We hiked part way up the Kakumba River valley yesterday. We were promised by a local leader that this hike would take us about an hour and a half. Three and a half hours later we were still about 200 metres short of our destination. Two hundred metres of what seemed to me at the time like steep climbing and would have taken me a good half hour. So we (or more accurately I) decided we should turn around and head back down. This decision was made partly out of exhaustion and partly out of concern about getting back to town in time that same night. A good decision I think although hurtful to my pride. I take some consolation in the fact that I wasn't the slowest, and several people were tired besides myself. I consider myself to be in reasonable shape, but see below a couple of the dozens of farmers who passed us on the trail walking with ease even with what I would consider excruciatingly heavy loads borne in highly non-ergonomic 'back-packs'.

This is the Kambekulu river, one of the potential watersheds for a new project. If you study this picture for a while, a few things become apparent:

-people are farming on the very steep hillsides in the background

-there are very steep hillsides in the background

This area has quite intense geography and there are no roads back into those hills where we are thinking about working. This has both a plus and a minus, the plus being that inaccessibility has probably slowed the rate of deforestation (although deforestation is still taking place) and the minus being how difficult it will be for a project to effectively reach people. 

The forest that you see on these hilltops are right next to the main road that runs along side Lake Tanganyika. This forest also has monkeys, and some years ago used to have chimpanzees and gorillas. Gorillas even used to be known to walk right out on the road in the past. Not anymore as the primary forest has been cut and as hunting has reduced the gorilla population. Primates are actually a major problem for farmers since they eat the crops when they are ripe. As a result, part of farming is standing guard by fields as the harvest ripens. This also presents a very interesting challenge for a project that wants to help farmers feed their families while at the same time protecting wildlife.

Day 7 of 38
Well, we were supposed to cross the border today and begin meetings with local leaders. Instead today was a day of protests against corruption in leadership so all offices and places of work were closed. Protests in other towns such as Goma and Kinshasa against perceived irregularities for upcoming elections got violent. So instead we stayed put and spent the day in a peaceful and beautifully manicured hotel garden drinking espresso and planning project objectives. 

I have to confess that I was not thrilled about travelling for 38 days. I mean I've done trips much longer but these days most of my trips are 7-10 days. So 38 just seems like a lot. However it is allowing me to function at a much more relaxed pace. On a shorter trip I am counting every minute and feeling a constant pressure to get stuff done. A longer trip let's me run at a pace more like the local rhythm which is much more pleasant.  Don't get me wrong, there is still a ton of things to get done but it all seems manageable. Maybe you should ask me again on day 32, maybe I won't feel so calm about it... 

Day 6 of 38:
Luggage is still holding up. In fact since my arrival coincided with a weekend, I was able to avoid dipping into my supply of 'office' clothing, which puts me slightly ahead of my laundry schedule.

Bujumbura, still only in Bujumbura. Visa application today (hopefully), some baseline study prep, and if everything goes well. we leave tomorrow morning. In the meantime I've been--only partially guiltily--enjoying very pleasant montane tropic winter temperatures (mid 20's C), and freshly cut fruits at the hotel complimentary breakfast.

Things around here seem really calm and peaceful. Too peaceful? I have really limited ability to interpret how things look to me on the street compared to what may be going on behind the scenes. or what may be about to happen. I went for a walk today to run a few errands and just to start flushing out the jet lag. I didn't feel particularly unsafe. Not anymore than usual anyway. And I bought a local phone card which allows internet connection. I'd say it's as good as my connect back home. 

A nice feature which separates great airports is these small luggage carts. Easy to maneuver in crowds, lineups,  bathrooms etc. Unlike those monster carts I see elsewhere. This is especially useful if you're going to be in the airport for a while rather than having to lug luggage. Also available for free. I'm just saying, big airports....

It has been a long time since I had a major flight delay. By major I mean that my arrival time at my final destination has to get pushed back. In this case, I'll be arriving at 9 in the morning instead of 1:30 in the morning, which although later, is a much more civilized hour.  This particular delay happened to be on KLM, but they handled it pretty well, had my new boarding passes ready on my arrival in Amsterdam, and gave me a meal voucher (10 euros). All in all not a terrible experience. The worst part I guess was having to sit in the airplane for an extra 4 hours. Like I always say, it's a continuous miracle to me that a huge chunk of metal like that can get in the air at all and then come back down to earth again.

The time before when I had a major delay was probably 3 or so years ago. That one was Air Canada. The time before that was Emirates. These are all good airlines as far as I can tell. I see no discernible pattern as far as delays are concerned. And I would say that 95% of the time or more, my travel is trouble free.

Anyhow, now I've got a few hours to kill in Schiphol.

I may be trying to do something inadvisable; trying to fit a 38 day trip into carry on luggage. There is probably not even a really great reason for me to do that except my fanaticism about no checked luggage. This is further complicated by the fact that at my destination, it may not be easy to get laundry done. Also if at any point, a luggage inspection is required this will be problematic as there will be clothes everywhere. Every piece of clothing is packed tight and ready to spring once an opening is provided. I may have in this case, tried to fly too close to the sun.

Baseball in the Dominican Republic. Tigres de Licey vs Estrellas for those who might know. For those who don't, baseball is huge in the DR and this league is just starting now. Soon--and even in this game--players from the Major Leagues are slowly migrating back to play and the quality of ball steadily increases from now till the end of November. While this game was well attended, by the end of the month it will be packed. And not only Dominicans play in this league, I noticed that several of the pitchers were Americans.It also had most of the trappings of an MLB game, pizza and beer vendors, a mascot in a large furry costume, cheerleaders gyrating to regeton--OK, that last part seemed like a distinctly local flourish.

When I said I was going somewhere warmer, I definitely did not mean the commuter flight I was just on where it was like sitting in a meat locker for an hour and a half. Somehow temperature control in airplane cabins seems to be kind of a thing. Makes sense I guess; a thin metal shell thousands of metres up in the atmosphere. But now, really I am going somewhere warm. Leaving New York and heading for the Caribbean. 

Worst check in time ever: 37 minutes 24 seconds.  This due to some parts and tools I am carrying which made for an extra careful security check, plus my gate number was incorrect which resulted in some wandering and staring at flight info screens. I am headed somewhere warm though so no complaints.

Made it. 23 hours 42 minutes. This is from door to door so includes a few hours travel time to and from airports. So actual time on planes was much less. Overall a fairly painless journey. On arrival, the kid sitting beside me maybe 11 or 12, was so fast asleep that even when his younger sister was pushing on his nose he still didn't wake up. Oh that we could all sleep so soundly on the plane.

This is classic Chagga agroforestry, otherwise known as the homegarden. I've probably talked about this before. The grass in the foreground is cut for feed for goats and cows. You can also see yet another one of those planted trees popping up in the open gap in the grass. There are other small seedlings just like this to the left and right of photo and all along this hedge. In the background you can clearly see the multi-level nature of the garden, some very tall trees, and a middle layer of smaller trees, a lower layer of shrub like trees (coffee in this case), and then some smaller plants at ground level. The idea is that everything is working together, making the best use of light and space at all levels. Underground as well, the picture would be similar if we could see the rooting zones of the various plants. They would also be making good use of the moisture and nutrients available by drawing from different depths in the soil. This system in a sense is trying to mimic nature. Not a perfect mimicry though, since many of the species you see are actually not native. The top level, the acacias and other large trees are most likely native. And the grass is native. However, a lot of the other species have been introduced at some point. Coffee came from Ethiopia hundreds of years ago. Avocado as well, and the wild cassava trees you see in the middle were also probably introduced by Portuguese traders 500 or more years ago. Banana is also not native, although apparently archaeological evidence indicates that it may have been here for 1000's of years. I would say that probably about one third of the species  you  see in this photo are native,  and the remaining 2/3's while mostly naturalized and viewed by many as local plants, are strictly speaking from far-flung foreign lands.

Finally photos as promised. Only 3 days late. This first shot shows several lines of trees planted on a hillside. The slightly older (maybe 4-8 years old) trees in the foreground are obvious, but if you look about 3-4 metres down the slope you will see another line of smaller trees that are maybe 2-3 years old. And you'll have to take my word for it, or try to zoom in really close, but there is another line of new seedlings another 3-4 metres down the slope that appear to have been planted this year. Like I said in my post earlier this week, these are discoveries I made just walking around on my own. I don't know for certain who planted them or why, but I found examples like this pretty much everywhere I went. So whether we, as an organiztion, get credit or not is not really the point. Either way lots of trees are getting planted.

This is Calliandra. In this case the family has planted it along the edge of their property, and are chopping it regularly at ground level so it is growing like a hedge. This is serving (probably) at least 4 functions, which include marking the edge of the property, creating a barrier against soil erosion, providing fodder for livestock (calliandra is high in protein), and providing firewood for the family (ideal for cooking). Some people would say, "well calliandra is not native to east Africa so it is threatening the ecosystem". I would say it may be doing the opposite. By allowing families to collect firewood from their own backyard, it reduces the need to send wives or children far into the forest, where they will be most likely cutting down native species.

OK. I didn't get a chance to upload photos. Sorry, long day. And, well, they're not all that exciting anyway. But I promise to do them tomorrow. 

I went out with the evaluation surveyors today and had a chance to walk around a bit while interviews were going on. I noticed a house where someone was using the double dug technique to produce vegetables although this person is not actively participating in the program. I also noticed that there are small trees everywhere at least in this particular community. You have to understand that this was me just wandering around on my own. No one was showing me their special project. But on my own I could find planted trees everywhere. Now, because I was on my own I couldn't confirm whether any particular tree had anything to do with our program or not but I don't think that really matters much to me. Tonnes of trees are getting planted either way. Tomorrow I'll try to upload some pictures if I can.

Which by the way, I realized tonight that I have had internet and a hot shower every single day of this trip so far. It almost doesn't seem right. I think I'm actually nostalgic for the days when travel to the developing world meant sharpening your survival skills and being resourceful about basic necessities.  I know there are still lots of places like that but I think you have to go further and further afield to find them.

Now we start the process all over again this time in Tanzania. This will be the 5th time in 2 months I've explained how the specific definition of household works for this particular survey and how surveyors need to double check that they've asked people about all 6 food categories (in spite of repeated reminders inevitably someone forgets to fill in one of the food categories).  If I sound like I'm getting a bit tired of evaluation,  yeah maybe. I'll try my best to stay positive I guess.

Actually I'm expecting things to go pretty well here. This is based on the fact that it went well here last time (2011) and the communication I've had with staff here prior to my arrival have had all the signs of good preparation.  Things can always not go as planned of course but I'm actually pretty relaxed going into this week.  I realized that on the drive from the airport tonight when I was mostly just sitting back and enjoying the music that the driver was playing (a local style called Bongo Flava) and not really thinking much at all about work. A local Kenyan song by the way says "big up Obama". Not that that has anything to do with anything but I just found it amusing. 

My last day in Burundi. We managed to get 200 of 320 surveys done and entered in the database which is pretty good.  The rest will be finished in the next few days. At the beginning of the week I really thought we would do much less. And data quality appears pretty good so far. Won't really know til we start analysis.

By the way,  for those who have been following news, just want to let you know that my chances of getting Ebola are almost exactly zero. That is happening way on the other side of the continent. Do you know how big Africa is? Admittedly the medical community doesn't really know much about the disease, but chances are low.