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| Rooisand ...Late August 2007
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| Spring
arrived at Rooisand in late August. After the very mild winter, flowers started
to appear all over the farm even without a drop of rain. Cacti, whitethorn
acacias and camel thorn trees were all in full bloom. Just look at these
pictures. |
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Juli 2007
After a delay of several weeks the Rooisand team
finally took delivery of a long-awaited container in the middle of July.
Namibian custom officials inspected the shipment on-site and then our staff was
able to start unloading the container.
Among other things it contained
the furnishings for the new conference facilities at Rooisand; furthermore a
generous donation from the company B. Braun in Melsungen,
Germany, consisting of medical items like disposable syringes, dressings
and much more for the small medical centre in Rooisand Village. The donated
material filled several cubic metres in the container |
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the quantities were so generous that Rooisand will pass on some of it to the
State Hospital in Windhoek.
The delicate load was cushioned with 3-ply
German toilet paper. In fact, each and every bit of space in the container was
filled with toilet rolls.
Anybody
who has battled with the flimsy local variety knows why we prefer to
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import the stuff, and our
guests certainly appreciate this service.
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Also
tucked away in the container, and eagerly awaited by our astronomer guests:
extensive additions to the portable equipment of our observatory.
By now
Rooisand is known as an "astronomic centre" all over the country. Thus our
observatory is not only rented out to amateur astronomers on a regular basis,
but increasing numbers of |
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day
visitors also book an evening for astronomical observation with expert
guidance.
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Also
in July 2007, scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin
visited Rooisand. The DLR is busy with a research project on so-called
exoplanet search: extrasolar planets which orbit around fixed stars beyond the
solar system. The prototype of an observation station for this purpose is
currently being tested in Chile.
Plans are to build another station -
which will be fully computer - controlled via the internet - in Namibia. The
visiting scientists carried out test observations (seeing conditions and
transparency of the atmosphere) from Rooisand Observatory and gathered
information about the logistics offered by Rooisand.
The test
observations were very successful and the logistics at Rooisand |
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were
considered to be so excellent that the DLR has decided to build the planned
observation station at Rooisand. A specific site has already been earmarked,
and the station is expected to be ready in 2011/2012.
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And
last but not least: Rooisand Village happily welcomed a new arrival in 2007
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