#offscene

[journeytohess]

Time for vacation in Namibia (/nɑːˈmɪbɪə/). See you in some weeks for a night shift with a H.E.S.S. crew!

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[journeytohess]

Wondering what was in the tree? Look, it is a nest! A nest of sociable weavers (Philetairus socius), a bird endemic to Southern Africa.

Sociable weavers construct permanent nests on trees and other tall objects. These nests are the largest built by any bird, and are large enough to house over a hundred pairs of birds, containing several generations at a time.

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[journeytohess]

How to reach the H.E.S.S. site travelling with your own vehicle

I love the instruction to go to the H.E.S.S. site:

The distance from Windhoek to the H.E.S.S. site on Farm Goellschau is 104 km, on a gravel road in a southwesterly direction. The road is maintained in regular intervals, and road quality varies with time since the last maintenance. The drive takes about 1 1/2 hours from the city center. Leave the city on Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue, passing the University of Namibia, and take road no. C26 to Walvis Bay. After 32 km, turn left to continue on C26 for another 72 km. The access to the H.E.S.S. site is through a gate about 0.5 km before the entrance to the farm Goellschau, on the right hand side, indicated by a sign. Follow the farm road for about 5 km, until you reach the telescopes.

Going there is an adventure!

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[journeytohess]

Don’t be fooled

There was no WiFi on the H.E.S.S. site, and roaming in Namibia is like the memory of a dream made in a previous life :-)

During the workshop I could get connected from the lobby. You read it right there was no WiFi in the meeting room o_O 

After the inauguration, I could borrow a network cable from the control room and sent some posts. Then at the hotel I could continue posting.

On the open day, network was not accessible at all. The whole site was crowded, no chance to settle down a bit in the control room to send posts. And well, we were busy outside shooting and recording! :-)

After the open-day, there was no coming back to the hotel. We camped!

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[journeytohess]

Windhoek airport!

A rather small airport for such a big country ;-)

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