Day 15: A busload for lunch

After yesterday's Tuesday started extremely early, it felt even better to have breakfast at 8:00 am today. At home, getting up at 7:30 am was always too early ... here it means almost sleeping in for us. In addition to the daily routine and our guests on the hunt, a busload of 21 people had also announced their arrival for lunch. The tour group consisted of German farmers who, organized by John Deere (a tractor brand), are traveling through Namibia. In addition to the usual sightseeing, they are visiting several farms here to learn about agriculture in Namibia. By the way, such a visit also offers Namibian farmers the opportunity to exchange ideas with German farmers.

After breakfast, the tasks were distributed: Jakob took care of the hunting as the driver and I took care of setting up on the farm.

Although the group had announced themselves for 12:00 pm, there was still much to prepare. First of all, a seat had to be provided for each of the farmers, our regular guests, and of course for us. While the hunting room can accommodate up to 14 people, we needed a total of 29 seats. With all the garden tables and chairs, we managed to get 21 pieces, but we still needed 8 more. So we quickly built a table out of two scaffold stands and a wooden board - covered it with a tablecloth and it was done. Luckily, Bonny had already taken care of the logistics in the kitchen in the past few days. The pieces of oryx and kudu were already marinated and ready to grill, and he only had to take care of the salads. There was potato, pasta, rice, and a green salad - typical German. After the seating logistics were settled, the paths and terrace had to be swept and partially cleaned (if bird droppings or mortar and construction dust could not be swept away). In addition, the sand areas on which the orange and lemon trees stand had to be cleared of leaves and fallen fruit and raked into shape. Then the buffet had to be supplied with plates, glasses, and cutlery, and the freezer had to be filled with beer.

I was just about to load the last piles of leaves into the wheelbarrow and drive them away when the bus rolled into the driveway. While Karsten was the first to tell the guests something about the farm and especially about cattle breeding, I quickly took the opportunity to take a shower and join Grill Master Manni. Manni is also from Germany (even from near Cologne) and has built a house on the farm with his retirement to emigrate to Namibia. He is happy to help out here on the farm when needed, and grilling is part of his honorary duty.

When the guests returned from the cattle enclosure, the first pieces of meat were already on the grill and the salads were in position - the great feast could begin:

After nearly 2 hours, the bus group was fortified for the rest of the journey, and our two hunters had also returned successfully in the meantime. One of them had finally shot his long-awaited zebra. The farmers, who all came from the Magdeburg area, set off towards Etosha, and by 3:00 pm, the two hunters and Jakob were back from the yard. This signaled the start of dismantling on a large scale, but without the spring cleaning like in the morning, it went very quickly.

In the evening, Jens also returned from the boarding school. Here in Namibia, tomorrow is a public holiday, so Jens is off from school. For dinner, Bonny made his allegedly world-famous meatballs. I went to bed at 10:30 pm.