I guess it really is the rainy season

For the first 2 weeks I only saw one short 5 minute shower one afternoon and a bit of drizzle one evening. I've been fascinated by the sunsets each night and most evenings had the camera out to capture a few photos. It's been sunny and hot so I had been using lots of sunscreen (factor 45-50) to protect my delicate skin that likes to burn and peel. I have a bit of a farmers tan with very dark arms and neck area but not much sun anywhere else.

The 3rd week the whole weather system changed. Many of the books say that Nambia is very much a desert country and some years get almost no rain during the rainy season unless you are up in the Caprivi Strip along the Angola border that typically gets most of the rain for the country. Well the skies opened up and boy did we get some rain. I think it rained everyday of the last week and sometimes torrential rain. We all went into town one Sunday for lunch and drinks at Joe's Beerhouse and on the way back to the farm, the roads were flooded. We were in a minivan and we had to go back into town to get the 4X4 trucks. One night we were just sitting down for dinner and watching the skies when a big storm hit. All of a sudden it was raining sideways into the Lapa area and we all huddled in one corner to try to stay drive and there was lots of thunder and lightening. The water rose around the lapa but luckily didn't get over the patio stones to flood our eating area. Due to all the rain it did limit the types of things we could do outside but we did manage to build a shelter for pig that was waterproof and put another layer on the sleeping box for the baboons to help them keep dry since they were all crying in the corner closest to the volunteers the night of the storm. Surprisingly, it cooled down a bit and most evenings I had to put on long sleeves or a light jacket. A few times during the storms the power went out, once when I was the last one to heat up dinner in the microwave so i had to wait about 1/2 hour before it came back on so I could eat. Periodically through the night the power would go off so I was reading by flashlight in my room. The only good thing about the rain was that it transformed the area. It became greener and all types of seasonal flowers started to bloom and in some areas carpeted the ground especially the yell morning start plant. I guess they haven't had good rains for a few years so most of the locals were happy with the rain we were receiving.