Moroccan lamb from my Namibian cookbook

I can't say that I really enjoyed picking this cookbook up at the beginning of my trip in Namibia and then had to lug it Namibia, South Africa, and then gave it to my husband to take home with him while I continued on my way.  

I am glad though that I got it because I didn't see it anywhere else.  Anyways I started with making the Moroccan lamb.  An interesting choice from a Namibian cookbook but I needed to use the lamb meat up we had and I already had all the spices and ingredients.  

I have this recipe 4 stars - my husband gave it 3 stars. This is the closest recipe I have found to make Lamb Tangine that comes remotely close to what the Moroccan restaurant serves.  Of course I made several changes to the recipe.  First off I doubled all of the spices and honey.  The reason my husband gave it three was because I doubled the cinnamon which was not necessary.

The other change I made was adding in the dates during the initial simmer process.  I then doubled the amount of dates and added them in at the correct time.  I added the same amount of dried apricots as dates (the recipe doesn't call for them at all).  

I forgot to take a photo of it, so here's a photo from the cookbook.  Mine turned out more yellowish but that was probably due to the increase in spices.  

Plants and Flowers of Namibia

I love plants and flowers so here is a bunch of photos . . .

Souvenirs from Namibia

While some of my readers will not find this kind of post interesting, I always appreciate posts like this when I can find them. I try to buy souvenirs that are made in country and if possible by non-profits, cooperatives, or specifically by women or disadvantaged populations.

Since we were quite rushed in Windhoek and not much was open on Sunday, I had very little time to actually get souvenirs.  I only went to the Windhoek Craft Market.  I highly recommend this place!  They have lots of souvenirs that are unique and are not just your cookie cutter souvenirs from Africa.  Here were my purchases (minus the ones I have already given away as gifts).

Namibian cookbook - highly recommend

A few bracelets

Basket

Small elephant

I call them my quad-stuffed Oreo earrings

Namibian Food

The food in Namibia was down right delicious.  Although if you are a vegetarian, I'm not sure you would be singing the same tune, since everything was pretty much meat based.  We only went to three restaurants (not connected with our hotel) while in Namibia.  All three of them were fantastic but here's they're ranking.

1. Anchors at the Jetty - Walvis Bay, Namibia

Make a reservation is my first recommendation.  We didn't have one so we ended up eating outside for dinner.  While normally not an issue, there was a pretty good wind coming off the water so we were a little cold.  Here we ordered the grilled calamari and oysters.  It was hands down the best calamari I have ever eaten.  It was so flavorful without being covered in a fried breaded outer layer.  The oysters were also great.  Interestingly they were covered in cheese and grilled.

2. Craft Cafe - Windhoek, Namibia

We did not have a reservation and it was fine.  Although it was Sunday morning and the town didn't seem like it had woken up yet.  We had a cured meat platter and a goat cheese and cucumber salad.  Both hit the spot after an early morning flight.  Also the bread here was tasty as well.  Somehow it was perfectly circular.  After looking on the internet and a few cookbooks of mine I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been baked in a can.  After you are finished eating, you can browse through the stalls of the craft market.  More on that tomorrow.  

Meat platter

Cucumber salad and perfectly round bread

3. The raft - Walvis Bay, Namibia

Please do not think that there was anything wrong with this place.  It was just as delicious as the other places it's just, we liked the calamari, salad, and bread just a little more at the first two places.  Here we had the trio of whitefish and the seafood platter.  Both were good a more fried food then either of us had the previous six months before.  This was where I tried my first Namibian oyster and I liked it!  I also washed my lunch down with a Hunters Cider and Jeremy had a beer (can't remember which one though).

View from the restaurant

Seafood platter

4. Namib Naukluft Lodge 

This place had the best food hands down but it is not really in place where you drop in for a meal.  All meals came with our tented room.  The first night the chefs were working the grill and we had pounded steak, venison, butter squash.  The second night dinner was cooked in a pootje.  I asked apparently we had onyx, zebra, cow, and vegetables.  All of them were equally as good from the previous day.  We never had a bad meal here.

Cooking in the Potjie

Feast

Walvis Bay

After climbing up some dunes and subsequently trying to remove as much sand from between our toes it was time to make our way to the coast (Walvis Bay).  First let me say the drive north was beautiful.  It was several hours but it didn't feel that way.  We were able to stop at several viewpoints.  Also one of the things I loved about Namibia was the rock picnic tables on the side of the road.  

On the road heading north to Walvis Bay

Initially we were not going to go to Walvis Bay but this was a compromise since we decided not to go to the east coast of South Africa and we found out there is a direct flight from Walvis Bay to Cape Town.  All we can say is that we wished me had more time here.  We ended up only having 2 half days which didn't give us the chance to go out on the water.  The weather wasn't great for that anyway so it was fine.  

Walk along the water

We wandered around the waterfront and saw hundreds of flamingos in the bay, but no pelicans.  I was really hoping to see them.  The town seemed very quiet so we had a late dinner and went to bed.  The next morning the ocean was almost calm and looked almost like glass.  Although about 30 minutes later a heavy fog rolled in and you couldn't see more than 15 feet in front of you.  To my relief, I ran back to a store and got to watch two pelicans make their way along the waters edge.  

Almost eerily calm water in the early morning

Pelicans along the shoreline

We stayed at the Oyster box guesthouse which was nice and convinently located.  The water was literally right across the street.  We walked up and down the seaboard.  Also it was located next to two great restaurants, which I will write about in tomorrow's blog post.  The whole town had a very laid back vibe to it.  Now I'm not sure if this was due to the fact it was winter and there wasn't as many people but we certainly enjoyed it.  

Right across the street from Oyster Box Guest house

As we flew southward, we had views of the skeleton coast and were taken back by the sheer size of it.

Skeleton Coast