Chen Chen finished handling the Swiss branch's affairs and handed the primate research project off to Samuel. Then he prepared to set off for Namibia.
As it happened, there was a direct flight from Zurich to Namibia. In less than fifteen hours, it would cross the Mediterranean and Africa, arriving at Walvis Bay on the eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
The plane assigned to the route was an old-fashioned model, small and worn, with fewer than fifty seats, no separate cabins, and terrible service.
General Manager Wenn offered to help arrange a private jet, but Chen Chen turned him down. Born into a working-class family, he wasn't so extravagant as to go that far.
The next day, Chen Chen boarded the plane alone, without letting anyone see him off.
The journey passed in silence.
By the early hours of the third day, Chen Chen had arrived in this wondrous country whose name he had long heard.
From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth, Namibia had been a German colony. It was later ruled by South Africa, from which it did not gain independence until the 1990s.
The country's main industries were mining, agriculture, fishing, and tourism. It covered 820,000 square kilometers, yet had a population of only 2.53 million.
By late December, Switzerland was already cold enough to require a down jacket. But after arriving in Namibia, Chen Chen had shed enough layers that he wore only a shirt and a light jacket.
However, anyone who thought Namibia was unbearably hot like other parts of Africa would be sorely mistaken.
Because of its elevation, Namibia wasn't hot at all. In fact, its climate was exceptionally pleasant.
March, April, and May were the hottest months of the year in Namibia, yet even then the temperature never exceeded thirty