Departure, arrival & the 1st day

After about an hour of delay, the staff at Cologne-Bonn Airport finally managed to let us onto the plane around 11:00 PM. Half an hour later, we were ready to take off and the A330 left Germany towards Windhoek. Since we are not in the peak holiday season, fortunately, the plane was not even close to being fully booked. Instead of both of us having to sleep on two window seats, I was able to move to the adjacent row and had 4 seats next to each other to stretch out. After the obligatory gourmet dinner on the plane, I was able to sleep almost until 7:00 in the morning.

Unusually well-rested, we arrived in Windhoek the next morning.

After leaving the plane, we had to fill out the entry form, discuss with the border officers that we need a visa for the full 90 days, and even mention that we wanted to make a side trip to Botswana. But since Namibians have learned a lot from us Germans in terms of bureaucracy, it went relatively quickly and we were officially allowed to enter.

In the arrivals hall, Esther & Gerd (the "grandparents" of the farm) were already waiting to pick us up.

First, we had to buy Namibian SIM cards and get cash in the local currency. We had to postpone the latter because of the queue at the airport.

Then we went to the car and onto the seemingly endless dirt road through central Namibia. Trees savanna on both sides of the road as far as the eye can see.

After a good 1 1/2 hour drive, we stopped at a rest area near Okahandja. There, we had a burger for "breakfast" in a rather typical American gas station diner combination. This is where a German immediately learns what "working" means in Namibia. 6 waiters stand at the counter and chat, and after about 10 minutes, we could start with our drink order. Pure deceleration...

Well fortified, we had a few errands to run in the mall and then continued. After all, we still had about 230 km ahead of us to the farm, and you can hardly drive faster than 80 km/h.

We arrived at the farm around 4:30 PM. There, we immediately met the lady of the house, Sylvia, her husband Karsten, Sous-Chef Bonny, and a fleet of about 6 dogs. After the greeting, we went straight to our room - the new home for the next three months.

Unpacking our bags, arranging them a little bit, and briefly putting our feet up before starting to serve dinner.

First, a typical Namibian butternut squash soup, and then oryx schnitzel with mashed potatoes and onion vegetables.

During dinner, we all sit together at the table: guests, family, and us interns. One of our last tasks for the day before going to bed is to put wood on the boiler for the guests. We were in bed by 9:00 PM - tired from the long journey and with the alarm set for 5:30 AM...