A guest in the garage!

We were cleaning out our garage and I though I'd share some pics of a guest we found living in our spare boxes. You've got to love Africa!

It is a horned baboon spider, a close relative of the tarantula. It is poisonous and agressive but not life threatening. It is a ground burrower and not usually found in a garage.

Here it is reacting to my attempt to shoo it out of the garage with a broom.

Aparently Raid works on really big insects as well. As soon as I sprayed him (and trust me I had to get much closer than I wanted to to do that) all the fight left him and he ran for cover in one of our spare refrigerators. I left him there for a few hours and then came looking for the body. (Otherwise I would never get Kristin back into the garage)

Namibia by Air

Well Kristin insists that I must contribute writing to the blog. I feel I contribute greatly to the blog but she insists that writing must also be done. She even figured out how to make it happen. By asking me to write about something she did not participate in.

Kristin and I really enjoyed our visit to Namibia. Namibia is one of the least populated countries in the world and is mostly covered in desert and savannah and it’s beautiful! Thanks to the U.S. Army I was able to see a large percentage of it when I hired a small single engine plane in Swakopmund for a 3+ hour airborne tour. Originally I wanted to fly over the northern coastal regions because we would be driving south and would miss the region known as the Skeleton Coast. The guide convinced me that the southern tour is better and more importantly I would be the only person on a northern tour and would have to foot the bill for the whole flight. As my boss would say “Uncle Sugar is generous but not that generous.” Kristin decided to stay behind and spend the morning relaxing in our quite comfortable accommodations. Just after dawn I was picked up by the agency and met the 8 German tourists (everybody is German or speaks German in Swakopmund) who would be spliting the bill with me. I lucked out and got to sit in the co-pilot's seat which gave me a great view. Though the pilot was not amused when I joked that if I wanted a better look at something I would just grab the stick and turn. I also got to sit in front of the malfunctioning engine temperature guage which went into the red shortly after takeoff. There was a functioning digital one that the pilot monitored, but he neglected to mention either fact before takeoff...nice. We took of from a dirt runway and were on our way.

This is what it looks like near the coast just inland from Swakopmund, notice how the dunes cluster along the coast. The flat area this side of the dunes is chriss crossed with thousands of vehicle tracks mostly from thrill seekers and the German tourists that flock here.

Further south there we flew over a rocky river canyon which has seasonal floods. The river is there year around but most of it is below ground. It was kind of neat to see the green vegetation that followed the course of the underground river.

Near the river canyon (in south central Namibia) the vegitation is savanah. That is a herd of zebra on the left.

Not far to the West we entered the famous soususflay region with its giant red dunes.

We actually climbed one of these (Big mama) later in the trip (and could not get the sand out of our shoes for weeks) these are the largest sand dunes in the world. We'll detail the hiking portion in a future post.

This is a picture of an old mining camp out in the middle of the desert. Those German immigrants were ethier really tough or really stupid, probably both.

We then hit the ocean and turned back North, it was about this time that I started to notice foul vomit odors from behind me but it was not constant just brief whiffs. At least one of my four my fellow passengers apparently was not enjoying the trip as much as I. The above picture is of one of the coastal wrecks. It is so far inland because the sand ebbs and flows.

Here is an aerial view of the purple salt fields Kristin blogged about. We pretty much drove around this entire picure the day before.

Hey its a FAO ICT picture! This is a photo of Wavis Bay, the best open water port in Africa. As you can see (the original photo is much better) the ocean liners litterally sail up and park. no fuss, no muss, but there did appear to be a bit of a line. We tried to get a good look at it by vehicle the previous day but you cannot get close to it. We did find our way out to the tip of the penninsula though.

A cool picture showing our partner plane and some of the ships waiting to get into Wavis Bay.

Here we are back at Swakopmund our hotel is in the back midde of the town and the ocean front restaurant from a previous post is next to the pier that you can just barely see on the right.

Salt of the Earth

Did you know that South Africa (and therefore most of Southern Africa) gets 90% of of its salt from a seaside salt pan just outside of Swakopmund?



Did you also know that when sea salt is being prepared there is a step when it is purple? Yeah, how cool is that?

Wanna know why? It's kinda gross. Suffice to say it involved bacteria and baby sea monkeys. Yes, really.
www.waterwereld.nu/artemiaeng.html

Did you also further know that when flamingos eat said bacteria their feathers turn pink?

It's a strange world dear readers.
And, because I know you're curious, the salt tasted might salty. Amazing I know. You know what's also amazing? That I would move to Africa and eat strange things off the ground.

Loving the Exchange Rate in Namibia!

So you have seen a little of what I do during the day while Lance is in meetings. In the evenings we like to go out to dinner. Here are some snapshots from a fun seafood place in Windhoek.Look! Lance is showing his teeth while smiling! That one's for you Mom.


Lovely ambiance thanks to Christmas lights and the judicious use of very bright paint. It was a fun evening. I think we had grilled shrimp (great shrimp in Namibia!) and pizza as they had a wood fired pizza oven. The creme brulee was mediocre.

Another great dinner was the next night in the coastal town of Swakopmund. Keep in mind the exchange rate was 1:11 at this point so Americans traveling in Namibia and South Africa can really dine at nice places for very little money.

This one was right on the ocean.



Lance looking all cute in the sunset.


Kristin looking all cute in the sunset.


The sunset looking all gorgeous in the ... um ... yeah.


And this is Lance reacting to that last joke.

I can't tell you how many times in our courtship and marriage I have gotten this look! Can you blame him really? I won't show you a picture of my response because this is a PG kinda blog. We have a system. It seems to work. So that's dining out in Namibia.

P.S. The creme brulee at the ocean restaurant was pretty good. I like creme brulee. It is a food that provides its own brief drum roll.

Don't Mess with a Quilter

Ohmygodisitonly4am?
I can’t sleep. Crummy for me. Worse for Lance because this means I will probably be such a delight in a few hours. Good for you though because, since I can’t sleep because I have travel stories running through my head I might as well share them. Like this one I’m calling, “Don’t mess with a quilter" and takes place during our Nambia trip.

So for three of the four days we were in the capital city of Windhoek, Lance had meetings at the embassy, leaving me to my own devices. I researched and prioritized and on day one hit all the fabric stores I could find! First was formerly De Gama, now Jackson textiles.

What was really exciting about this place is the “Lollipop Line” of Shwe shwee they have on order. Nothing in stock yet but the owner showed off the samples and they are going to be so much fun! We can only get red , blue, brown and the very very rare purple in Botswana. Here’s hoping the brighter colors make their way East.Another surprise was a limited line of 100% fabric printed in South Africa specifically for quilters. As fabric imported from American designers are so prohibitively expensive, it’s great to see the SA fabric industry targeting the quilters.Down a busy street and through three other fabric stores. Most was standard home decor or formal wear polyester fabrics. Nothing that really said “Africa!” Several of the stores had modest selections of large pattern, wax displacement, West African batik but high prices and our upcoming trip to Cameroon kept me from being too tempted. Again, many of the stores "cotton" sections were dominated by fabric produced in China. This at least is the origin story grumbled by other shoppers looking for traditional fabrics. It doesn't tend to be anything spectacular from a design perspective, is really thin and hard to work with. But you work with what you've got so I've been playing with some I picked up in Gabs.
A few hours were spent wondering through the very touristy but kinda fun craft market. Local fund raising projects were there as well as a few local artists. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because my phone was low on juice and I needed to save it for calling the cab home and in case Lance tried to reach me. We were saving the camera (sans charger) for the dunes later in the trip.

So I’m in a “Local Craft Store” seeing stuff that is gorgeous and totally overpriced which I know because I’ve seen it all along a dozen roadsides in four other countries by now. Wood carvings, decorated ostrich eggs, beaded animals galore. At this point it takes a lot to impress me but then these caught my eye and I got excited!
The photos don't do them justice. Very simple and familiar techniques: Hawaiian looking applique, sashiko-like top stitching and crazy quilt piecing. Fan-tas-tic true cotton fabrics! I'm hyped and eager to find out which country they came from. One of the clerks tells me she doesn’t know as her boss orders them.

A few minutes later another clerk tells me, “Local woman.”
Me: No seriously, where do they come from?
Her: Local woman. She makes them in her home.
Me: What?
Her: She makes them and sells them to us.
Me: Right.
And I walk out.

Having just been to a good sample of stores where the "local women" get their supplies and not seeing ANYTHING (!!!!!) like the fabrics used in those quilts I was positive this clerk was totally lying to me.

Screw that. Screw you. I’m outta here.

The next day I found myself in the market's satellite store and asked the clerk there if she knew where the quilts came from. She honestly answered that she didn’t know. Closer inspection revealed a “Made in India” tag sew onto one of the seams. Oh my G. Turns out hardly anything in that store is really made in Namibia! India, China (again with China), Zimbabwe ...

Caveat Emptor I suppose. The clerk in the satellite store commented that many of her peers will tell shoppers that items are by Namibians because they believe it will increase the odds of a sale. Street sellers are always saying that that their items are crafted by their aunts or fathers “back home” so that seems to lend credence. I think this is an international scam as Lance and I purchase a very very leaky cup and saucer while in Korea, made by the shop owner’s father who ironically seemed to be making identical cups for all the other shops on the street as well.

Like I said. Lance and I are increasingly hard to impress. They were really nice looking quilts though. : )

Obama Mania!

So Africa still loves the heck out of President Obama. We do not have world peace, the economy is still doing its thing and, as of this post, flowers and butterflies still fail to magically appear everywhere he steps... but Africa still *hearts* Barack. Feast your eyes.
A poster for an inauguration party. There were no "official embassy" attendees as that would have demonstrated partisanship but I understand there was a small gathering or two attended by people with familiar accents. : ) Lance and I went to one actually so we could 1) support the lovely people throwing the party and 2) in Lance's words, "to demonstrate support for peaceful elections." It was fun and nice to see people (American and Batswana) excited about the future.



Leading up to the elections this store was selling shirts with then candidate Obama and Martin Luther King. It's good that they know who MLK is right? Yesterday they were out of shirts but have framed mini posters available if anyone wants an souvenir. Anyone? Anyone?



These pillows are actually from Namibia and were found in a very touristy part of town. I never thought of the President as snuggly but...


This sign from the airport in Gondor, Ethiopia. Now I know he's a big deal and all but really he should have waited until after he was president to start his own food chain. It just seems like it would be a distraction at this point.


And this is my new tablecloth. Don't laugh - the American Ambassador in Ethiopia has one just like it on the first table you see when you enter his residence. Really! The words are in Swahili and read Hongera Brack Obama. Upendo na amani ametujalia mungu. Translation: Congratulations Barack Obama. Love and peace have been given us by God. This is a kanga cloth, worn as a skirt and previously seen in the Mozambique entries.


So that's Obama mania here in Africa. Shirts do well. Mini posters too I imagine. The tourists buy everything. I'll be interested to see if they are still selling it in a year or so. If he gets a shweshwe pattern like Nelson Mandela then that will really be something. Oh the pressure not to cut off his forehead!

Word to the mothers...

Arthur: It’s at times like this I wish I’d listened to my mother.

Ford: Why, what did she say?

Arthur: I don’t know, I never listened.

- Douglas Adams

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and people with mothers and those of you who are all of the abovers.
: )
Lance and Kristin