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To the new Grinnell Namibia Fellows, everything you need to know to prepare for a year in the desert
The following document contains everything that I wish I knew about living in the desert before I came out here. I hope that it will be of help to next years fellows as they prepare for their year in the desert.
Living with your fellow fellow
Firstly, you will be spending an entire year more or less linked by the hip to your fellow fellow. This can have its advantages and disadvantages. In my case, I knew nothing of Mr. Parr before I came. The key to surviving is communication, understanding and patience. Your other fellow is going to be your best friend for the next year, whether you like them or not. You share the same background (Grinnell education and everything that brings with it) and thus will most likely share a lot of the same ideals and values. Thus your fellow will be the most likely to stand up for the way you see things should be done and they share, more or less, your views on issues that may arise during your stay. Thus, it is essential for you to have a good relationship with this person, especially in a place where you do not necessarily have a lot of contact with the outside world. They can also be a good source of emotional support, which is again essential in such an isolated environment
Insulation for Gobabeb Isolation
Which leads me to my second point. One of the visiting researchers once said "I would love to do a study on the people in the desert, they are just so interesting". And what she meant by that is living in the desert with only a handful of other people you see day in and day out can become a very closed environment. It is like going to a college like Grinnell, except there are only 10 total students who you go to class with everyday and Iowa City is an hour and a half away, but you can only go there once a month. It is essential that you keep perspective on life in the desert. People will take their frustrations out on you and you may be tempted to do the same. Writing a journal and talking with your fellow fellow are the best solutions I have found to keep sane in the desert. And do try and get away for a vacation now and again.
The nitty gritty of life at Gobabeb
Here are some specifics about your living situation that might be nice to know. You will be living in your own apartment. It comes furnished with a bed, duvet, pillow, towel, dresser, and bookshelf. You will also have your own shower and toilet. There is also a fan on the ceiling, which keeps the already cool rooms even cooler. Cooking is done in the Old House. It is a shared facility between about 5 to 10 people at any one time, so it will get really messy and you will most likely have to give out some of your delicious food to no good snitching vultures from time to time. And it is very difficult to get other people to do their dishes, so you are often left with the washing up. There is also a satellite television in the Old House which gets sports and movies and assorted other stations and programmes, but tends to kill the social atmosphere at night. You will have you own workspace and computer at Gobabeb. You will be living in the middle of the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world. It i
s located about an hour from Walvis bay. This is the place where you will do your shopping. There is a supply trip once a month for station workers. There are also Grinnell miles you can use to go in by yourself, which can be a very good break from the monotony of Gobabeb and a chance to get away when you need it. Gobabeb is located at the centre of three ecosystems, the gravel plains the ephemeral Kuiseb river and Namib Dune sand sea. It is a beautiful place. There are 8 permanent staff members working at the station. There are also workers from the nearby Topnaar village that help with station maintenance. Additionally you get an assortment of researchers living at the station for both short and long periods of time. There are also interns that stay the station for about three months that tend to be in you same age group.
What to bring, what to forget and what you will lose
You should bring a really good hat and at least one pair of sunglasses (I broke mine). You should also bring a lot of sunscreen. It is very expensive in Namibia compared to the states. I brought a pair of hiking boots, but never used them. And they took up a lot of space in my bag. You do not need to bring a pillow or blanket. Make sure you have your ATM withdrawal limit changed to higher than US$100. I forgot to do it when I left and it has been a real hassle. Also, make sure you have a credit card you can pay online with an expiration date that does not end during your stay. I found that I have been able to get along just fine without bringing any travelers checks. Just make sure you have an ATM card and a credit card. A good pair of sandals is essential for desert life. For clothes I would suggest bringing summer and fall clothes. Heavy jackets, gloves and hats are not necessary. I mostly wear shorts and t-shirts. It is good to bring sweaters and pants too, because it can get cold in the off
ice in winter. Bring a medium weight jacket as well. I would suggest you buy a cheep camera for your year at Gobabeb. Sand can get in everything and will, especially if you want to take pictures in the dunes. Also, bring some pictures to share with people, they always a good way to break the ice. It would also be cool if you would bring / burn / copy some DVDs. There is often a Gobabeb movie night where we project movies onto the walls, and are always looking for new material.
Piles of Paperwork
I am sure Doug will tell you this a thousand times, but I will tell you this too. It is impossible to get your VISA sorted while in Namibia, especially while in the desert. The VISA constancy agency is horribly inefficient. My VISA has spent more time with Gudren than it has with me this year. The key is to call her a lot. And to be very clear about how long you need the VISA for and what kind of VISA you need. It is also important to check the VISA when you do get it back to make sure that it is the one you asked for and it is for how long you need it. Another thing that we ran into this year was changing plane tickets. Do not try to do it over the phone. Go into Windhoek and either have travel agents change it for you or bring it into the airlines and have them change it.
Dealing with your five bosses
Well maybe not five, but at least three. You will have numerous responsibilities for numerous different people at Gobabeb. We work for Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, but we are based at Gobabeb. You have a direct responsibility to do what Mary Seely (director of DRFN) tells you. You have the same responsibility to Joh Henschel (director of Gobabeb). You will also either work for ELAK (environmental learning and action in the Kuiseb) or SDP (Summer Desertification Programme), adding additional responsibilities. You also have to write Doug love letters from time to time. But the directors never really talk to each other about what projects they want you to do, so it is important that you tell both of them what is currently on your plate. Thomas and I ran into this problem this year. Communication is the key so no one gets frustrated with what they see as a lack of progress in certain areas.
Im a people person, I deal with the $&%damn customers so the technicians don't have to
So what would say you do here? From day to day, (in the RITA position) I work mainly with the computers. Struggling to figure out why the network is not working, fixing broken computers, telling people how to format their word documents, and so on. I do not actually get to do any research. I am in charge of data management at some level, but have not gotten to see much of the data yet. I also work with the Summer Desertification Programme. This is a training programme that brings 15 Namibian college students to the station and takes them through a 2 month research course. Your job will be to help organize and facilitate this course. I cooked for the course, although I think that you will not have to next year. You will also be in charge of the publicity of the station. This includes writing newspaper articles and publishing the Gobabeb update. I have made a webpage that you need to update. I will train you on any programmes, the network and anything you do not know. Thomas and I should be around
for about a month before we leave you and set you off on your own.
Cash in, cash out, outta cash
Namibia is an expensive country. Perhaps the most expensive in Southern Africa with the current strength of the Rand. This makes your time in Namibia very costly. Doug is committed to making the year for you financially possible. But if you want to travel on your own around the country and buy lots of nice little craved elephants to bring home, I would suggest bringing along some extra cash.
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