We started out on a field trip on 11 February 2003 that took us to Nauchas, the Spreegtshoogte, and the Gamsberg. The cloudy skies kept us cool and calm. As we drove from Windhoek up into the Khomas Hochland, it was hard to imagine that only a few weeks before it had been dry and blisteringly hot - the January rains refusing to fall, with record high temperatures the order of the day. Now everywhere was green.