Goat behind bars for car theft

There are several papers for sale in Windhoek, in various languages with various viewpoints. As we drive Tristan to school and then on to Poly for me to go to work, we can buy a paper at several intersections for N$3 (about 30 cents, US). We purchase the Namibian, which is an independent paper (there is a government-backed paper called New Era) in English. Yesterday's top story is below, a report from Nigeria. Thought you might enjoy it! I've typed it word for word from the January 28, 2009 Namibian.

One interesting note--I tried to find "the photo" of the alleged criminal mastermind, and several internet sites purported to have the photo. But, they were all different goats and most were photos from the US (like a photo of a 4H goat project in Kentucky). You'll have to use your imagination, I guess. Just watch your car the next time you see a herd of goats...

Goat behind bars for car theft

LAGOS--Police in Nigeria are holding a goat handed to them by a vigilante group, which said it was a car thief who had used witchcraft to change shape.

In a front-page article on Friday, the VANGUARD, one of Nigeria's biggest daily newspapers said two men tried to steal a Mazda car two days earlier in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat as vigilantes cornered him.

A police spokesman in Kwara State has been quoted as saying that the 'armed robbery suspect' would remain in custody until investigations were over.

The VANGUARD newspaper has a picture of the goat and reports that police paraded it in front of journalists in the Kwara State capital Ilorin on Thursday. But that was denied by national police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu.

"The vigilante group arrested the goat and took it to the police, then they told the media." The next morning journalists turned up demanding to see the goat, he said. "But of course, goats can't commit crime."

Belief in black magic and the power to change shape is common in Nigeria, particularly in the far-flung rural areas. The BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says communities often rely on ill-educated and badly prepared vigilante squads to fill the gaps where police will not patrol at night.

Innocent Chukwuma of the justice reform group the Cleen Foundation, told BBC that many Nigerian police officers were poorly educated. "There are officers who don't even have a secondary school education, and the police have a big job to do in finding these people and getting rid of them."

Dolphins and milestones

By the end of this week, the Powell family will have been away from Lincoln, NE for one month. We started keeping track of visitors to NTN on Jan. 7; as of the 26th we passed 1000 hits on the blog site, which is an average of 52 hits per day. It has been fun to watch where people are coming from and guess who has been on the blog. Libby, MT is easy, but Athens, OH--we still haven't figured out who you are. It's good to know we are still connected to our friends and family back home.

This past weekend, we traveled to the coast to the town of Walvis Bay. Walvis means 'whale' in Afrikaans, and the area is the recipient of oxygen-rich, food-laden currents coming north along the west coast. Whales visit during certain times of the year. We had the fortune to be on a marine cruise when a large number of Dusky Dolphins showed up (estimated by our skipper at 800-1000). They are small, deep-water dolphins (only 1.5-2 meters in length, compared to 6m for the bottlenose dolphin). We'll try our first video posting here. Kelly is the photographer, capturing some close-ups and some great footage of just a portion of the sea with dolphins popping up everywhere. Just click on the play button on the video below.

More photos of our quick trip to the coast are found on the Picasa link to the left. We enjoyed the trip, which was 4-5 hours from Windhoek (5 hours going, 4 hours returning--because Larkin got used to going 120 km/hr (a little over 70 mph) on a two-lane, narrow road with construction. It reminded us of Hwy 169 between Lamoni and Leon. Walvis Bay is also one of two shipping ports, so the road is used by all large trucks carrying goods to the country. Most local drivers wanted to go about 140-150 km/hr on the hilly roads. So, you can probably imagine why they were happy only 40-some people died on the highway over the holiday season (December) this past year.

Despite the harried road conditions, the scenery was spectacular along the way, as we went from relatively lush and green Windhoek to the eventual completely barren sands of the coastal dunes. The cool winds off the sea caused Kelly to ask if we could just stay the week, or perhaps the year, in Walvis Bay. It is a great place, and we'll be back.

A river runs through it...sometimes

Readers of NTN may appreciate a little shorter blog than my multi-paragraphic contributions of the past week. I'll try to keep this one short, with more photos than text.

Classes do not start at Polytechnic until Feb. 2, so I took advantage of an open afternoon today to travel with my Poly colleague, Dave Joubert, to his study site east of town. We picked a beautiful afternoon, but as soon as we cleared the hills surrounding Windhoek, it was apparent we were heading directly into a rainstorm that would make the Nebraska Sandhills proud. The purpose of our trip was to check Dave's rain gauges, which he thought were close to full already. Going back was not an option.

Dave's study site is near the campus of an agricultural college, and the gravel road runs across a twisting river bed 4 times. That is, the road is straight, and the river twists across it. Normally, the river bed (like most river beds in Namibia) is dry most of the time. Before we reached the site, the skies opened. We made it across the mostly dry river bed, and checked his gauges. On the return, we found a river that had risen by a couple feet. We made it across in the 4x4, at one point driving downstream (in the middle of the river) to find a better way out. Dave is a great river driver.

The most interesting experience was when we got back to the first portion of the river we had crossed on the way in. The river bed was still dry here--we had crossed the upstream portions and evidently the water hadn't made it to this point yet. So, we stopped and waited for the river to come to us. The photos here show the dry river bed and then a full river--it was pretty slow moving as the river was fairly wide. A heron was following the water as it moved along--evidently some food was being washed along, too. I'm sure there are some interesting fisheries/aquatic organism questions an ecologist could explore here--like what happens to the fish/turtles/etc. when the river goes dry after the rainy season. Or, perhaps these streams never have any aquatic organisms in them, if the water goes down quickly between rains.

Watching them watching us

Inauguration day was interesting to watch from the our side of the pond. We started the day by getting a copy of the English language paper, the Namibian. The cover was filled with a photo of Mr. Obama, and the paper included a large insert about the inauguration. We can buy a copy of the paper from guys on street corners as we drive to school and work, for N$3 (30 cents US).

As I went through the day, my colleagues continually talked about the transition and the new president. They certainly follow American politics, and the general feeling was that he has a big row to hoe. Agreed.

Obama has certainly sparked a light in many Africans, who are extremely proud that an African-American is now president. Interestingly, some discussions I overheard in the past week focused on whether Obama is really African-American. The context for these comments is found in a country where "black" means pure African and "colored" means a product of a mixed marriage many generations ago. From that perspective, Obama is not even colored, as many generations are required to fit that category. But, the majority of the people I talked with and listened to were very excited about one of their own making it big.

The culmination to the day came with an invitation from the US Embassy to attend a celebration of democracy. The event was mostly for Namibians, but the Embassy also invited the Fulbrighters and some other select Americans in Namibia. Spouses were not invited, so Kelly hosted a kids/spouse party at our house (our cable TV with CNN was the drawing factor). At the Embassy function it became clear pretty soon that the focus was for the US to do a little "democracy evangelizing" as one of my Fulbright colleagues labeled it. The event was held on a soccer field, under some very large tents erected for the occasion. There was a free bar, free food, and the Prime Minister of Namibia attended. The US Ambassador spoke, and she made a point to emphasize, repeatedly, the "peaceful transition" that is our tradition in the US. She congratulated Ghana on their recent elections and transition.

Again, context is important. The honest truth is that Namibia exists as a democracy, but under the 'veil' of democracy there are the same "powerful African male" syndrome problems that plague other countries. Powerful guys who do not want to lose power. There is one political party in Namibia (SWAPO) that holds power, although there are perhaps 40 or more smaller parties. Currently, SWAPO (which is the party that led the country to independence) is undergoing an internal division. There are reports from the northern part of the country that some of the 'problem members' of SWAPO are encountering some resistance (mild word) from SWAPO. It will be interesting to see what goes on as the elections in November draw near. The reality is that there is a large lower class and a small upper class in Namibia, and no real middle class. One of the only ways to get into the upper class is through political gain. On the flip side, if your party loses, it may mean going back to lower class status (income, etc.). So, you can see why SWAPO members want to remain in power.

What all that meant tonight was that the US Ambassador's speech repeatedly made the point to the folks in the room (I assume many SWAPO elite) that peaceful transitions were important to democracy. I'm not sure if they went home thinking, "Wow, maybe we'll try that." But, they were there and the message was delivered.

The attendees of the function enjoyed Obama's speech, and any reference to Martin Luther King or African relations got big applause. The biggest applause and laughter during the evening came during Dr. Lowery's incredible benediction. I personally hope Rev. Ricky Warren was listening and taking notes...! But, I digress. The Namibians really enjoyed the "red man can get ahead, man" and "yellow will be mellow" and "whites will do what's right". As one of my Fulbright colleagues pointed out, we were some of the few white people in the audience. Good point.

For me, the most poignant moment of the night came during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. Years ago, I was a member of the Creston High School Anthem Singers, who sang at basketball games and such. It's been over 20 years, but I can still remember that bass part--at least for the last few bars--and it's fun to hum along. But, tonight, as I listened to the words and heard the music of my national anthem from afar, it was a touching moment. Not sure I've ever felt as American as I did right then. I tried to sing, but ended up having to listen. It was probably just a piece of chicken that was stuck in my throat...

Big cats at Amani Lodge

The prescription for restlessness is activity. So, feeling restless, the Powell's set out on a mini-adventure to start our travels around Namibia. Looking through possible day trips, we decided to reserve a spot at Amani Lodge for the Big Cat Experience. The lodge is 20km southwest of Windhoek, and the guidebook claimed it was the highest inhabited place in Namibia, at about 2200 m elevation.

We were happy that this is the slow season, as a 10 a.m. phone call resulted in a 2 p.m. reservation for lunch and a spot on the game drive. We have photos of the experience archived on our Picasa Web Album, with captions to provide some details of what we saw. Here, I thought I'd talk about the lodge and their conservation efforts.

When conservation and ecotourism mix, it's always interesting. It is possible for some ventures to go too far to the tourism end, and do almost anything to make money. Think about the road-side zoo's that appeared in the US during the 60's as the interstate highway system started to provide a captive audience of bored people. On the flip side, it is certainly possible to design an ecotourism venture that provides income to support important conservation efforts. After spending the day at Amani, it seems the latter describes their venture.

The road from Windhoek, which is the main road to Walvis Bay on the coast, became a gravel road after 10 km. The little entrance road to Amani was a fun test for the Toyota, which we have affectionately named "Polly" (because it has a Polytechnic sticker on each side). When we arrived, they had our table waiting for us. We were the only people dining at 2 p.m. in a gorgeous thatched dining area. Many of the tables and the bar were made from native trees, and the entire lodge blended into the hillside very well.

The game drive at Amani consists of a driving adventure through hillsides and canyons to reach three fenced areas. Each area holds a different large cat. We first visited the lion area, which is 25 ha and holds a male and female lion. These guys were brought to Amani when their owner, who had raised them from cubs in his house, figured out that lions could eat him. They will be at Amani for their entire life, as they could not be released to the wild. First, they are still somewhat aggressive and were raised with humans--not a good mix. And, they've been in captivity their entire life. The lodge has built a viewing stand/blind and every afternoon some brave soul spreads meat parts around right before the game drive comes by. As you can see by our photos, you get a very close-up view of lions. The guide gives a good, hushed talk about lions. It's certainly not seeing lions in the wild, but it is creative way to bring in some income from a pair of lions that might have been euthanized if Amani didn't take them. We could hear the lions roaring during the rest of our visit.

Next stop was a leopard, which lives alone in another large area. The leopard came to Amani from a farm in South Africa, where it was found with a very injured front leg. Although it was a wild leopard, the injury has kept it from returning to the wild. Amani has been working to rehabilitate it--and in the past 3-4 months, it has gained enough strength in the leg to start jumping up in trees like leopards should. They place meat high in a tree to lure it and train it to jump again. Kelly pointed out that a person has to climb the tree to place the leg-o-game for it, so someone gets some fun. We asked the guide about this, and he said they fill that position daily...!

It was raining off and on during the first part of our drive, so we returned to the lodge for coffee and a fire in their braai. It was fairly cool high up on the mountain, and most of our group decided to call it a day. However, we had not seen the wild cheetahs, and we voted to go back out. It turned out to be an excellent decision. Not only did we have the guide to ourselves, now, but the rain cleared. And, the others missed the best part of the day.

Amani has an agreement with the Cheetah Conservation Fund. One of the CCF's functions is to serve as a holding center for cheetahs that might otherwise be killed by farmers. Cheetahs are a species of critical conservation need world-wide, and they have been the focus of much research because of their low genetic variability. In Namibia, cheetahs are doing very well, because their habitat is mostly intact because of ranching (similar to how the Nebraska Sandhills is keeping grassland habitat intact, because row-cropping is not possible). The problem in Namibia is that sheep are tasty and cheetahs often become pests to farmers. So, the CCF provides an option--offering to take cheetahs and relocate them if they become problems.

Amani serves as a 'half-way house' for cheetahs. They have a very large area for them to essentially run wild. Just 4 months ago, Amani released 5 cheetahs to Namibrand, which is another, much larger reserve in western Namibia. The cheetahs were marked with GPS tracking collars (paid for with our entrance fees to Amani), and are hunting on their own. We got to see their replacements--5 new cheetahs brought from CCF. The 5 cheetahs we saw are 2 sets of brothers who came to CCF as cubs. They are now full-grown, but not ready to release to the wild. Amani is training them to eat and work collaboratively. Competition is fierce in nature, and our guide explained how cheetahs are smaller-framed than other cats, which allows them to attain their fast speeds. But, they often lose their prey to other carnivores once they catch it. So, cheetahs must eat quickly in groups--no waiting for each other to eat in order of hierarchy. And, this is something that must be learned.

We got to watch as our guide threw out a zebra frontquarter--less than 5 m from the truck. We got a front-row seat as the 5 cheetahs lined up like little feeder pigs at the trough and found their section of leg. They grip the leg and each other with their dew-claw. One of them actually got his dew claw caught on his own face for a bit, and he was frustrated about that. It was a great experience to see it so close. We are fairly certain that liability insurance probably would limit this attraction in the states, as there was no rail, no fence, no anything between us and the cheetahs.

Thus ended our first major exploration of ecotourism in Namibia. We enjoyed seeing some big cats close up, and felt very good about the objectives and motivations of Amani Lodge. It was amazing how 'wild' their area seemed, only 20 km from Windhoek. But, in the drive to and from town, we passed about 6-7 cars on the road--it doesn't take much distance to get into the bush!

Pools, braais, and rain

Our second week in Windhoek was a relatively slow one. Polytechnic doesn't start back to classes until first week in February, so their faculty are mostly on holiday until this coming Monday (19th). We had a bit of time to get settled and find our way around town, as well as getting the house arranged as we wanted. Tristan has changed bedrooms, finding windows (with breeze) to overpower the Strawberry Shortcake theme of the room with the windows. The astronaut-themed room did not have much breeze and it's been in the high 80's and low 90's here--our house is like most without AC or furnace. Kelly has rearranged the living room furniture, stored most of the Egyptian-themed pharoah ornaments from the room (kind of spooky always looking at you with that odd glare), and has really shaped up the kitchen as we continue to figure out we don't have a certain item.

My week has mainly focused on the pool. Never thought I'd write that in a blog, but we have a small pool in the backyard. Problem is that it is not heated or covered. The temp gets up to about 79-80 during the day, which is bearable now. But, it slips to 74 in the morning. The pool also loses lots of water through evaporation, and water is expensive (and scarce) here in dry Windhoek. We started the week working on a cheap idea for a water heater. Fellow Fulbrighter Reid had an idea to pump water through dark pipes, as the Namibian sun is brutally hot and direct--certainly the best place on earth for solar power, as there are rarely clouds (but read below). So, we went to the store and bought 25 meters of dark blue pool hose. The ingenious system pumps water from the pool, through the coiled hose (where the water is warmed), through the filter, and back into the pool. We can report limited success--the water returning to the pool is definitely warmer to the touch, and holds promise. But, the 5-6 degree (F) slippage in temp at night will never allow our crude little solar heater to hold its own. We went to a pool store to look at proper covers and they wanted US$500 for on that fits our pool. Not in the budget. We've purchased a tarp, and will report on the success of this system in later blogs.

Our first meal in our house was a BBQ-type meal, with chicken kabobs purchased at the store and grilled on the infamous Lark-0-Matic Beach Grilling System. For those of you who are not familiar with this device, it's time to become informed. Essentially, it is a aluminium pan made for roasting turkeys that is transformed into a portable grill--the kabobs are placed across it and the charcoal inside. Go here to see more information on this system--it was developed in Puerto Rico when Larkin had $200 worth of chicken and vegies and no grills on the beach with which to cook. We have now spread the Lark-o-Matic to Africa, and hope to have all continents in play soon.

But, admittedly, the Lark-o-Matic did not live up to expectations of the locals, who take BBQ'ing to its fullest extent that I've ever seen. BBQ here is called 'braai' and it is all open-flame. Can be used as noun or verb or adjective. Attend a braai. Braai out. Buy some braai meat. In most backyards, is something that comes close to looking like a BBQ pit at a large state park in the states. Ours is housed under a thatched roof, which comes in handy when it rains and the braai must go on. Our first use of the braai was last night, and we cooked lamb chops and some bread called 'toasties'. Specifically sold for the braai, the 'toasties' are little squares of bread that come pre-buttered in the middle; ours had sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary as well. Tasty treats. The lamb was good, as well. May be hard to leave our braai in a year--it comes with a in-braai light so you can braai in the dark. We used charcoal for our first braai, but will go to the commonly used firewood for our next braai. Every grocery store sells firewood in packets a bit larger than you'd buy at a gas station in the states.

The week ended with a wonderful thunderstorm, which transitioned into a gentle rain for most of the evening and night. It had not rained since we arrived. Windhoek's climate is very dry, and we constantly find ourselves thirsty and drinking water. Saline nasal spray is pretty common for newcomers to adjust, and several newcomer kids get nosebleeds because it's so dry. Suffice it to say, we were happy to see precipitation, and Tristan decided to run out and enjoy getting wet.

Shopping is a group effort....

Greetings everyone! I understand there are questions about "shopping" here in Namibia. Shopping is a big adventure here - at least for us because you never know what you are going to find or how much it will cost.

As far as groceries - we have a smaller grocery store right in out neighborhood and then there are larger supermarkets around the city. Our neighborhood store is called "Baines" and is in a small shopping center with a pet shop, hair salon, cafe, etc. The biggest grocery store I've heard people talk about is Super Spar (not sure on the spelling) but we have not shopped there yet. We've tried a large "Pick n Pay" grocery store - about the size of Super Saver in Lincoln. We were just there today and the lights went out right when we were done shopping and ready to check out. I think they just blew a fuse because the other stores in the shopping center/mini mall still had lights on. It took awhile for them to get the lights back on so we found chairs in the back of the store where they were selling plastic patio chairs. Some of the freezer lights were still on so you could see a little. One other shopper had a flashlight (don't know why) and was continuing to shop using a flashlight!

The Pick n Pay has a bakery (ALL the stores bake bread each day) with these awesome jumbo rolls they call "broachens." They are like a cross between a roll and a hoagie. You can just eat them or make a sandwich. All stores have broachens but the Pick n Pay has cheese broachens and garlic broachens to use when you "braai" (rhymes with try), or grill out in the backyard. Having a braai party or just using your braai is a way of life here. Many kinds of meat (chicken, pork, beef, lamb) come already marinated and even on kabob skewer - ready-made for the braai. Lamb is readily available and seems much cheaper than in the U.S.

The bakery also had several kinds of different meat pies (hot and ready to eat) that cost less than a dollar American - just meat (chicken, sausage, etc.) wrapped in a flaky crust. Some come in the small pot pie tins like in the U.S. At lunch time there will be a line of workers getting a meat pie for lunch. Side note - ground meat is called "mince" here.

Another great store another Fulbrighter friend (Joy from Michigan) introduced me to is the "Fruit & Veg" store in downtown Windhoek - and it lives up to its name. More variety and better quality produce than the regular stores we've been to so far. If you like fruit, Namibia is the place to be. Super mangos, nectarines, peaches, pears, prickly pear (like the cactus), many kinds of apples, and I even saw "paw paws." Now, we have not tried them yet but my grandmother, Wanda Derry, used to sing us a song when we were little about "pickin up pawpaws and puttin em in the basket." I never knew what a paw paw was but they are as big as a squash! Speaking of squash - they have lots here including pumpkins. They have a small dark green squash (orange-sized) called a gem squash that is supposed to be similar to an acorn squash on the inside. The pineapples are luscious - they are smaller than in the U.S. and are VERY prickly but very good and the core is much softer than back home. Remind me of the pineapples in Puerto Rico actually.

Lettuce seems to be a special item as it is not always available. The Fruit and Veg gets leaf lettuce sometimes (I'm told) and they did have iceberg but I'm not sure I've even seen lettuce anywhere else yet. Tomatoes are available - smaller and they come totally green but they ripen quickly in your window and have more flavor than "store" tomatoes in the U.S. I'm totally loving the avocados here - they are 2 to 3 times bigger than the avocados in Lincoln and cost about 99 cents in American dollars - and they are always perfectly ripe here (at least so far).

Now my stampin' friends already know how much I love to make salsa (with avocados) but my salsa dreams have been crushed as I have yet to find a can of black beans and tortilla chips are nonexistent here!! Can I go a year without chips and salsa???? Flavored chips are readily available everywhere but NOT tortilla chips or even plain Frito chips. They have Doritos, Lays, and other brands but they all have "sour cream and onion" or "sweer chili pepper" flavors. Now Joy did take me to a Woolworth store in the mall that had a "gourmet" food section in the back where they did have some Mexican food items (pricey) and they did have ONE very sad small bag of tortilla chips left on the shelf for about four dollars American and the chips were all crushed to crumbs and dust. Maybe if I hit it on the right day there might be a good bag - but it's not looking good. Mexican type food is hard to find apparently - Pick n Pay had a few "Old El Paso" products but not many.

ANYWAY, back to the Fruit and Veg store - one of the best things about the store is the counter after you check out where you can get an awesome fruit smoothie. They have a big glass case with ALL kinds of cut up fruit and you can pick any kind/combo of fruit you want (they fill up a bowl) and then add a little fuice and some ice cream - and for one dollar American you've got a luscious treat - very cheap for a fruit smoothie!! You can even have them fill up a bowl and just take the fruit home and save yourself the labor of chopping all the fruit.

Well, I'll add more later - but all of us Fulbrighters are constantly sharing tips on what we found in this store or that store or asking each other if you've seen "this" or "that" - like flat sheets for the bed - they are a rarity here. People sleep on a fitted sheet and then have a comforter with a duvet cover - nothing else on top! We noticed this trend in London in our hotel as well!

Bye for now!