Well - here I am sitting in the office in Windhoek at 4pm (office closes at 5pm). We travelled for 30 hours in total with a little delay in Johannesburg (South Africa) while some electrics were fixed. Windhoek is a very small airport but the walk across the tarmac was memorable as the warm fresh air hit us. Palm trees at the door and small prominent hills all around.
We took a really beautiful and interesting drive from the airport (about 40km). I was watching and listening while the others talked. I'm going to have to work out how to note things in the blog as I feel I need running observation records for birds / animals / flora etc and then comment on some of the other things - I don't know when I will have time to set this up!!
From the airport I saw: swifts, weaverbirds nests, termite mounds. Landscape is savannah (fab word) flat scrub and small random bushes with green grass because of the rain. Low but prominent hills surround Windhoek and you don't get an impression of being at altitude.
From the airport I saw: swifts, weaverbirds nests, termite mounds. Landscape is savannah (fab word) flat scrub and small random bushes with green grass because of the rain. Low but prominent hills surround Windhoek and you don't get an impression of being at altitude.
Today we all felt well rested after the flight and had a briefing at 8.30 in the VSO office - only about 5 minutes from the guesthouse.
It must have been 30 degrees today, bright with fluffy clouds that never seemed to hide the sun.
So far the town seems empty and I'm constantly comparing with Ghana which I know I shouldn't do but I guess I'm contextualising. Windhoek seems small and apparently is busy during the day but closes down between 5pm and 6pm and after dark people don't walk around. Slept all night until 6am and wanted to be outside but no where to go apart from the (large) compound around the house. Lovely bushes and a feel in the air like Cairns (so humid I think).
Today I saw a gheko (about the size of a large French lizard) which was red on head and tail during our induction talk and a bokmakierie whilst we were having lunch (bird lovers look that one up!). I think I heard a cukoo(?) so I will have to look that one up. I am paying attention but my senses are grabbed by everything else.
