Spring with a zzzzziiiinnnnnnnggggg

The seasons change rapidly here, or the transition from winter to spring certainly seems a speedy flip from chilly mornings and evenings, when I've needed the heating on and had to buy extra jumpers to boiling hot, simmering days in no-time. Well apart from a couple of days of strong biting winds in-between when I tried to walk uphill in headwinds in search of an elusive Sunday afternoon tea recently but couldn't make it and was blown back down again.

Today is different, calm, beautifully clear, azure blue skies, with the sun's rays beating down on my back. So to mark the occasion, in my lunchbreak today I trotted off up the nearest hill and round the corner to one of Windhoek's best kept secrets - the Cicada Cafe, tucked away at the back of lovely garden nursery called Wilde Eend on Uhland Street. I know what you are thinking....this blog is turning into a guide to food and drink and general over indulgence in Nambia! But food and drink, along with sights and sounds, music and laughter are all part of the experiences here.

I enjoyed a slice of zingy home-made lemon meringue pie accompanied by a tall glass of ice-cold, equally zingy ginger and lemon sparkler while watching the German inhabitants of Klein Windhoek dive into an array of luscious salads. Note to self....must try one of those next time!

From fish to apes and marmite

Last weekend I took myself off on a self-guided mini-walking tour in the centre of Windhoek, taking note of some of the landmarks and orientating myself to find places of interest I want to go back and explore at a later date e.g. the State Museum, National Art Gallery, Craft Centre etc. I stopped to admire the fountain and sculpture on Post Street Mall, made from real meteors commemorating a large meteor shower at Gibeon which happened 600 million years ago! I meandered through the many street stalls selling wood carvings, bead and leatherwork and baskets and stopped to buy some collectors stamps for my postcards home. I dropped into Ocean Basket to treat myself to fish and chips (well what is a Brit abroad supposed to do?) which happens to be one of my favourite foods anyway and cooked to perfection. I tucked in while sitting on the balcony overlooking the street craft market and watched the world go by for a while. You have to take a peek at one of their bizarre TV adverts, check out the prawn pack

Then to work off those calories I set off again on a ramble, pondered for a few tranquil, prayerful moments in the courtyard garden of the Dutch Reform Church, enjoying the welcome shade. And then I continued on to the Owela museum to see the Natural History Collection which ranged from the Welwitchia mirabilis desert plant, through to the endangered rhino and included an impressive display showing the evolutionary history of the elephant. On the other side of the museum visitors can wander through a series of displays showing the history and cultural practices of Namibia's diverse peoples including the Himba, Herero, Nama, Damara and Khoisan. Well worth a visit!

After that and feeling a tad parched in the strong afternoon sunshine, I toddled off to Maerua Mall to down an iced chocolate and slice of pecan pie at the Mugg and Bean Cafe but was disappointed with the iced chocolate because it had coffee in it.  I said to the waitress "but this is a mocha....", she replied, "no it's iced chocolate", I replied "when you mix chocolate and coffee together its a mocha", she said "no its an iced chocolate muggaccino".....oh my how confusing! Anyway I then bought myself a ticket to see "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" at Windhoek's only cinema. I thought the dialogue was pretty ropey at times but the computer generated action and special effects were impressive. I think the best actor award should go to the computer generated "Caesar", voice over and motion capture by Andy Serkis (remember him as Gollum in Lord of the Rings?....I rest my case).

Yesterday, I had a lazy Saturday, firstly a long lie in then a ramble down to get a strong coffee at Caffe Brazza. Secondly I bought a lovely aloe and soft linen home fragrance  reed diffuser from the Body Shop to bring a fresh spring scent into my flat now that the winter cold and wind is showing signs of abating and summer is on its way. A quick dash round Checkers supermarket to stock up on my food for the week ensued and later I joined my new friend Tracy, who runs the Cinnamon Cafe and a lovely little bar next to it, for a very late but delicious lunch at La Marmite restaurant on Independence Avenue. A North and West African venue with a fantastic menu is a place not to be missed. I delighted in one of my favourite African dishes, chicken in groundnut sauce with rice and spinach followed by flambed bananas in Amarula and coffee liqueur with ice cream...hmmmm.....amazing. I didn't need to eat again that day!

On the good life....

Dear readers!

 I'm aware that I've been a bit slack lately and haven't posted on my blog for a while. I hope you enjoyed the slide show I posted up yesterday! I've had my head down the last few weeks analysing data and getting a report finished. My colleagues and I had managed to gather a lot of information from interviews during our field visit. We have heard about some good practices and innovations in responding to protection concerns during the relief phase of the flood emergency, and some key individuals who are championing the cause at field level which is encouraging. However there are still gaps during the return and recovery phase and much work to be done in the next four months to strengthen leadership, coordination, conduct trainings and assist stakeholders to come up with a realistic and practical plan for the protection sector. We have a series of meetings ahead of us this coming week to galvanise more support and commitment across the board so hopefully we can accelerate the process.

Meanwhile on the 'leisure' front I've also been a bit busy too! I want to make the most of my time here. A couple of weeks ago I managed to join the monthly guided tour of the Botanic Gardens which started at 8.00 am on a Saturday morning.  I set off from home in the chilly morning air to walk down to the botanic gardens and I arrived to find a really good turnout, people from all ages and backgrounds had pitched up ready to explore the wealth of plant specimens with the help from our incredibly knowledgeable guide, Wilhem, a very tall German chap. The tour took 2.5 hours and after much searcing, scrutinising leaves, seeds and flowers and listening to numerous anecdotes on plant collecting we ended the tour with a lovely steaming cup of tea and delicious home made cake. During the tour I made two new friends,  a Brit called Beth who works  as a field guide at the P.A.W.S project at Okonjima (cheetah conservation) and Mark who is an American anthropologist, studying management systems and structures in uranium mining. 

The next day Beth, Mark and I decided to go out for dinner at NICE, the Namibian Institute for Culinary Education which is a 'finishing' school for future top chefs in Namibia.  The food is top notch at reasonable prices and the setting beautiful, a myriad of individually themed and beautifully designed dining rooms.

I enjoyed some grilled butterfish on couscous with tomato chutney, accompanied by a refreshing glass of chardonnay, followed by a cassata parfait and coffee. Delightful!

Another culinary find is the Cinnamon Cafe, a quaint cafe attached to Otto's antiques, ideal for a tasty brunch or lunch. I enjoyed a steak roll and then pancakes with chocolate sauce! Browsing Otto's is like stepping into a time machine and being transported back into Namibia's chequered history....

Photo slideshow - Namibian River Adventure, July 2011

Here are some photos I took during my recent field visit with my colleagues from UNFPA and NRCS in six regions in north eastern and north central Namibia.

I'm home

The Eagle has landed in Windhoek after a long but informative and productive road trip. I'm home again and it's lovely.

On the road

Since Sunday 17th July my UNFPA and Namibian Red Cross colleagues and I have been on the road travelling through six regions in northern Namibia which had been affected by flooding, namely Kavango, Caprivi and the four 'O's i.e. Oshikoto, Oshana, Ohangwena and Omusati.


View My Saved Places in a larger map

The purpose of the visit was for me to familiarize myself with the regions, meet key actors involved in flood preparedness and response in regional and local government, local communities and NGOs and to see if there are any outstanding protection concerns now that most people have returned or are about to return home.

Our trip has even involved a two day speed boat ride up and down the Zambesi River in Caprivi region visiting communities that had either moved to relocation camps and were going back to home villages or had been on islands cut off by the floods who had received other displaced people. In between we took in the amazing and beautiful scenery, admiring the transition of vegetation and wildlife along the banks and getting a tad close to crocodiles, hippos and elephants. We camped out under the stars at Kasika and during the night we had some curious visitors, some elephants who wandered into the camp in search of food. I can't say that I rushed out in the early hours of the morning to greet them as it was too cold and they were much bigger than me!

Anyway the trip is nearing an end and we gathered a lot of information. Photos and stories will follow but for now I'm going to get something to eat, pack my case and get ready for an early start tomorrow, back on the road and homeward bound for Windhoek!

What am I doing here?

Hello readers! Greetings from Ongwediva, a town in Northern Namibia where I'm based for a week during a two week field trip to flood affected areas. I've just realised that I've been rambling on for a month now and haven't really told you much about what I'm really doing here have I? I'm not on holiday (honest!) although being in such a beautiful and fascinating country, I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

Anyway, a few months ago I was accepted onto the ProCap roster. ProCap is short for the Protection Capacity Standby Project which is an inter-agency initiative to supply Senior Protection Specialists to UN field missions during emergencies or disaster preparedness phases. There are over 20 of us from different countries on the roster with diverse skills. The roster is managed by the Norwegian Refugee Council and is further supported by the ProCap support cell and Steering Committee in Geneva.

The UN OCHA Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa (ROSEA) requested a ProCap mission to follow up recommendations on a previous ProCap mission to Namibia in 2010. This involves strengthening coordination to ensure protection concerns and issues are identified and addressed expediently during emergencies, especially natural disasters such as floods and droughts, training key personnel from UN agencies, Government ministries and Non Governmental Organisations in protection work and raising awareness of rights of displaced people in disasters and ensuring that protection is included in contingency planning for future emergencies. I am seconded into UNFPA in Namibia for a 6 month period and I'm working with UNFPA colleagues and professionals in other UN agencies, like an inter-agency resource. It is an interesting mission.

What does protection mean? Well according to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee "protection covers a wide range of activities that are aimed at ensuring respect for the rights of all individuals regardless of their age, gender, social, ethnic, national, religious or other background. This requires a collaborative and coordinated response by various national and international actors with diverse mandates, expertise and experience." So in natural disasters, such as flooding, when people have to move away from their homes when flooded out, these activities include making sure every  affected family has access to basic relief assistance (i.e. food, shelter, water, sanitation, health etc), helping families to be reunited if separated during flight, replacing lost identity documents and other important documents, preventing and responding to physical abuse including sexual violence, helping families to rebuild their homes and livelihoods after the relief phase has passed and upholding the rule of law. I'll tell you more about our work as time goes on. Meanwhile enjoy a relaxing Sunday!