the girls had their separate rooms) walked back to our room and went to sleep.
Day 2
When I got up in the morning it was cold. I got changed and went to get my breakfast. Turns out we had to find our breakfast. We split up into our teams and went on a search. The other team got there first, but everybody got to eat sandwiches with only butter, butter and honey, butter and peanut butter, and butter and jelly. They also had apples. I preferred the butter and jelly.
After breakfast we went back to camp to go on a hunt for 15 words in the bush. Our team found seven and the other team only found 2 or 3. Then some people wanted to go swimming before lunch. Now you must keep in mind that it is the beginning of winter and the water is freezing. One of my classmates/friends Kastriot from Kosovo was riding on the back of Ms. Madri to the pool so me and Rachel (we both had cameras) filmed him riding to the pool and when Ms. Madri was about to throw him in, Kastriot held on to her and they both went in and I caught it on film. Then some boys picked me up and luckily they took all the valuable stuff off of me and then threw me in. I made Rachel film me. Then we had spaghetti bolognaise for lunch. It was O.K. Next, we went do an obstacle course that was supa-dupa-lupa-oopa hard. Then, after that, we went ab sailing as the Namibians call it, but we know it as rappelling. It was fun except for the part where I waited for 2 hours in the cold wind with only 1 person with me and my camera was out of battery so my friend couldn’t take a picture of me. When I went back the other people were getting ready for dinner which we had to cook ourselves. It was borevors and bread that no one managed to cook fully. After dinner we had this improv talent show. Then we went to bed.
Final Day
We woke up in the morning to the sound of our camp counselor kicking open the door and shouting that it was 9:00 when it was only around 6:00. We packed up everything and put it by the bus and then sat around the still hot ashes from previous night and waited for breakfast. We had the butter sandwiches for breakfast. Then we boarded the bus at around 9:00 and drove back to the school. When we got there we said: “See ya tomorrow,” because it was Sunday. I went pick up my bag at Ms. Madri’s classroom and then went home.
It was the best field trip ever in the history of Mars!!!!!

Fishing in Swakopmund

2009-07-06T06:22:00.000-07:00

Went to Swakopmund over the weekend to celebrate our Independence Day, not that anyone else was celebrating it around here, but we felt like we needed to do something to promote the spirit of the day. We rented a beach house that was nicer than our flat in Windhoek. Needless to say the kids didn’t want to leave the place. Aside from the fact that it was right on the beach, it also had satellite t.v. much to the kids’ delight and their parents chagrin. They could watch all of their favorite American cartoons like SpongeBob on Cartoon Network--one of the principal reasons why we chose not to subscribe to it here in Windhoek. I liked the fact that it was so well equipped right down to a full spice cabinet.

We had spectacular weather upon our arrival, but on the day that we had arranged to go fishing, the wind turned out of the East and was blowing a gale. According to locals, it only blows out of the East about 14 days of the year. This apparently was one of those fourteen. No wonder it’s deemed the off season. We had contracted with a local “fisherman” to take us surf fishing. He’s got all of the poles, equipment and does all of the hard work. He took us down the coast past mile 14 and we battled the wind and blowing sand while Reid, Emma and Augustus reeled in a number of Cob. Cob are of course salt water fish that have a silvery hue. They can get quite large apparently. They perhaps exist around the Americas, but I wouldn’t know what we refer to them as. Their flesh is a pristine white with an extremely mild flavor. Terrence, the guide, gutted and filleted one of the largest for us to take home. Annie and I chased the waves, took photos of everyone’s catch and sought shelter from the stinging sand when things got extreme.

After battling the elements and the heat ‘til about noon, Terrence took us back down the coast near mile 8 where we had lunch and threw in the lines in the hopes of snagging sharks. By then the wind had turned and was blowing off of the ocean. We had to do a complete wardrobe change, because it was now quite cool given that it was no longer coming from the desert side. Our hopes weren’t disappointed. It took a long time to get the shark in, however. The strategy is to tire them out before reeling them to shore. Often it’s the fisherman who tires first though. The first specimen proved to be a male weighing about 60 kg and over 2 meters long, a Bronzee is what they call them here but I think they’re referred to as Copper Sharks at home. His skin had a copper/bronze hue on his flank. Terrence, a professional to the core, measured, recorded and tagged the guy before sending him on his merry way back into the sea.

The second came about an hour and a half later--the same type, but a bit smaller and a female. By this time it was nearly four o’clock and our fishercrew was pooped. Terrence was ready for more and indicated that the weather was just getting good. But, we decided to call it a day especially after such a difficult morning combating the windy conditions. When we returned, every crevice and orifice had sand in it. We all fought for the privilege of showering first.

On Sunday we reluctantly returned to Windhoek. We really would have liked to have stayed in Swakopmund on the beach chasing waves, soaking up rays and catching fish, but a return to reality couldn’t be prolonged any further.

So Just What is a Red Hartebeest, Anyway?

2009-07-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

I borrowed this image off of the internet since we had none of this particular species among our vast store of photos. It's copyrighted to a certain Scott Macaskill. Given that we're using it in the interests of education (got a number of e-mails about our last blog posting concerning the contents of our unique gumbo concoction, lots of people wanted to know just what a hartebeest was anyway), I don't think we've violated any copyright laws. So for all of our Cajun relatives, you now know what we were eating and you know you'd eat it too cause it's got horns, four hoofs and runs away when you try to shoot it. Bon Appétit!

Hartebeest Gumbo Video

2009-06-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

Hartebeest Gumbo

2009-06-29T01:34:00.000-07:00

It’s been said that Cajuns will eat anything that moves on four legs, swims or flies as long as it’s cooked up with something tasty. People tend to interpret that as we’ll eat anything. That’s not quite true. We Cajuns are very particular about taste. It’s got to taste good. For generations Cajun cooks have been experimenting with spices and methods of cooking that contribute to taste. We are avid borrowers, co-opting spices from our Spanish co-settlers like Cayenne and Tabasco to jazz up the original French style roux base. We added okra brought over by African slaves whose word for the green sticky substance became the moniker for the dish itself. Using sassafras to thicken gumbos and other stews was a trick we learned from the Native Americans. When German settlers arrived they brought rice and a variety of sausages. All of this ended up in the quintessential Cajun dish of Gumbo. Gumbo, an icon of Cajun cuisine can also be considered an icon of our South Louisiana culture. It is in many ways an analogy for the mixing of cultures, races and ethnicities that took place in this strange land called Nouvelle Acadie. After hundreds of years of such mixing it is little wonder that families whose last name is Segura might be related to those bearing the name Champagne, Signorelli or Zaunbrecker. The end product has become something unique for both our cuisine and our culture. It lends to that Louisiana mystique and attraction.

Here in Windhoek, Namibia our family has been missing that world renowned Cajun cuisine. Yet, even here in the wilds of Africa, there is an appreciation for our way of cooking. The restaurant Luigui and the Fish down on Sam Nujoma Street sports a menu with a variety of dishes billed as Cajun. There’s the Cajun Chicken, Cajun Kingklip and the Cajun Mississippi Mud Pie. The supermarkets all carry Cajun Spice along with the more typical Peri Peri powder. Unfortunately, the Namibians haven’t been very successful in reproducing the quality of fare to which we are accustomed. I guess John Folse hasn’t made the rounds here yet. I’m hoping that he’ll come before our Fulbright stay ends in December and bring along a couple of packages of his Corn and Crab Soup or his Seafood Gumbo.

The main problem for us has been obtaining the types of ingredients necessary to produce the dishes that at home are considered ordinary or every day fare. The desire to make just a simple chicken and sausage gumbo left us searching high and low for something resembling Andouille or smoked sausage. One would think that with such a strong German influence in the country (one of the principal supermarket chains here is Woermann Brock where the cashiers regularly address me as Frau), smoked sausage or any good tasting sausage would be easy to find. Not so. The people here eat a lot of something called boerwors which has such a strong flavor, unidentifiable to our palate, that it’d probably curdle the juice if we added it to Gumbo. Locating crawfish of course is out of the question, although there is a Crayfish Festival down in Luderitz. These guys are salt water crustaceans and have little resemblance to their Louisiana freshwater brethren. Even cooking red beans and rice presents a challenge here. My American acquaintances here swear that it’s due to the altitude, but it’s usually a three day undertaking of constant boiling so as to soften the beans to a somewhat edible state. Without any decent smoked sausage to put in it, who wants to eat it anyway. “Real rice” can be found in a few stores, but at a premium. Most supermarkets carry the parboiled stuff. No real Cajun would be caught dead putting red beans on top of that.

So, when my friend Stephanie, even though she’s spent much of her life in Texas, offered me smoked sausage, I was a little leery to say the least. Her husband had taken her eleven year old son out on a big game hunt at one of the nearby hunting lodges. Titus had bagged a huge red hartebeest which they were having processed not only for the trophy but also for the meat. They were having smoked sausage made with much of it and Stephanie would have to find room for 70 kg of meat in her freezer. Needless to say, she was more than willing to share. I accepted more out of politesse than out of a real desire to sample Namibian hartebeest, but hey as a Cajun I’ll try anything once.

We cooked a bit of it for lunch before deciding that it indeed passed muster. Thus, it was decided Chicken and Hartebeest Gumbo for Sunday dinner. The kids were delighted. Nights are quite cold here in Namibia during June, the middle of the Namibian winter, and the prospect of having a good Gumbo to warm our insides heartened us all. It proved to be quite tasty indeed served over “real rice” and worthy of a second appearance at some future date.

We figure that it’s now our duty to introduce this unique version of an old dish to the Namibians in the absence of Chef John Folse making a surprise visit. What’s been passing for Cajun around here is sadly lacking and there would no doubt be a strong appreciation for genuine Cajun Cuisine. Who knows perhaps Gumbo might be one way to unite the diversity of cultures, races and ethnicities evident in modern Namibian society. Lord knows, they could sure use it.

Visit to Elim Primary

2009-06-03T05:01:00.001-07:00

Today, I visited Elim Primary in Khomasdal (an area of Windhoek) where Priscilla Harris is employed as a year 3 teacher (8 and 9 year olds). Priscilla’s class consists of 42 students. The language of instruction is English, however, for many under her tutelage, English is often their second or even third language. She recently received the donation of books made by the Livonia High School Student Senate and I went there to read the children a story and to take the various other book donations made by family and friends. The children were extremely well behaved and very respectful. They listened attentively while I read even though they were crammed into a tiny space between the board and their desks. Afterwards, many gave me a hug on their way out to break. It was truly a very moving experience. The students will now have the chance to take some of these home and work on developing their English comprehension and reading skills further.
I got the chance to chat with Priscilla’s principal while I was waiting and she communicated her profound gratitude and also the desire to possibly broaden the scope of the project. She’s got several teachers who have expressed an interest in creating a classroom library similar to what Priscilla is doing with her book donation. I indicated that I would see what I could do about that, so readers send in your ideas because right now the biggest obstacle is the cost of shipping as it often out-weighs the value of the books.
Once again, I want to express my gratitude to those who contributed to injecting a bit of good in this world filled with inequalities and injustices.

Book Drive Update

2009-06-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

Many thanks are in order to the Livonia High School Student Senate under the guidance of Kristie Langlois. Kristie read about the need for children’s books here in Namibia on the blog and answered the call. The LHS Student Senate collected loads of books and had them shipped over. Priscilla Harris, whose year 3 class this will benefit, has finally received them. She is delighted and has indicated the belief that this will be the only public school class in Namibia to have its own library. Her class numbers around 42 students, so having access to leisure time reading materials will no doubt help improve the children’s reading skills and encourage them to read more on their own. I will go by sometime in the week and read a story from one of the donated books and take a photo.
Additional thanks to Fr. Jamin David, Suzanne Laviolette and the many others who sent books separately. Often times the shipping costs far exceeded the value of the books, making the donation all the more commendable.
This has been a valuable learning experience for me and my family. What a wonderful way to inject a little good into our world. I am constantly amazed at the generosity of the average American and the can do attitude of seeing a need and addressing it. I hope this can either become a long term project or one that spreads in scope to encompass other American schools in partnership with other Namibian schools or African schools for that matter. Any ideas on the subject are most welcome!

Brandberg

2009-05-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

On May 21st the Namibians celebrated Ascension Thursday, a public holiday here. May 25th was also a public holiday, Africa Day. This meant a 5 day weekend for the Bates family and another excuse to head out and explore the wilds of the Namibian bush—as if we needed any. The girls, especially Emma had been ill with what I term the two ended virus and so I, particularly, was raring to get out of the flat and see the countryside. We had made plans with our trusty traveling partners, the Powells, to visit Brandberg, home of the White Lady Rock Painting. There are over 1000 of these paintings in the Brandberg area. They are generally attributed to the Bushmen but there are a few myths that need to be dispelled before proceeding. First off the “Lady” in the painting is no lady. The first European explorers clearly missed the mark with their original interpretations of the painting. Now to quote Wiki (I know, I know, not the best source…),
It is usually assumed that the painting shows some sort of ritual dance, and that the "White Lady" is actually a medicine man. "She" is definitely a male, as a penis is clearly visible. He has white legs and arms, which may suggest that his body was painted or that he was wearing some sort of decorative attachments on his legs and arms. He holds a bow in one hand and perhaps a goblet in the other. Because of the bow and the oryxes, the painting has also been interpreted as a hunting scene. Apart from the shaman/lady, the other human figures have less detail, and are mostly completely black or completely white. One of the oryxes has human legs. The painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white and casein used as binding agents.[2]
Additionally, the paintings were probably done over a long period of time with different artists and or groups of people adding to the tableau. No doubt there were also some Damara contributions as well, as they are one of the major tribes currently residing in the region. The paintings are thought to date back at least 2000 years if not more.
Getting to the White Lady was somewhat of a challenge for our party of eight. We first checked in at the entrance and were assigned a guide, Matthews. He was very patient with us of little stamina. In all fairness, the girls were just recuperating and their energy level was a bit low for such a demanding hike. Once again we learned our lesson with trusting the guide book. Here’s what Wiki had to say about the hike, “To reach The White Lady it is necessary to hike for about 40 minutes over rough terrain, along the gorge of the dry Tsisab river.” Needless to say, that’s not exactly how the guidebook portrayed it. And the gorge wasn’t dry either. That provided the fun and distraction though, crossing over the water. Yes, I have discovered that I am just a beast of burden in the eyes of my children as I alternately carried either the backpack, Emma or Annie along the 2.5 km hike up and the 2.5 km hike back. Reid pitched in on occasion, but it’s always the mother’s burden isn’t it? We spent about 3 hours total on the round trip, which we thought was pretty good for a party of eight containing young’uns.
It was truly an awe inspiring visit. I personally was humbled by the surroundings. This is Namibia’s highest peak and there is something about the area that is no doubt at once spiritual and uplifting, somewhat akin to being in the church of the great outdoors. I sincerely doubt that my kids experienced the same sensation, however, as they panted and complained about the heat.
We camped at the White Lady Lodge. The staff was friendly and helpful. We ate dinner there on our first night and the food was quite good. We had our choice of oryx prepared in various ways, schnitzel or stroganoff or kingklip (fish). I had the stroganoff which was actually well seasoned. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The reception area has two pools and a rockery. It is a beautiful sight to encounter in the midst of the vast emptiness. The kids enjoyed the pool, even though the water was very, very cool while the adults enjoyed the bar. It made for some welcomed R and R on the part of the adults.
The camp sites were, on the other hand, a bit lacking. The braaii had no grill and the water tap was difficult to use. The showers, although heated, were no match for what we had encountered on our previous camping trip down south on the guest farms. Additionally, there was a large number of campers present due to the holiday weekend, so the noise level was beyond desirable for me and Reid, but one of the advantages to this was the fact that these touring visitors had engaged the services of local singing groups who serenaded them acapella (sp?) for the evening. So, on two occasions, we fell asleep listening to the strains of African folk songs.
The other really cool thing about the White Lady Campsites is that being out in the bush, one can’t help but attracting the local wildlife. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a feisty springbok who attempted to head butt our small party. He later showed up at our campsite for round two. Upon awaking on the following day, we were greeted by the caws of a pair of hornbills. We later got them on video doing their thing with a little prompting from Reid. After breakfast, as if ordered in to patrol our area for debris, a pair of meerkats sauntered in looking for their morning meal. Emma was bold enough, despite my protests, to pet them. So, all in all it was worth camping there despite the noise and the less than adequate facilities just to experience the close encounters with the little critters.

We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the desert elephants, the lodge's other big draw. They had not yet returned from the north. We've been told that sometimes they come right through the campsites. So, I guess we'll be returning to the Brandberg White Lady Lodge some time soon so that we can get the full treatment.

Science News

2009-05-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

It’s off to the regional science fair for Augustus. His birding project garnered him the Teachers’ Choice Award at the WIS Science and Maths Fair (yes, they put an ‘s’ on math) and he’ll be representing WIS there (year 8) in July. He tested what food types would attract the greatest number of bird species. The birds here are so exotic, that the whole family really got involved with identifying the various specimens and photographing them. We got to the point where we started calling the birds our customers. We’ve now got what seems to be a whole flock of Laughing Doves frequenting our feeder on a daily basis. Some of the birds were so strange to us with vivid colors, long tails or often bizarre calls. Of course WIS being on the American academic year will be out of session at that time, but Namibian students will be in full swing as their year runs from January to November. So, we hope that our travels won’t interfere with Augustus attending the competition.
There seems to be a greater emphasis on science at WIS than we experienced at home in Louisiana or at least in our little parish. Emma’s class held a mini-science fair earlier this year where the kids completed experiments for which they created backdrops/posters and subsequently invited other classes and parents to view them. Emma elected to do the Coke and Mentos geyser. No one here, remarkably, had ever heard of it, so of course, it was a big hit. The class and visitors went out into the court yard so as not to spray everything with the Coke. All the kids and parents oohed and ahhed and Emma performed like in a circus act, even taking a bow at the end. I hardly recognized my own daughter.
Annie’s class too is taking its turn at science experiments. They are working with the forces of “push” and “pull”. They will complete an experiment at home, record their results, present it to the class and also to parents. The parents, it is assumed, will be guiding them quite heavily through the process, but it still introduces the little ones to the scientific method and Reid and I are quite appreciative of that.

Etosha Giraffe Surprise

2009-05-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

A family group of giraffes stepped out of the bush right in front of our vehicle. They are so well camouflaged that we didn't see them until we were almost upon them. This is the one who crossed the road and then turned back giving us an inquiring look as if she wanted to know if we were done with our picture taking.

Etosha National Game Park

2009-05-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

May 1st is a holiday here in Namibia as in most of the rest of the world. It is workers’ day—the equivalent of our Labor Day. We celebrate it at the end of the summer no doubt to get in a few extra days at the beach, but the rest of the world uses the May 1st date. Monday, May 4th is also a holiday—Cassinga Day. We’re not exactly sure what the Namibians celebrate on this day, but it means a four day weekend which for us means time to take off and explore some new area of Namibia. So, once again, we packed up the Rover and the kids and headed to Etosha. Etosha is the big National Game Park here in Namibia. It is just over 100 years old and boasts a large number of species in vast quantities. It is about a 5 hour drive from Windhoek and the road is tarred all the way there.
Staying inside the park presents an expensive proposition, so we decided to stay at a place just outside the southern gate (Anderson Gate) and drive in each day. We were very pleased with the accommodations because to quote Emma it allowed us to, “Live the dream—have all this nature at the same time having luxury.” The “rooms” consisted of elevated tents large enough to fit actual beds, which were quite comfy, shelving, pull-out couch and a vanity in each. The tents could be unzipped to the view of the outside while still being protected from the creepy crawlies by the netting. This was great because we were awakened each morning by the light of the rising Eastern sun. Outside, there was a toilet and outdoor shower that were decorated and concealed with wooden stick type fencing so as to maintain privacy. The kitchen was also outdoors with a working refrigerator, hot plate, sink, braaii pit and all of the necessary kitchen equipment. This was especially nice for us given that eating out for every meal for a family of five is much too costly and it allowed us to keep food expenses to a reasonable amount. The lodge’s restaurant did offer a nightly buffet of which we partook on our last evening there. The sides are of course pre-prepared but the meats are by choice and cooked right on the spot in front of the guest. The offerings included oryx, zebra, springbok, chicken and pork. Most of us opted for the springbok. We just can’t get enough of the stuff. The chef took great pleasure in grilling it up for us and even though his English was quite broken, he was most congenial. There was also the possibility of choosing a stir fry where another chef cooked up any concoction of given ingredients to one’s delight. The desserts were scrumptious as well. Needless to say the kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly.
Etosha itself was absolutely fabulous. From Anderson’s Gate there is a 17 kilometer drive to the lodge at Okakuejo, one of the places available to stay inside the park. Lots of animals can be spotted along this route and we saw zebras, giraffes, birds and jackals. Within the park itself, we encountered so many zebras in our two days there that the kids started saying they were “fed up” with zebras. The springbok were even more numerous and were so close to the vehicle that one could have probably reached out and touched them. We purchased a map as one of the first orders of business which showed the waterholes. Some of the waterholes are maintained by park personnel and are equipped with solar-powered pumps so that the animals will have water all year ‘round. Others are not and we were surprised to see how many had already dried up given that the rainy season just ended in March. It took us a while to figure out which were dry and which still had water and which were the most frequented by the widest variety of animals but we did eventually and were rewarded with some of the most spectacular views of wild animals we’ve seen so far in Namibia. At one water hole there were black-face impalas, springbok, zebras, wildebeest, and elephants. We also happened upon four lionesses setting up for a kill by sheer dumb luck. They had a few zebras, including a baby, separated from the rest of the herd and were attempting to route them through a bottle neck so as to grab the baby no doubt. They had probably been setting this up all morning and we came upon the scene in the last few dramatic minutes when the action was coming to a crescendo. Emma was rooting for the baby zebra but we wanted to see the lionesses’ labor come to fruition. The adult zebras weren’t going to have any of it though, they kept really close to that baby and having more stamina than the lions pushed their way through narrowly escaping the lionesses’ handiwork. When it was all over, we felt like we had just taken part in an Animal Planet video. The lionesses just kind of sat there with their tongues hanging out looking like they were contemplating what went wrong. They appeared to take it in stride, nonetheless, as they leisurely regrouped and headed out in the opposite direction of their prey.
On the second morning, as we were driving on one of the less frequented roads of the park, we were graced with the appearance of a group of giraffes. They just gingerly stepped out of the side brush and onto the road right in front of the vehicle. They had a juvenile with them so we assumed that it was a family grouping. One crossed the road in front of us, loping to the other side and turned back to look at us like she was inquiring as to whether or not we’d gotten her photo yet. We were all awestruck for several minutes.
The only thing we weren’t able to see that we regret is the rhinos. Etosha is host to a large number of rhinos, the Black Rhino as well as the White. We understand that they have a tendency to frequent the waterholes at night. This is where staying within the park pays off given that each of the interior lodges boasts waterholes where visitors can view the wildlife even after the gates have closed for the evening to outside guests.
All in all it was a most remarkable visit and we feel so fortunate to have this opportunity to view such magnificent beasts in their natural environment. We wonder how many of these creatures will still exist in our children’s twilight years and are glad they got to experience it firsthand.

International Day at WIS

2009-04-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

The school that the children attend, Windhoek International School (WIS), held its annual International Day this past Saturday; the purpose of which is to celebrate the international nature of the school. So all of the names of the countries from which the students hail were put into a hat and each of the class sections selected a country by having a representative pull a slip out of the hat. Augustus’ class got Argentina. Emma’s got Italy and Annie’s received Mozambique. Each class then was responsible for transforming the classroom into “their country” for the day. The display included photos of monuments, landmarks, geographic features or any artifact typically associated with the place. Also, many of the kids dressed in the traditional dress of “their country”. Additionally, because this is also a fund raiser, the class sold food and drink typical of the country. There were also activities to go along with each venue. Some classes performed various folk dances for the crowd in the courtyard as well.
Augustus dressed in a poncho and broad brimmed hat complete with mustache. Some of his classmates performed the tango (they’ve been taking private lessons and even dressed for the part). Emma’s class sold pizza of course and had spaghetti mosaics for an activity. They performed the “tarantella” which her little classmate referred to as the “tarantula”. Emma actually did the moves and didn’t try to hide behind friends as she is apt to do. I made a slide show for the class from the photos of my 2006 Europe trip. Annie’s classroom was decorated like a beach scene complete with bar that sold actual cocktails and beer. Tristan’s class, the son of the Fulbrighter family with whom we often pal around, sold White Russians and shots. We thought that Louisiana took a laissez-faire attitude with regard to alcohol consumption, huh, little did we know. However, no kids seemed to try to partake in the imbibing that was transpiring. They seemed to know the limitations, but there were a few happy adults.
Despite that bit of a cultural adjustment, it was indeed a wonderful day and the displays were really well thought out. Everyone worked very hard to make it a success and we enjoyed it thoroughly. This was especially poignant given that the Festival International was taking place in Lafayette, Louisiana which we so love attending every year, at the very same time.

The Kristall Galerie

2009-04-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

No visit to Swapkomund is complete without a tour of the Kristall Galerie. The Galerie’s main objective is commercial, however it does a wonderful job of educating while peddling its wares. It is home to the world’s largest crystal cluster on display. The cluster was unearthed some years ago and is thought to be about 520 million years old. It is quite huge and really brings home the idea of the type of monumental forces at work below the surface of our earth. There is a reproduction tunnel that the kids loved going through with all sorts of crystals on display in a simulation of how they looked when in nature. There are displays with lengthy literature on each type of crystal, semi- or precious stone and metal found in Namibia (and there are quite a few). I would have liked to read each one at length, but my kids were trying to climb on and into the mammoth size geodes strategically placed all around the gallery. Of course there are a number of gift shops to be visited within as well. One of the shops is obviously high-end and has a fascinating array of jewelry fashioned out of these stones—some of which are absolutely exquisite and quite unique. The prices weren’t readily displayed. They are fashioned on the premises apparently and can be custom designed to clients’ specifications. Augustus couldn’t resist the temptation and forked over the cash for a geode and an amethyst.

2009-04-20T00:45:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to Swakopmund the week after Easter. Reid’s schedule doesn’t often coincide with the kids’ so it makes things a bit tricky when planning outings. The International School the kids attend, WIS (Windhoek International School), follows the American academic year in that classes begin in August and end in May/June. Reid’s university on the other hand follows Africa time. So, we did have to take the kids out of school this time. We have come to the rationalization, however, that the education for the kids is in being here and experiencing this opportunity to the fullest. Indeed, every outing presents an occasion to learn something about Namibia, its fascinating geology, exotic flora and unique fauna. With that in mind, we booked a “minerals tour” of the Namib desert that borders the coast. The Namib is the oldest desert in the world and its apparent vast emptiness is home to some very interesting meteorological and geologic activity.
Let’s begin with the weather patterns that created a desert at the edge of the sea. Our guide told us that because of the Benguela current, a cold water current that comes up from Antarctica, the moisture that is typically produced by the sea and returned to the coast in the form of rain, is trapped as fog/cold mist on the coast and never makes its way inland. So the area surrounding Swakopmund receives little to no rainfall despite its proximity to an ocean full of water. On our last day there, we got to experience this phenomenon. The waves were crashing wildly on the beach and everything was shrouded in this fine mist. It made it difficult just to see a short way down the coast.
Swakopmund on the other hand sits at the mouth of the Swakop River. The Swakop River is said to be ephemeral in that water only flows within its banks on rare occasions. Apparently, though, there is water to be found underground and so within this vast desert, a linear oasis appears which terminates in the city of Swakopmund. Swakopmund itself does not have to desalinate ocean water. It actually has access to fresh water through a number of boreholes, although the water does have a funny after taste. So, the streets of the city of Swakopmund are lined with palms and other lush vegetation, all carefully tended to and watered by municipal workers.
The geology is a little more difficult to explain. Suffice it to say that there was once and continues to be a good deal of geologic activity below the Namib as well as much of Namibia as a whole. This has produced a geologist’s dream. If ever I were to be a geologist, Namibia is the place I’d want to ply my trade. In the Namib, there are plumes that rise up to the surface of the earth carrying all sorts of materials. We encountered huge chunks of raw iron that had flowed to the surface. Many of the sites we visited were old prospector sites, where individuals had come to try their luck. Precious and semi-precious stones abound in the region. We found tourmaline, a variety of quartz, even uranium right on the surface. The guide also took us to an abandoned processing site where vast amounts of rose quartz chips lay strewn on the ground almost like gravel on a driveway. There the kids found amethyst, olivine, and mica--- unfortunately no diamonds for us. The outing reminded me of the scene in Madagascar 2, where Moto Moto (the hippo) is digging in the dry riverbed, desperately trying to locate water, and when he returns to the surface and is questioned as to whether or not he found any, he says he’s only come across more diamonds and gold. That summarizes the Namib.
The tour venue was near and around Rossing Mountain. Rossing Mountain is home to a uranium mining company. The uranium is mined and apparently exported. The Namibians don’t have any application for it. It is, we are told, quite a profitable enterprise despite the low concentration of uranium. It does make one wonder where it ends up after being extracted from the earth.
I think the kids, as well as the adults, learned more natural history and science in that half day outing than would have been acquired after weeks in a lecture hall. The kids wanted to know what every stone that they picked up was and the guide happily obliged them. Of course, they also wanted to keep every single one they came across. What with the haul of sea stones they took from the beach, we’ll definitely be paying the exorbitant airline fee for extra weight on our flight home!

In the photos, you can somewhat grasp the vastness of the desert as you see little Annie in the foreground surrounded by nothingness. Emma is showing off her finds at the abandoned mineral processing site.

Pictures to the previous posting

2009-04-19T09:09:00.001-07:00

These are some of the specimens found at the National Botanical Garden. The cactus on the left produces a burgundy colored fruit. There's the crew on the right under what I believe is a bottle tree--Kelly, Tristan, Annie, Emma and Gwenn. Augustus is the photographer of course. The garden is located in the heart of Windhoek.

National Botanical Garden

2009-04-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

We recently visited the National Botanical Garden here in Windhoek with Kelly and Tristan Powell. It's quite a lovely place where all of the different flora of the country is on display in one convenient spot. There are walking trails and a spot to picnic, so it's a wonderful place to take the kids. We've forgotten half of the names of the plants we encountered but not the impression they made on us. These plants look like they are from a period that time forgot. There's something strangely prehistoric about these specimens. Indeed, since the Namib is the oldest desert in the world and many of these are indigenous to those parts, perhaps they do harken back to prehistory. On display were quiver trees, bottle trees, and cacti of all different sorts. One of the cacti produces a milky latex that is toxic--it makes its appearance in the movie the Gods Must Be Crazy. Most of the ground plants are succulents that are well adapted to life with little to no water. In the picnic area, there are a few bird baths that draw the likes of Blue Wax Bills and South African Wagtails just to name a few. All of this is located on a hillside right in the heart of busy Windhoek. It truly represents a calm oasis from the routine of city life. (This posting is especially for you Aunt Barb. Maybe you can help us identify the plants?)

The mongoose that lives in our backyard

2009-04-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

In addition to all of the bird life that we enjoy due to our living accommodations being located next to a ravine, we've noted that we've got some interesting mammals that visit the premises as well. Of course there are the requisite cats that roam the complex; one of which likes to promenade on the roof and the divider walls attempting to pounce on the many birds that frequent our feeding stand (it's more like a contraption). We've noted that a mongoose lives among our ornamentals or at least it is from there that he always makes his entrance. He first starting making an appearance when we began putting out bread bits for Augustus' bird project. We've begun to notice that he's not so shy anymore and will come out even when we've got the patio door wide open. Reid dropped a piece of banana one day and just a few minutes later, out popped the mongoose to snag it and take it back to his lair. Now we not only are buying bird feed, but we're also buying many more bananas than usual to keep up with our friend's appetite. Our animal guide book identifies him as a white-tailed mongoose whose typical diet consists of invertebrates. It never mentions fruits. Perhaps his diet is being corrupted by the addition of bananas. Who knows, but my neighbor contends that the mongoose steals the food right out of her dog's dish. That's got to be much worse than bananas I'd say!

Video at Sossusvlei

2009-03-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Eight

2009-03-28T01:46:00.000-07:00

After a quick pit stop at the petrol station in Sesriem, we began making our way home (at least our temporary home) to Windhoek. Once again the scenery was amazing of a different sort as we made our way through the pass of the Naukluftberge range. We were pushing hard—up and down, fast and slow, in and out of gullies. After taking a wrong turn and double backing, Ole Bess began experiencing some serious problems. First the power steering went out, then the battery indicator started flashing, finally the check engine light came on and there was nothing left to do but stop and try to figure out the problem. Fortunately we had come into an area where there was cell phone coverage and our friends called to check on us and indicated that they were turning around and coming to our aid. What a good thing because we were essentially in the middle of nowhere. Reid determined that although the coolant was overflowing, one of the main belts had broken. We had been warned about having spare belts given their elusiveness in the African bush, so we just so happened to have an extra. The next problem was the fact that we didn’t have the correct tools to get it back on. Larkin jumped in his vehicle and drove down to the village store and made inquiries about a mechanic who might have the proper tools. In the meantime a vehicle bearing embassy plates slowed to ask us if we needed help. In mid-sentence response, I recognized the couple as being the US AID Mission Chief, Greg Gottlieb and his wife Linda. “Hey don’t we know you?” Indeed we did and what a fortuitous coincidence. So, Greg and his wife joined our roadside entourage as we waited for the mechanic to arrive.
About 20 minutes later, a few chaps in a donkey cart showed up with tools that weren’t much better than what we had. The men played with the belt for a while until Reid determined that the bearing had seized and there would’t be any replacement of the belt until that got fixed. Just about this time a small pick-up truck pulled up alongside our party. The fellow introduced himself as Pinkie and said that he was a mechanic at Pupkewitz Toyota in Windhoek (mind you we were 110 km from the nearest big town, Rehoboth, and that was another 75 km from Windhoek). He had some tools too. Unfortunately, he hadn’t got a replacement bearing, but he made a few phone calls and said his friend could locate one. His friend, it would seem, is the chief mechanic at the shop where we usually take Ole Bess for normal maintenance, Minz Garage. At this point, we were so floored by the series of coincidences that we all stopped fretting and trusted that someone was looking out for us and this was all going to work out.
There are a good deal more details to this, but that would take another two pages, so just know that Annie and I got home with the Gottliebs, Emma and Augustus made it in with the Powells and Reid made it back before 11:00 p.m. even after driving the route between Rehoboth and Klein Aub (the village of our breakdown) three times that evening. God is Great indeed. We had no doubt paid it forward in the kindness we had shown to the Swiss ladies and were now on the receiving end of someone else’s kindness. Funny how things work out.

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Seven

2009-03-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

We got up at the crack of dawn the next day to get out to Sossusvlei but not as early as some evidently. It is recommended that one visit the dunes as the sun is coming up. People were parked at the entrance gate waiting when I got up at 5:45 a.m. to take my shower. Typically, when and if anyone knows anything about Namibia, they are familiar with the photographs of the brick-red dunes cresting in the azure colored sky. As the sun progresses through the day, the colors apparently change and one can get an entirely different impression in the morning versus the afternoon or early evening. We sped down the 65 km of tar to get to the vlei. The tar ends at about 5 km from the most magnificent of the dunes and the pan where water sometimes collects. Driving on this stuff took some fortitude. The sand just sucks the vehicle in and stopping to catch one’s breath is not an option. Our little two vehicle caravan made it and we were most happy that we did.
The kids immediately jumped out demanding to be able to climb to the top of the dunes. We of course had to oblige. It was a lot tougher than it looked. Some of these dunes measure up to 350 metres high. Many are multi-crested in shape with four or five sinuous crests. These are formed by multidirectional winds that play the sand back and forth. Well about half way up, the wind got to playing making the trek all the more difficult. Once at the top, well, the only way to get down was to go down the side. When you’re over 900 ft. up, plucking up one’s courage takes a bit of doing. Reid and Annie watched a few other tourists and spearheaded our group’s efforts. Annie bit the dust only a couple of times, but insisted it was the greatest of fun and told us she wanted to do it again. I kept my shoes on which filled with about 20 lbs. of sand making the whole adventure feel like a walk on the moon. The view from the top was absolutely spectacular and well worth the effort of getting up there. Unfortunately, we had to get going so as to make it all the way back to Windhoek before night fall and so we had to leave the world’s largest sandbox and head for home. That was to become an adventure in and of itself……

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Six

2009-03-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

This was one of the longest legs of the journey and we definitely didn’t set aside enough time. We pushed ole Bess hard down the gravel and encountered many on the side of the road either broken down or replacing flat tires. One of whom was the diesel truck that services all of these little back woods communities. We saw lots of wildlife along the way as well. It got to the point where we’d say, “Hey kids, look a herd of springbok,” and they’d just mumble and go back to their video games. When we finally got to Sesreim and pulled into the station there, it was again getting toward evening. We asked the attendant if he had diesel today and he looked at us like we were from the moon, “We have diesel every day.” Guess they get serviced by a different truck. The attendant also noticed that the right rear tire was going flat. It was beginning to look like a theme with this right rear tire. So, another half hour or so to pull it off, plug it and put it back on. In the mean time who should pull up but our Swiss lady friends even though they had left Namtib hours before we had.
We all arrived at the check-in to the campsite together. Of course our reservation had been screwed up, we’re talking government employees here, but not as badly as the Swiss ladies’ reservation—they had no campsite assigned to them at all (oops, their name was listed on the back of the reservation sheet and no one had noticed it). So, we offered to share if it couldn’t get straightened out. We left them there to get it all sorted and headed for our site because we were losing light fast.
We hurriedly set up camp and while we were in the midst of getting our dinner ready, a lovely springbok bourguignon that Reid had made at home and frozen for the trip, our lady friends drove up and once again requested to share a site with us. They offered to pay for their part in Swiss chocolate and we heartily accepted.
The facilities here were probably the poorest we’d experienced on our trip due to the fact that this is run by the government and gets a great deal of usage, but the showers were still hot and there was even a swimming pool (a bit green with algae). As we made ready to bed down for the evening we spotted a couple of jackals circling our site, attracted no doubt by the smell of that springbok bourguignon. I was glad I had been assigned to the roof top tent for the night.

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Five

2009-03-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

First stop was to secure diesel for Ole Bess. The Total Station on the way into town had none the previous day and still had none the following morning. It was a bit tricky to find the CalTex, the only other station in town known to carry diesel, but we managed. Then it was off to Agate Beach.
The sun was shining the breeze was pleasant and the sound of the surf was mesmerizing while we combed the beach for agates, shells and other treasures. The kids had a marvelous time and we had the beach all to ourselves the entire morning. They were quite pleased with their treasures and Annie was royally amused playing in the dunes. Reid and I also wanted to pick up every rock and shell we saw.
Lunch was on the deck of Ritzi’s overlooking the harbor and then we were off again to our next destination. We had hoped to tour the ghost town, Kolmanskop—an abandoned diamond mining town that is gradually being overtaken by the shifting desert sands, about 10 km outside of Luderitz –but we were again running late and had missed the only two tours of the day at 9:00 & 11:00 am. So, we stopped at the entrance, took a peek into one of the old buildings and snapped a few photos before being chased off by a security guard.
Next stop Namtib through some of the most spectacular scenery we’ve ever seen, replete with springbok, ostrich and oryx sightings around every turn. Namtib is also a farm with camping facilities. The owners are a relatively young couple who adhere to certain guidelines that enable them to classify the place as a biosphere. They of course raise sheep, goats and cattle, but they do so in harmony with the natural environment. We spotted as many springbok and gemsbok oryx as cows. The predators are allowed to co-exist with the domesticated stock and we were even able to get a photo of a bat-eared jackal on our way out. We were heading out to the site just when the herder was bringing in the flock and Augustus got it on video.
In addition to the campsite, the Thiele’s also maintain cottages and dining facilities. Quiver trees abound in the courtyard between the cottages and the dining hall. The campsite is of course located a bit of a ways from the main house. The facilities here were among the best we had encountered so far-- hot showers (another donkey geyser) which the Namibians refer to as ablution facilities, scullery and awesome braaii pit. We purchased lamb and sausage when we checked in and Larkin roasted it up like he was Emeril Lagasse with Emma hovering about for supervision.
We weren’t the only guests on this particular evening. While setting up camp, a couple of women drove up and requested to share the site with us. There were other available spots, but ours was closest to the potties and they were a bit frightened of snakes especially in the night. Turns out they were a Swiss mother/daughter group traveling around Namibia in a hired camper. They were on a three week vacation and completing virtually the same circuit at the moment as we were. They had stopped earlier to take photos of a monstrous social weaver bird nest when a huge, absolutely huge, snake slithered in and out of the holes swallowing up eggs and or baby birds. The daughter actually got some awesome photos of the entire affair on her digital camera. Needless to say, we were speechless when shown this documentation. We didn’t hesitate at this point to include them at our site. It wasn’t to be the last time we’d share a campsite with them either.
During the night, we awoke to the sound of hoofs and the snuffling of some sort of large beasts. I was absolutely convinced that it was a herd of kudu or gemsbok, but it was just the cows. They settled themselves near our tents and spent the remainder of the night in our vicinity. We had to shoo them away in the morning just to get at the fire pit.
After a nice conversation with the owners and an interlude with one of Larkin’s interns conducting research there (she showed us a scorpion that she had snared in one of her pitfall traps), we headed off to our next destination Sesriem , the access point to the magnificent red dunes of Sosusvlei.

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Four

2009-03-26T02:56:00.000-07:00

Later that day we headed out for Luderitz. Luderitz is located on the Atlantic coast of Namibia at the very edge of the Namib desert. When one approaches Luderitz from the west, one must wonder what ever possessed any one to settle here until he reads all of the signs warning drivers to stay out of the restricted diamond areas. Diamonds, diamonds, diamonds brought the Germans here originally and it’s got a lot to do with what keeps people here.
We got our two car caravan on its way out of the Miller’s Farm, Aubures. Had a stopover under a camelthorn tree on the side of the road for a light lunch and proceeded to undertake the next leg of our journey to Luderitz when Reid began to hear a strange noise emanating from the right rear wheel. Stopping to check it out was of course a requirement but our friends who were leading the way obviously didn’t notice, what with all the dust a vehicle churns up on these gravel roads, and appeared to be long gone by the time we determined what the problem was. The possibility of phoning them to tell of our predicament was nil given that we hadn’t had cell phone coverage since leaving the tar. Fortunately for us the part that had broken loose from the inside of our back wheel didn’t appear to be vital to its functioning, some sort of protective plate over the brake however it still needed to be removed lest it sever the brake line. That meant removing the back tire, no small feat with all of the camping gear stacked on top of the jack implements. Still no sign of our friends at this point……Well, the plate came right off after we removed the tire just as our friends drove up wondering about our whereabouts. Disaster had been averted---but only momentarily.
Along the route to Luderitz there is a turn off called Garub, it’s not even indicated on the map, where one encounters the wild horses of Namibia. Garub consists basically of a trough where the horses can water themselves. They have roamed wild in the desert for over a century and are the subject of many a coffee table book here in Namibia. Emma of course had been fascinated with them since our arrival and we wouldn’t have heard the end of it had we not stopped to view them. They were indeed a curious sight to see out in the middle of the desert and we got quite a few nice photos. Additionally, on our way back down the “track” to the main road, we encountered a swarm of locusts of biblical proportions. Augustus filmed it and we’ll try to post it because it is an amazing thing to witness. We were yet again running late given our tribulations with ole Bess, but fortunately the rest of the way was on tar.
On the approach to Luderitz one gets the impression he’s visiting another planet. The landscape is indeed reminiscent of the moon. There’s absolutely nothing for miles and miles—not a tree, not a blade of grass. Luderitz itself is frequently buffeted by extremely strong southwesterly winds. People have to lean into the wind virtually doubled over to get up the streets when it’s blowing at its best. Such was the case when we arrived there in the late evening. There was to be no camping in this kind of a gale so we set ourselves to the task of finding accommodations for our two families.
After being turned away several times, we stumbled upon Hansa Haus Guesthouse where we were shown to the top floor of this 1909 building. It was to be all ours for the night for about $70 Am. We were given a set of four rooms with two baths, living area and completely equipped kitchen. The place also had a deck that overlooked the habor area complete with braaii equipment, deck chairs, umbrellas and loungers. Had the wind cooperated, we’d have eaten on the deck. Unfortunately, it howled most of the night blowing in sand from the neighboring desert through any unsecured crevice. We had to improvise on dinner that evening and made our hobos in the oven instead of in the open fire. The kids had a blast running down the lengthy corridor connecting all of the rooms. We woke the next day to a magnificent, calm view of the ocean in all of its splendor. Reid cooked bacon out on the deck on this cool braaii contraption and Larkin made the hugest pancakes we’ve ever eaten. We packed up and set out on our next leg with an exquisitely blue sky and ocean as our backdrop.

Southern Namibia Camping Trip--Installment Three

2009-03-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we drove the relatively short distance to Jorn and Adrienne Miller’s farm. The term farm doesn’t even come close to describing what their place really is. This is a 22,000 hectare spread. Multiply by about two to figure out how many acres that is. Most farms are of that size which makes one’s nearest neighbor a good distance away. Perhaps now it’s beginning to sink in just how vast the emptiness is. There aren’t any convenience stores around the corner, no neighborhood Walmart, not even a doctor or a hospital for miles and miles and miles. The Millers receive their mail in Helmeringhausen, a couple hours’ drive from their home. Adrienne homeschools the boys, Thomas and Alex (their daughter is still too young for school) otherwise they’d have to be sent off to some larger city like Windhoek and be boarded there.
Jorn is the brother of the woman from whom we purchased Ole Bess. He has a doctorate in chemistry, but always just really wanted to farm. Farming is somewhat of a relative term here as well. The Millers keep cattle, goats and caracal sheep (more about them later). They also cultivate a local variety of cactus called hoodia. Hoodia has all sorts of medicinal properties much of them as of yet not fully understood. It has been used mostly by the weight loss industry because it helps to suppress the appetite. This knowledge of course was discovered by the Bushmen who would ingest the plant while on long hunting trips. It helped to hydrate them and also kept them from feeling hungry. It was a huge business for a while until unscrupulous manufacturers began using substances that had no active ingredient at all, but continued to market it as hoodia. It was then that it began to lose its cachet. Jorn’s association is trying to remedy that as well as promote the study of the plant and broaden its medicinal usage. It apparently can be used in the treatment of diabetes and other ailments as well.
Additionally, the Millers have a campsite at their farm, complete with hot water shower, where we set up our tents for the night. During the afternoon Jorn and his sons took us all around the farm pointing out all of the interesting sites—like the spot where we could find Bushmen tools and arrowheads, the various outposts where the workers are stationed to take care of the different herds/flocks on this wide spread piece of earth, to the grave site of the first white man in Namibia, Max Kruger. Jorn was extremely informative and we learned tons about Namibia and farming as well as had a blast riding in the back of his 4X4 on all the bumpy farm tracks.
Caracal sheep originally came from Afghanistan. They are black and the young lambs are slaughtered within 48 hours of birth in order to harvest the hides. These hides have a unique pattern that is highly prized in coat making. Most of the consumers of this product are from the Eastern Hemisphere like the Russians and Asians but it also appears to be quite popular among African American Rappers we were told.
The Millers are also “off the grid”. Their house is entirely powered by solar energy. Their refrigerators are low energy consumers and use about the same amount of energy as a light bulb. Jorn has rigged his panels so that they track with the movement of the sun. They are mostly self-sufficient, so they also raise geese and chickens. They grow grapes and are putting in a large vegetable garden.
The next morning we hiked the dry river bed for a while before encountering a black spitting cobra with his hood all flared. We side stepped him and he went on his merry way. The kids then spent a good deal of time searching for crystals and Bushmen tools before we headed out to our next destination. With all of the interesting rocks in Namibia, I figure we’ll be severely over weight in the luggage department on our return journey to the States. Annie wants to pick up every rock she sees and sometimes so do I.

Link to awesome photos of trip by Larkin

2009-03-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

http://http://picasaweb.google.com/larkinpowell/OurFulbrightExperience?feat=embedwebsite#

Larkin's got a camera with a super duper lense and has uploaded some awesome photos of our camping trip complete with commentary. He's definitely more tech savvy than I and the photos are super crisp and clear.

Southern Namibia Camping--Installment Two

2009-03-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

We set out from Windhoek a bit late on the first day and that seemed to set the tone for the rest of the trip. Our first leg was to be from Windhoek down to Helmeringhausen—a distance of about 430 km or 300 miles. We stopped and had lunch at a place called Hardap Dam. Namwater, the national Namibian Water Company uses it for its purposes but there is a recreation area around the reservoir where people can rent “cabins” and have conferences. The facilities there have definitely seen better days, but it was a nice spot to stop and stretch our legs and get a bite to eat especially with the pelicans soaring overhead.
It was at about this point that the tar ended and the rest of the journey to Helmeringhouse was on either dirt or gravel. It rained along the way and that made for some pretty tricky driving conditions but also gave rise to a beautiful rainbow above the countryside. We made it to Helmeringhouse then quite a bit after we had intended.
Helmeringhouse consists basically of a hotel and a petrol station. It serves as a stopping point for all sorts of tourists making their way to various parts of Africa. We had decided that we’d stay in the hotel for the night instead of camping. Having a large family, we were given accommodations across the street in what essentially turned out to be a house which had just as much if not more room than our flat in Windhoek. It was exquisitely decorated with a completely equipped kitchen (except for the fridge), a veranda, braaii pit and garage for the car. It was missing the refrigerator because it was powered entirely by solar energy and the fridge would have taken too much energy to run. The hot water tank was of the variety called a “donkey geyser” (see photo). This means that one must got out and light the fire within the compartment and then wait for the water in the tank to heat up before showering. Once heated, it makes for a wonderful shower.
That evening we ate on the terrace of the hotel under the magnificent stars of the Southern Hemisphere. The “menu” was pre-planned and consisted of several courses—an appetizer of a slice of quiche; a main course of some sort of springbok in the form of a steak with a gravy sauce, sweet potatoes and veggies (delicious); and a dessert that looked like it was prepared by a Parisian pâtissier. We split a bottle of estate red wine that cost about $10 Am and the hostess threw in a shot of Jagermeister after dinner to top it all off.
There was a group of German tourists staying for the night as well (at least we assumed they were German because they spoke the language, but they could very well have been Swiss or other nationality). They were obviously retired and enjoying the fruits of their youthful labor. They had not however lost their youthful outlook on life. One of the old guys pulled out his accordion during dinner and entertained us with his rendition of various folk songs. The rest of the group often joined in with the singing and our girls had a fabulous time running around and dancing to the music. It was all very enjoyable if not rather surreal eating such wonderful food, listening to German folk music and imbibing Jagermeister in the middle of nowhere Africa.

The following morning when we tried to tank up, we learned that although there was petrol, there was no diesel to be found. Ole Bess only drinks diesel and we were a little concerned about finding more along the way. Additionally, I didn't feel so good after the previous evening's Jagermeister. Fortunately for us the next stop was only a couple of hours away---albeit on gravel.

Camping Trip to Southern Namibia--Installment One

2009-03-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a six day whirlwind camping trip to Southern Namibia that was so filled with interesting, exciting and untoward events that it's going to take several installments to get it all down in writing. So stay tuned because it may take me several days.

Larkin Powell, the other Fulbrighter here from Nebraska, had been down this way with his department chair checking on students completing internships. Many are posted to farms for a semester where they conduct research on various forms of wildlife. So, the department chair brought Larkin along with him to accompany him thinking this would be a good way to get Larkin introduced to the farmers so that he can begin conducting his own research to complete that aspect of his Fulbright grant. Having visited many of these places and given that our kids were going to be on a two and a half week holiday from school due to Independence Day festivities, Larkin planned this ambitious itinerary going down to Luderitz, with various interesting stops along the way and taking in Soussevlei on our way back to Windhoek.

Larkin and his family, wife Kelly and son Tristan, rented a 4 X 4 bakkie (pick up) complete with camping equipment and two roof top tents. We, having purchased ole Bess and our own roof topper, simply rented camping equipment to the tune of about $8 Am. per day for all the kitchen equipment, 2 person ground tent, chairs, cooler, lanterns and bottle of propane we needed. We set out on our journey on Tues. 17th of March in our two car caravan for the adventure of a lifetime and boy did it ever turn out to be an adventure. This was our first really big outing and we got to test our limits and learn a lot about travel in Namibia. We'll be adjusting our expectations and rethinking itineraries (calculating for about double the time indicated in the guidebooks for distances over gravel roads). What's for certain is that we don't ever want to travel alone given the vastness of the empty expanses where no gas station, town, village or even farm house is to be found for many hundreds of miles.

Stay tuned for installment number 2--Reid needs the computer to prepare his classes.

English?

2009-03-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

Namibia's only official language is English. However, the great majority of the inhabitants speak Afrikaans and other tribal languages. German is spoken by a good number of people as well. It is certainly a very multi-lingual place in which we live especially in Windhoek where people can switch from one language to another in mid-sentence.
As for the English, one might be interested in taking a short course in the Namibian version of the language before attempting communication with the locals. Take the following as an example: I took my bakkie into the panel beaters' so that the bonnet could be adjusted; while there he also repaired the hooter and filled the tyres with gas and topped off the tank with petrol. Translation: I took my pick- up into the body shop so that the hood could be adjusted; while there he also repaired the horn and filled the tires with air and filled up the tank with gas. If one is invited to a braai one would be eating something barbequed, typically lamb or sosaties (shish kabobs). Don't ask for ketchup with those fries because no one will understand you. You'll be wanting tomato sauce with your chips. When desiring potato chips, one must request crisps. You might also be directed to turn right at the first robot you encounter. In which case, you'd have to take a right at the light. Ask for a serviette (napkin) when needing to wipe your mouth in a restaurant. And give the kids biscuits (cookies) for their afternoon snack. If you want jelly on your toast ask for jam otherwise you'll be served Jello. If all this is giving you a headache you'll want to visit the chemist for a few head ache tablets. Do be polite and tell them dankie when they hand you your docket (receipt). At which point you'll want to head home on the pavement (sidewalk), take the lift from the ground floor (1st floor) to your flat (apartment) and just call for take away (carry out). Perhaps after all this, a visit to the bottle store (liquor shop) is in order!

Wa lele po tate, meme

2009-03-07T05:43:00.001-08:00

Reid and I have been taking language lessons as of late. We contacted one of the Oshikwanyama language teachers who contracts with Peace Corps to provide language training to the volunteers. Oshikwanyama is spoken in the North of Namibia by one of the country's many tribes of indigenous peoples. We've been going about twice a week to her house for the past month or so and we've gotten most of the greetings down. Whether or not we master the rest of the language remains to be seen, however. The grammar is quite complex and most all of the vocabulary begins with an oshi- or om- or an e- making it difficult to distinguish one noun from another. Plurals are made by changing the word's begining. So, for example, oshapi (the word for key) becomes eeshapi in the plural. That's actually an easy one and it of course can get vastly more complex yet.
Our teacher, Rachel Hatutale, tries to incorporate as much of the culture as possible, so yesterday afternoon and evening she invited us over to help cook a traditional style meal. On the menu, mopani worms (caterpillar type creatures that are dried and then "reconstitued" when cooked before being eaten), omohangu, a grits-like dish made from millet flour, evanda, a spinach type dish, and two types of bean dishes (one that closely ressembled black-eye peas). The pièce de résistance, however, was the chicken that we killed, plucked, cleaned and cooked on the open-fire ourselves.
We brought the kids along for the affair and they were about as adventurous as they could be. The girls wouldn't touch anything green, but they did like the chicken. Augustus got the mopani worm into his mouth, but couldn't quite get the nerve up to chew it even with heavy encouragement. I must confess that I probably won't be including mopani worms in my repertoire of recipes, but they were spicy and would no doubt be good in an étoufée had we been able to acquire them fresh instead of dried.
Rachel dressed up for the occasion (see her photo above) and was the consummate hostess. Many thanks to her for working so hard for a bunch of oshilumbos (I probably got the plural wrong on that--no --s plurals in this language). The dishes were all laid out as if it were Christmas or New Year's. In fact the black eye peas and the spinach combination reminded me greatly of our Louisiana tradition of eating black eyes and cabbage on New Year's. Perhaps there is a connection, who knows. Maybe good luck is in store for us yet, despite the fact that we missed out on those items on the first of January as we had just gotten in country. Let's hope so anyway!

Signs

2009-03-04T21:31:00.001-08:00

There are lots of interesting things about driving here in Namibia beside the fact that it's done on the opposite side of the road from the way it's done in America AND the fact that most all cars have a manual transmission AND Windhoek is about as hilly as San Francisco (so some of the streets and driveways actually appear to be vertical). I usually select the route to and from my destination based on the number of hills I'll have to ascend. Ole Bess (the Land Rover) and I are still in the acquaintanceship stage and so, I try not to push her since I don't quite know her limits.

Street signs here can be posted in a number of languages, so at the top of the street the sign might end with ...strasse, the German word for street. When you get to the bottom of the street, the suffix might have changed to ....straat, Africaans for street or it might very well be labeled with the English ..street. Additionally, many of the streets are named for some very "interesting" individuals. Of course there is Sam Nujoma Street named in honor of one of the native Nambians who led the revolution for Namibian independence, but there's also a couple of names of main thoroughfares that make many of us Americans cringe. For example, there's Fidel Castro Street that leads into the downtown area. There's also Robert Mugabe Street that leads out to the mall. The Zimbabweans in exile here, and there are many, must derive a certain amount of pleasure from rolling over Robert Mugabe, at least figuratively. I know I would if I were from Zimbabwe.

When one leaves the city, the wilderness begins almost immediately. Farms sometimes consist of thousands of hectares of "bush". The trees that grow are somewhat scrubby and almost all have thorns. This provides the perfect habitat for a variety of wildlife from the very small, like dassies (hydrax, see above photo) and wart hogs to the very large like oryx and kudu. Driving especially at night can prove to be a dangerous sport for the ill-equipped. Many vehicles come equipped with bull bars in the event that one should encounter a kudu which he can't avoid while travelling at a high rate of speed. Speaking of speed....the tarred roads tend to be treated like the Autobon. Even the gravel roads witness excessive rates of speed. One of the other Fulbrighters recounted that he was a passenger with his colleague who maintained a speed of 120 km (on gravel) for the 400 or so miles from the destination in the South back to Windhoek on a recent outing!

We especially like when we're given warning of possible crossings. We are obliged to take the kudu crossing signs very seriously, but we can't help but chuckle when we come across the ones announcing the wart hogs (see photo above). I guess a good sized male wart hog might cause considerable damage for a Toyota Tazz, but I don't think many of these 4X4s would be much phased if they ran over one. It is always a good idea to keep one's eyes peeled when presented with such a sign, nonetheless. Besides, wart hog babies are just about the cutest darn things we have ever seen.

Rainy season

2009-02-28T07:07:00.000-08:00

It's rainy season here in Windhoek. It has rained virtually everyday for the past month or more. Hard to keep track...but it makes it difficult to dry the clothes, for sure. The rain comes at interesting times, often in the middle of the night. One is frequently awakened by loud claps of thunder followed by down pours that put the rain to shame in Louisiana. We even experienced hail a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe that it hails in Africa, but it does. Fortunately, there aren't any tornados although the wind can get to whipping really hard on occasion. The most interesting aspect about the season is that the city, being so dry for most of the year, hasn't got a whole lot of bridges. Windhoek is an exceedingly hilly place and the water collects in many of the little valleys as is the case of the street that leads out of our neighborhood. It dips down into the path of the river that runs from Avis Dam. When the reservoir fills, an automatic sluice gate opens releasing water into the rivulets. Hebenstreit strasse, the main route to our complex, crosses one such rivulet and makes for an adventure just going to the local market, school or into town. Fortunately, as my husband continuously reminds me, we've got our tank, ole Bess, who has no trouble fording her way across. Often times, we will come across pedestrians who flag us down wanting us to ferry them across. It saddens me that I can't help them, but they always seem to manage to find someone who can. All these rains have made the countryside in and around Windhoek very lush and green. The scenery is far different now than when we first arrived and everything was dry and brown. Emma has even got a few tomato plants into the ground which are already sporting tiny fruit. Her herbs in the pot on the front step are ready for use and the birds are in full force enjoying the fruits of nature's bounty. Augustus is conducting his science project on the different types of bird species in our backyard, so we have all been involved in watching, photographing and identifying them. We've seen at least twenty different species most of which are quite spectatular and exotic---many with long tails and vivid colors. This is truly a bird watcher's paradise and we've all developed a new hobby.

An African Mardi Gras

2009-02-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

It's a little difficult to get into the spirit of Mardi Gras given that there aren't too many Catholics around here and it's not something many Americans know about much less residents of Namibia. Additionally, it's the middle of the summer here, so that makes it a little strange trying to celebrate this holiday. Fortunately, there's a die hard group of Louisianais (or Louisianais by association) who are determined to continue the tradition. Dawn Broussard, a Lafayette native who now works for the CDC here, gave a Mardi Gras party that rivaled many a Mardi Gras party from home. She prepared shrimp étoufee, jambalya, red beans and rice, and bread pudding. There were even crawfish pistolettes as appetizers!!! But best of all were the hurricanes which were free flowing. I had thought that I'd make a King Cake, but the recipe proved to be far too complicated for our little kitchen, so I made French Crêpes instead and filled them with apple pie filling, nutella and brown sugar --in the true French spirit of Mardi Gras.

Many of the staff who work for the CDC here are alum of Tulane, so they came dressed in their holiday finery. Beads were handed out to Americans and Namibians alike and the Mardi Gras mambo music thumped well into the night. Unfortunately, we had to leave just when things were getting really cranked up because we had the kids with us. Haven't yet found a sitter. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it thoroughly and our hats are off to Dawn and her husband who worked so hard to reproduce one of our favorite Louisiana traditions. I wonder what the Namibians who were in attendance thought of it all--wonder if there's any chance they'll carry it on next year??

On Sunday, we took a drive outside of the city to the taxidermist's shop. The term shop really doesn't do this place justice. It's more like a mini-factory. The hunters who come to Namibia for the game safaris have their kill sent to this place to be processed, treated and mounted into wall trophies. We aren't big on hunting, especially when some of the prey are giraffes and leopards, but this is truly a most interesting place. The staff is exceedingly friendly and will tour one through the workshop areas where one can view the elaborate process of making a trophy--from where the skins are treated and stretched to where the workers sew the hide onto the casts/molds. Each hunter usually waits several weeks or even months for his trophy/trophies to be sent back to him in his country of origin. The finished trophies await thoses still being processed, usually they are hung in the workshop display area for visitors to view, and the entire kill is then packaged up and shipped or air freighted back to the hunter in his home country. Needless to say, none of this is cheap and so one must really have a good deal of money to engage in such sport.

There is a souvenir shop which is fun to visit as well. There are zebra and springbok skins for sale. Furniture made from the horns of kudu grace the upper floor. Reid and Augustus both purchased belts made from ostrich which the tanner sized for them on the spot. The girls of course got stuffed plush animals for themselves, a zebra and a leopard. I didn't buy anything...yet. I'm saving my money for a zebra hide that I can take back and use in my living room at home! Won't that be a conversation starter?!

Trip to the Coast

2009-02-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

We went west to the Atlantic coast this past weekend. There are two really neat towns that attract a lot of visitors--Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. It's about a 4.5 hour drive from Windhoek, but well worth the time and effort given that it's two lane roads most of the way. They are, however, tarred (paved) and that's a plus. The road takes the driver through the Namib dessert. It was fascinating watching the terrain change from greenery to absolutely no vegetation whatsoever. We saw a wonderful array of birds along the way and other wildlife. Swakopmund was founded by the Germans, so their mark on the architecture and the layout are still very evident. The streets are lined with palms and every thing is neat and tidy. We visited the National Aquarium which sits right on the beach. It is small but has a nice collection of sea life. Emma got to touch a giant sea turtle's flipper because the top is open and the animals come to the surface to view the people as much as the people come to view them. Afterwards, the kids chased the waves on the public beach. Of course they ignored our warnings about staying dry and by the time we got them into the vehicle, they were soaked. We still had a bit of a ways to go to get to the place where we were staying in Walvis Bay. Walvis Bay is right on the water as well, but the swimming isn't so good there because it is rather muddy. This though is perfect for the flamingos that wade out in the bay searching for things to eat. We stayed at a bed and breakfast called Lagoon Loge run by a French couple. Our room looked out on the bay with the wading flamingos and was cooled by the breeze off the ocean--no a/c. Madame Hélène's dog Jacques played fetch with the kids until the kids got tired. They wanted to take him home, but he had too much energy even for the kids.
On Sunday morning, bright and early, just after enjoying Madame Hélène's delicious breakfast, we set out on a boat tour of the bay. The guide was very well versed and kept it interesting for the 4 hour ride. The winds were calm and the water was like glass. It was truly perfect weather for such an outing. When we arrived, Spotty, a cape fur seal, welcomed us at the dock. He apparently "works" for the tour company. Very gentle, the girls were able to pet him and touch his flippers. He joined us on the boat as well as once we got underway. He just shoots right out of the water and onto the boat and sits right where he wants to. They are such intelligent creatures that he understood commands much like a dog even though he is very much a part of the wildlife of the bay. The pelicans were probably the most entertaining, nonetheless. They would swallow the guide's arm up to his armpit when he tried to fed them. They'd follow the boat when it took to the water and one even landed on the prow while the boat was accelerating away. I'm going to try to upload the video we took, but I'm not sure it'll work, so a picture may have to be posted instead. We visited the oyster farms, seal colony, and cormorant guano platform--yes they harvest the bird poop here to be used in the manufacture of women's cosmetics (Yuck!). We also got to see two types of dolphins, but they were proving to be rather elusive and not interested in playing although we tried hard to follow them. While out in the bay, the guide cracked open a couple dozen oysters and pulled out a couple of platters of hors d'oeuvres which we ate greedily. We also sipped on a few bottles of champagne. The oysters were the best Reid and I have ever eaten. Since the waters here are colder than in Louisiana, there's no fear of bacterial contamination and we ate more than our fair share. Fortunately, there was a bottle of Tabasco to accompany the oysters and we made sure that everyone on the boat knew that Tabasco was produced in our home state.
On the way out of Walvis bay, the kids wanted to get some time in the ocean, so we pulled down one of the paths and took the RangeRover over the dunes to the sea. We had a grand ole time getting over the dune, which was fun, but made us a bit nervous about getting back up the same way we came. A little anxious about getting stuck, we decided to follow some fishermen back down the beach toward Walvis Bay and get back onto the main road the easy way even though Ole Bess could have probably handled it! It was an awesome interlude and we're giving some thought to buying a little place there where we could retire. Of course the locals say that it can get really ugly there when the winds come off the ocean and stir up the sands or when the mist crawls in and lingers for days. How fortuitous that we picked the right weekend to visit when the weather was just perfect!

Where to buy electricity

2009-02-12T01:53:00.000-08:00

We're trying to get used to the fact that we have to buy our electricity before we actually use it. Most rental units come equipped with a device that indicates whether or not the consumer has any available power. The power is purchased by, in our case going down to the local Shell station and presenting a card with our erf number (somewhat of the equivalent of an account number). We're then given a receipt that has a code as long as the Nile. These numbers are then entered into the device that is installed in our entryway. The device has a key pad for entering the proper code. When there is an abundance of electricity the green light appears next to the happy face. When power is getting low, the light turns yellow but still appears near the happy face. The light goes red and appears next to the frowny face when the supply is low. One of our acquaintances told a funny story about the time she forget to check her "meter" and she was down to .5 units at 9:30 on a Sunday evening. Not many things are open on Sundays period much less so late in the evening. So, she left her kids in the house under strick orders not to run anything electrical until she got back. Fortunately, she did find a place that was open. She was worried though that upon her return, there'd be no electricity left to operate her security gate and she'd be locked out. She was thrilled when she got back and there was still .2 units left. Too close for comfort.

Electricity is relatively cheap here at least for those of us who are getting paid in a strong currency. Last month we only spent 400$ Namibian, about $40 American. Of course, we haven't been running the air conditioners and that helps. I am hoping that this experience helps to make my kids realize what a precious commodity power is and not take it for granted. They can actually see the face go from happy to sad and watch us scramble to get more power (we're not always on top of the situation) when we realize we're low. Wouldn't want to lose the contents of the refrigerator to our negilence!

Leopards & Cheetahs

2009-02-11T02:13:00.000-08:00

Took the kids on Saturday to a farm, one of the oldest German farms in Namibia, that now functions as a tourist attraction. The owners now have a bed and breakfast, camping facilities, and wild game. The big draw, though, is the cheetah and leopard drive. Tourists get to see these magnificent beasts in somewhat of a wild setting up close and personal. There are fences and they are mostly fed, but the enclosures are quite large and the creatures are well cared for. The beauty of the leopards just cannot be described in words. The tour guide took us out in a LandRover equipped with viewing seats and canopy, so there's really nothing between you and the leopards or cheetahs. He's got a stash of red meat in a large chest next to his seat and he just tosses out big chunks to the cats who seem to be very well mannered. There were only two leopards and Teddy looked like he was the Alpha male, so Maxwell didn't get anything to eat. There were a number of cheetahs, however, and they all seemed to get their fair share. They make the most interesting sounds that are a cross between and meow and a bark. The cheetahs got really close to the vehicle and Annie did get a little scared for a while. Augustus took some fabulous pictures, but then his camera died--low battery, the kind that needs charging for a couple of hours.

The best part of the entire event though was getting to the farm. It's located about 18 kilometres off the tarred main road on what starts out to be a rather nice gravel road that is relatively smooth and wide. About three fourths of the way there, there is a detour and one must turn off onto what appears to be a headland complete with gates that have to be opened and closed so that the cows don't escape. Because it's currently rainy season, and there are relatively few bridges, we had to follow this headland across a really fast moving river. Fortunately, it wasn't very deep, but we were awfully glad that we were in a 4 X 4. Our friends, who had accompanied us in their rented Toyota Corolla were worried that they wouldn't get across, but they made it without too much ado. Reid says he's going to stop inviting them along because they are undermining his reasons for convincing me to buy a 4 X 4. He shouldn't worry though, I was very happy to be in the middle of the river in a LandRover vs. a Corolla. Reid said the whole visit was worth the drive. He wants to go back again just so he can drive the Rover.

After our visit to the farm, we headed North to Okahandja. Okahndja is noted for its craftsmarket. The kids had a good time bargaining for souvenirs. I think the merchants had a good time with us too. We were somewhat of a pushover with regards to prices. It was a great learning experience for us all.

Track and field Namibia style

2009-02-11T01:52:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday Augustus participated in a small schools track and field meet. There were a total of five schools participating. Most were around the size of Windhoek International in terms of enrollment. St. Paul's though seemed to be the dominant power. Their students won most of the events hands down and they certainly carried the overall competition by earning over five hundred points! Augustus was entered for three events. His coach, Fernando Beukes, signed him up for the high jump, an event he had never even done much less had any expertise in. He nonetheless proved to be a natural. He stood there and closely observed the other boys, who obviously had had a good deal of prior training and got out there and did it. He performed so well he earned second place. He just seemed to natually know what to do. If he missed because his feet were dragging, he immediately corrected for it. It was truly something to watch.

His coach had also signed him up for the 800 metres. We were especially worried about this event because of the high altitude here. It's over 5,000 ft and he hadn't really had the opportunity to do any kind of distance running since we live in a tiny complex surrounded by walls, fences and electric wires (as do most residents of Windhoek). He ran in his bare feet as do all the kids here. It was quite a sight. He came in third with no shoes!

He also participated in the 100 metre relay (each runner runs 100 metres before handing over the baton to a team mate). The last man injured his foot on the last leg and so they didn't fair so well---one of the disadvantages of running shoeless. What a great day for Augustus.

Clarification

2009-02-04T02:36:00.000-08:00

Emma wants everyone to know that she didn't slay the warthog pictured in the slide show. While hiking in Daan Viljoen, we came across a dead warthog. It had probably been shot elsewhere and wandered along the trail where it eventually succumbed to its wounds. It was a bit of a gory sight, but the kids really got to get an up-close view of the magnificient beast. Its tusks were impressive, but he was beginning to smell. We're headed to Okahandja this weekend to visit the crafts market. We are looking forward to purchasing a few souvenirs.

Visit to Daan Viljoen Gamepark

2009-02-03T02:56:00.001-08:00

Joe's Beerhouse

2009-02-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

One of the local favorites around Windhoek is Joe's Beerhouse. It's logo is "Live the Legend". It claims to be an oasis of Namibian and German food as well as "a sanctuary of endless relics" (i.e. empty Jagermeister bottles easily numbering among the thousands among other odd assortments of farm equipment, old toilet tanks and animal trophies. Although some of the restaurant is under a covered roof, most of the tables are outdoors under thatch huts. It's got endless turns and alley ways that easily cover a block of physical space. We ventured out there with another Fulbright couple and their son for a meal Saturday evening. The women had the springbok kabob. Absolutely delicious. The only drawback was that there was a picture of the cute little creature hung on the wall just above our table. Reid had oryx in a bearnaise sauce and Larkin, the other Fulbrighter, had zebra steak. In keeping with German tradition, Augustus had a full platter of prepared cold cuts. He doesn't want to see another piece of salami 'til we get home. The girls nibbled on Reid's oryx and he still had enough to take home for another meal. The whole thing came to about 400 Nam$, about 40 bucks American. We couldn't even eat at McDonalds for that price. I think we'll be heading back there soon especially since we forgot to take our camera along.

We didn't make it to church the following morning. We weren't sure if the mass was going to be in English or Oshiwambo. We had gone the previous Sunday and were surprised when the priest opened up the ceremony in Portugese. Needless to say, we didn't understand a word and the kids were completely annoyed that our mother wouldn't listen to us about leaving early (interjected by Gus!). The order of the mass was nonetheless easy to follow and we knew just when we were supposed to say the responses, but couldn't manage in Portugese! There is a large contingent of immigrants from Angola who have come to Namibia. Angola being a former Portugese colony, it's only natural that its citizens speak the language. The music was completely accapella (sp.?) and totally awesome. Reid and I enjoyed the choir thoroughly. Our kids would have us know it's bordering on abuse to make them sit through yet another service in a language they didn't understand had we gone to the one in Oshiwambo. We didn't want to risk it given that we couldn't remember all of the permutations of the mass schedule. There's a service in Africaans, English, Portuguese and Oshiwambo.....Everyone here is multi-lingual and we feel like we need to be learning some of these quickly, while we still have the ability.

Small World

2009-01-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

Reid and I went down to the Peace Corps offices today in Windhoek and met with one of the APCDs (educ. program director). We had met her at Andrew Harris' dinner party. She had indicated that she might be helpful in hooking us up with a language trainer so that we might learn one of the local tribal languages called Oshiwambo. She was very helpful. We learned that there are seven dialects of the language. We're hoping that we can at least learn a few expressions and greetings in only one of the dialects so that when we travel about the country we won't be seen completely as tourists.

Selma also showed us around the offices and introduced us to various members of the staff. Among the people working there, we came across a certain LeJeune Lockett. LeJeune works as the health director. Well of course with a name like that we knew there must be a Louisiana connection. LeJeune's dad works at Southern and her family lives in Baton Rouge. Although, she hasn't actually lived in Louisiana, she owns a house in Port Allen. Go figure! Her dad is originally from Jeannerette just a couple of miles from my hometown of St. Martinville. We had a wonderful conversation with her and are still in awe over how small the world really is.

Emma had show and tell today at school and took a "tin" of Tony Chachere's to show her classmates. Her teacher was in awe that she spoke so much since she had been quiet as a mouse being the new kid on the block. She told all of her friends about gumbo and crawfish. She said that when you eat gumbo you want to go for more because it's so good, but you can't because you're too full. She also mentioned to her entire class that Reid and I argued in Wal-Mart about bringing Tony's in the luggage. She quoted her father, "Just how much of this stuff do we really need anyway?" Of course, I insisted and managed to bring two industrial size cans. Given that we don't really know what we're eating half the time--meat-wise, I think we're all grateful for the Tony's!

2009-01-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

To get around and see this diverse and beautiful country we bought a used Land Rover. It's a 4-wheel drive, 4 cylinder diesel that purrs like a kitten but handles like a truck. She's a gem. We will be putting a different roof rack on, one that has a roll-out awning and will sport a roof-top tent for camping. We have already tried her out on the rough roads of a nearby game park and she handled them like a champ. My colleagues at the university only say, "Prof, you are driving this big machine?" I'm an American. It's expected.

The world according to Reid.....

Call for children's books

2009-01-27T00:51:00.000-08:00

We've been meeting a lot of interesting people already in our short stay in Namibia. Andrew Harris, a British national, has been helping Reid get connected with individuals who can help him get his research component jump started is one of many. He is married to Priscilla, a Namibian national, and they have a magnificent house out in the countryside in the environs of Windhoek. He invited the family to a dinner party where we met lots of other interesting people who work for various aid agencies, the ministries, or as consultants. We toured his solar powered house, had great conversation and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Getting to and back from his house in our rented Kia on what were essentially paths was an adventure in and of itself, especially at night.

In the course of our evening, I learned from Priscilla that she teaches primary school and is in grave need of children's books. I indicated that I might be of help. Books are terribly expensive here and it is typical that courses are taught without the children/students being issued a text. This is the case for Reid's classes as well--no texts. I thought that I could possibly trouble my friends in Louisiana, especially my educator friends, to send over those books that they haven't got use for anymore. Priscilla is especially interested in gently used and new primary/elementary level leisure reading books with which she could create a classroom library. I intend to leave the entire box that we had shipped over for our kids through the Fulbright program, but in the interim if your children are looking for a good deed to do or a project, we'd be glad to pass them on to Priscilla if you send them to our post box. Softcovers that can easily fit into a large manilla envelope would be best. Our postal address is: P.O. Box 27396, Windhoek, Namibia. Priscilla would truly be delighted.

2009-01-26T01:46:00.001-08:00

We visited Daan Viljoen Game Park this past weekend in our newly purchased LandRover. It's new to us, that is. It's actually a 1995 model, but it's got a diesel engine that we figure will last forever. It's complete with bull bar in the front. Somewhat like driving a tank. I'm not sure that I'll ever get the hang of it especially with this right hand drive. We saw all that the park has to offer: zebras, giraffes, baboons, wildebeests, cutie baby warthogs, etc. It was good to get out of the city and see the wildlife in the wild.

The park has a dam where a number of ducks and birds roost. It was a bird watcher's paradise. Many of the thorn trees are in blossom so the butterflies were out in full force as well. Augustus and I wil attempt to create a slide show and post his pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Settling In

2009-01-20T01:15:00.000-08:00

We're slowly settling in here in our "flat" in Windhoek. It's somewhat small, but adequate. Windhoek is a city, so coming to Africa to live in a city is taking a bit of adjustment. The kids are somewhat hardpressed to find things to entertain themselves. Our "garden" i.e. backyard is about as big as our living room back home. The kids are also a bit put out with us because we have refused to subscribe to satellite t.v. There are only 2 Namibian channels, so virtually everyone who can afford it subscribes to satellite. The system is all set up in our appartment and all we've got to do is take the card down to the place and have them "recharge" it. The card has a computer chip on it and then all one has to do is insert the card into the receiver device and he/she is all set to go. We told the kids that we didn't have satellite t.v. at home and we were certainly not going to have it here. Of course so much of the programming is American: Spongebob, Jimmy Newtron, etc. They're making up for their "loss" every time we visit the other Fulbright families here by parking themselves in front of the t.v. for hours.

The weather here has changed a bit since our arrival. Initially, it was very hot and dry. It's still hot, but the rains have come helping to ease the dryness. This morning the rains came very early in the a.m. When we took off for school there was the most magnificent rainbow any of us had ever seen. It was as if we could touch it. Unfortunately, none of us had the camera handy.

The kids are attending the international school of Windhoek. It's a marvelous place where children of all nationalities attend. When I step on campus to pick up the kids in the afternoon, I easily hear ten different languages walking from one classroom to the next as parents greet their children. It's truly amazing that despite all of their differences, the kids get along and are content to be kids whatever their nationality.

School starts at 7:20 in the morning and dismisses at 1:30 p.m. It's tough getting the young ones up and at 'em but it's the best way to handle things in this climate. Sports and other extra-curricular activities are usually held from 1:45-2:45, so we're easily home by 3:00 p.m. most days. Augustus has signed up for track and field and "football" (soccer here). The girls will do tennis. There's a variety of things to sign up for as well not just sports--crafts, yearbook, musical, extra tutoring, computers, etc. It's a refreshing change from all of that emphasis on sports back home.

There's a good deal of German spoken around here as Namibia was once under German influence. Most of the streets end in the ubiquitous ....strasse (German for street). There are a number of German supermarkets and I was even addressed as Frau the other day. So many of the products are labeled in German that we hardly know what we're purchasing sometimes. We've been eating things like "wienerschnitzle" and boerwoers. I'm even contemplating learning some German even though that is anathema to my Romance languages background. German is just not a very pretty sounding language!

We've purchased a vehicle, finally! It's a 1995 LandRover Discovery--diesel. It's got what they refer to as a bull bar in the front. Apparently, driving outside of the city can be pretty hazardous because of all of the wildlife. It is especially so at night. Many a vehicle has been on the losing side with an oryx. We shall nonetheless be prepared. We're going to outfit it with a roof top tent as well. Don't want the lions taking us in our sleep. So, if we can ever get out of the city, we'll be well equipped.

Reid's classes were scheduled to start yesterday. He showed up all eager to get things underway, but none of his students did. He returned again today for a different course and still no students. One of his colleagues said that the students won't arrive until after pay day so that they will have the money for fees. That's at the end of the month. The International Univesity of Management, where Reid is teaching, is located above and behind the DVD King on Bohnhofstasse. It's got an enrollment of about 1,000 students. Big change from LSU for the old Doc, but he's looking forward nonetheless to his teaching duties.

Hope to post pictures as soon as I figure out how to do so. I'm really having to go up the technology learning curve here. Cell phones, wireless internet devices, blogs--who knew!