False Travel Namibia 15

False Xxxxxxx 16 Travel Namibia The first graduates of NICE – Namibia’s own version of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Restaurants – have all walked straight into new jobs. NICE ( the Namibian Institute of Culinary Education) trains young, aspiring chefs to work in the increasing number of up- market lodges, camps and hotels in Namibia. Previously, many establishments have had to turn to South Africa to recruit quality chefs as training facilities in Namibia were inadequate. The institute is a ‘ living classroom’, with the students all working for the NICE restaurant and bar in Windhoek. It’s hoped that ultimately the restaurant and some fee- paying students will fund the 16 non- paying students through the year- long course. Rhino baby NICE work Moro >> News · views · people · places · conservation · community · wildlife · culture The first graduates of NICE credit NamibRand A dopt a fairy circle Mysteriosteriosteriosteriosteriosterious bareareare circcirccirccircleses in the sand dot the landscape along the edge of the Namib Desert stretching from the northwestern Cape into southern Angola. These “ fairy circles” are found in abundance in NamibRand Nature Reserve and while numerous scientists have researched these circles, intriguingly no one has yet been able to determine their cause or purpose. Theories include euphorbia poisoning, animal dust baths, meteor showers, termites and underground gas vents. For a small donation to the NamibRand Conservation Foundation, visitors can now adopt a fairy circle. A numbered disk will be placed in your chosen circle and you’ll receive a certificate recording the exact GPS- coordinates of your fairy circle. ‘ Little Five’ Safari The desertesertesertesert towntowntown of Swakopmund might not be able to boast a resident population of rhino or elephant – but its sand is home to some incredible wildlife that ekes out a living based on moisture gathered from sea fogs. There’s the Dancing White Lady spider that can turn 44 cartwheels a second down a dune to escape the enemy, the iresdescent Palmato Gecko that is endemic to the Namib Desert with webbed feet equivalent to snow shoes, the Legless Lizard ( Fitsimmon’s Burrowing Skink), Sand Diving Lizards ( Meroles Anchieta) and the Side Winding snake ( Perinquey’s Adder). Safaris to track the animals are run by Living Desert Adventures. The desertesertesertesertesert- adapteapteapteapted black rhino that live in the Kunene Region of northwest Namibia are the only rhino world- wide that have survived on communal land with no formal conservation status. The animals were heavily hunted in the 1980s, before Namibia’s Save the Rhino Trust was formed. The trust employed convicted poachers to police the area, as they had extensive knowledge of the rhino’s habits. It worked, and rhino numbers in the region have been slowly creeping back up ever since. Recently Save the Rhino trust members took this photograph of a new male calf with its mother. The calf has been called Blythe after the trust’s founder Blythe Loutit who died in 2005. For more information about the work of Save the Rhino Trust go to www. rhino- trust. org. na matttt phillipsps Living Desertrt Adventures