Swakopmund, Namibia

Our drive from Sossusvlei was long and slow (a majority of the trip was on gravel roads). We saw a lot of wildlife along the way (mostly  springbok, oryx, and wildebeest) 

Wildebeest

We stopped at Soltaire for gas, coffee, and snacks.  I think it's the only gas station between Sossusvlei and Walvis Bay (which is next to Swakopmund).  It was such a cool little place that we had to take a few pictures.

the general store

Population sign with the crossed out numbers

Back on the road, we passed through some pretty amazing sights as well as seeing more wildlife

Next stop Swakopmund!  This is a beach resort town with lots of little coffee shops, art galleries, antique stores, and restaurants.  We had a great time here too.  We went sand boarding, visited the aquarium, ate lots of delicious seafood, had a family run, and hung out on the rooftop of hotel and read books.

Aquarium

Rooftop reading

View of the beach from our hotel

View of the town from our hotel

Writing a card to her penpal 

Riding up the sand dune

Getting ready for the ride down

So fun!

Next up - Etosha

Sossusvlei, Namibia

We left Windhoek and headed to Sossusvlei.  On the way, we stopped and took mandatory pictures as we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn. 

Sossusvlei, in the Namib Desert, is known for its gorgeous red sand dunes, which are some of the largest sand dunes in the world. 

This part of the trip was so cool!  The sand dunes were stunning!  Some of the views made me feel like we were on another planet.  The star gazing at night was wonderful too.  I don't know if I've ever seen so many stars at once.  Namibia is one of the top destinations  in the world for star gazing because it of it's low levels of air and light pollution and smaller population. (There are three times more people in Luanda than in all of Namibia) 

The weather was pretty cold in the mornings and then overbearing hot in the afternoons.  The food at our lodge was great (lots of game meats to try), the canvas tent/rooms were air-conditioned and the people were super friendly.  

Our desert lodge.  This about as 'roughing it' as I like to get. (with
A/C)

Afternoon drinks and a few rounds of cards (Sleeping Queens)

Dinner under the stars.  

Orxy

Those beautiful red sand dunes in the morning light

Posing with a large spider.  That's as close as she dared get to it.

Our climb up Dune 45 (notice the tiny cars and people off to the right)

Resting after our climb up the dunes

Deadvlei.  This place was so amazing that even my little iPhone camera pics came out great!

Rainbow

Sunset drive

Reagan enjoying the sunset

Rock paintings

That thing in the tree is a weaver nest.  It's a home to birds about the size of my hand.  They keep building and building and sometimes the trees fall because the nests are so heavy.  The birds live several generations in one nest.

Next up on the trip - Swakopmund

Windhoek, Namibia

Windhoek

We flew into Windhoek and spent the first night there.  We also arrived there on our last day and had most of the afternoon to look around too.  It is a very pretty capital city!  We spent some time walking around the shops, had a great dinner with tons of game meat (the first night), a nice lunch (the last day), and visited some of the sites.

Independence Memorial

Parliament building

Driving on the right side of the car (The first drive out of the airport was during a downpour.  Fun stuff)

Dinner at Joes Beerhouse

Yum!!

Next up on our trip - Sossusvlei

Spinach and Chorizo Frittata

Ok, this is really delicious! And easy.  I made this for dinner the other night and the three of us ate the entire thing.

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 link cured chorizo (5-6 ounces), diced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
around 1/2  cup frozen spinach (defrosted)
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sauté the onion, garlic, and red bell pepper in the olive oil, in an oven-safe pan (I use cast iron).  Once softened, add the garbanzo beans, chorizo, paprika, and spinach.  Cook 5 minutes.  Next mix the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper then add to the pan. Let cook for a few minutes, until the sides are starting to set. Move pan to the oven and allow to cook until the top is firm and set.  Serve warm or room temperature.  We served these with corny corn muffins that my six year old made.  Delicious, easy meal.

Apricot Almond Biscotti

Biscotti.  Mmmm.  It doesn't last very long at my house.  I just love the combination of the apricots and almonds.  And then, you get to dunk it into a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Bliss!!

Here's my recipe.  You can change the nut, change the fruit, change the vanilla to almond extract, or leave out the bourbon. It's very easy to change and adapt to your personal tastes.


3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/8 cup milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon bourbon
3 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup almonds (chopped)
3/4 cup apricots (chopped)

Preheat oven to 350.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat eggs and sugar until completely combined then add milk, vanilla, bourbon, and oil. Once everything is mixed well, fold in the almonds and apricots.  It won't mix in very well and you will probably have to use your hands, but it will  turn out great.  Trust me.
 Take the dough and make two loafs on the parchment-lined baking sheet.  

Bake for about 25 minutes or when the dough is firm to the touch. 

Let cool slightly and then, using a serrated knife, cut into slices on a diagonal. Arrange slices cut side down and bake until nicely golden brown (about 15 minutes).  You should flip the biscotti about half way through this second baking so they are uniformly brown and delicious.

That's it!  Fix yourself a nice cup of coffee and dunk away.

Gindungo - a crazy hot condiment

This sauce is used as a condiment in Angola. It is made with a gindungo pepper.  I love hot, spicy foods and this is the hottest thing I have ever tasted.  I put minuscule dots of it on my food because it is so hot.  What I'm trying to say is proceed with caution.

Oh, and the biggest warning is if you attempt this recipe, use gloves when handling the peppers.  If you don't have gloves, use plastic baggies.  Something.  Anything.

1 package of gindungo peppers
2 bulbs of garlic (skin on)
2 med onions, (skin on) cut in half
salt
2 teaspoons vinegar
oil (to taste)

Take a container of gindungo peppers and place on a parchment line baking sheet (leave stems on for now).  Add a couple of bulbs of garlic and a couple onions (skins on). Season with salt and drizzle with oil. Roast at 350 until the peppers are done (about 30 minutes).  Allow to cool enough so that you can handle them.

WITH GLOVES, take the stems off the peppers (leave the seeds) and place in a food processor.  Remove the garlic and onions from their skins and add to the peppers.  At this point, they should be easy to remove from the skins.

Add 2 teaspoons of vinegar, salt (to taste) and puree.

From here, you can dish out a little bit of the pepper puree and add a lot of oil to it and use it sparingly on foods.

I dip bites of meat in it, top my pizza with it, add it to my hummus, etc.  But in very tiny amounts.You can also add a little to soups or other sauces.  

I've heard you can marinate meat with it but I would be scared to do this for fear of being unable to eat the meat.  

innocent looking ingredients going into the oven