LOBSTERS GALORE
| In 1963, Francois Lampietti and I worked as consultants to Consolidated Diamond Mines in Oranjemund. The entire coast from Oranjemund to Luderitz was "Sperrgebiet", off-limits to anyone not working for DeBeers, the concession holders. One weekend in November, we joined some of the local staff and went "diving" for lobsters along the rocky coast of Affenrucken. |
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| We did not even need our fins or tanks, but were glad to have wetsuits and rubber booties as protection against the cold water and sharp rocks. At first, we tried to locate the lobsters in the rock crevasses using our face masks, but very soon we found that all we really had to do was to hang onto some rock, bend down and feel and grab the lobsters with our gloves, then hand them along to someone onshore. In less than two hours time we collected four 55-gallon drums full of lobsters (or crayfish, as they are called here). Most of them we took along for the folks in Oranjemund, but several dozen we cooked on a driftwood fire right on the spot. |
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I ate so many of these delicious creatures that I almost got sick,
and for several months could not stand the thought of eating what I thought hitherto was my favorite dish!
click on photos to enlarge please continue to next page |
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