Chips Mayai. Basically a French fry omelette and a common local dish. So a travel tip: if you are looking for something reliable, fast, and not a stomach risk. I would say order chips mayai. Nearly every restaurant will have it, price will be good, and you can be on your way in a reasonable time.
I mean I don't think anyone is going to see a plate of chips mayai going by and say, "I'll have what they're having.", but it's a case of the safe bet over culinary adventure.

One of the brand new groups we surveyed this week have decided that their group name is Yes We Can. Hearing that actually brought a tear to my eye, realizing the hope that this group has and the optimism about what they can achieve. Also it is encouraging that the words of a world leader can still inspire in a time when hatred and hostility seem to be the currency of leadership.

Farmers voting in a participatory exercise (focus group) on sources of income. Trying to measure income is elusive, kind of a holy grail of this work. This exercise you see here is a new thing for us and it seems to be a promising balance between amount of work and getting reliable information. Still a lot of field testing to do to prove the concept though...

It is always such a great feeling to get off the plane, have a shower and just lie down. After hours and hours in a sort of non lieing down stasis.

A view of the quality mosquito net in my room

Four reasons not to raise the speed limit (in Ontario):
1. Going slower saves lives--the World Health Organization says that if a car hits a pedestrian at 40 kmh, the chance of their survival is 80% but if the car hits someone at 60 kmh the chance of survival drops to 20%.

2. Going slower saves money--performance varies by car, but as a general rule, for every 1 kmh above 90 kmh, fuel efficiency drops by about 1 %. So if you are driving 120 or 130, you are burning about a third more fuel than if you were going 90 kmh.

3. Going slower is better for your car--driving at high speeds puts more stress on the engine, more wear on tires, brakes, which means more repairs, and a shorter lifespan for the car. Ultimately saves money (see #2 above).

4. Going slower is better for the environment--related to #2 and #3, if you are burning less fuel you are producing less pollution and carbon. If your car lasts longer you keep more plastic, electronics and batteries out of landfills and create less demand for mining resources. Driving slower is one practical thing we can do that actually has a significant positive impact on the planet at a personal level.

So the Montreal Olympics in 1976 were originally estimated to cost 250 million dollars and ended up costing 1.something billion dollars. I mean does it really matter whether I say 1.2 or 1.7? I'm guessing that if you really looked into it, no one probably actually knows how much it really cost. My point is that that was an overly ambitious, poorly thought out project that appealed to the imagination of many. So if someone says a that a 2000 mile wall will cost 5.7 billion dollars, how much will it really end up costing when all the receipts are tallied? The tallying alone will probably cost hundreds if millions. 

Minus 16 Celsius. I caved in and took a ride to the airport instead of the bus, which would have required me to stand at a bus stop. Meanwhile in Bahir Dar the temperatures are dipping into the low teens at night. Which is chilly by local standards.

I don't know if it is the injera or the local chilies (berbere), or maybe all the local coffee I have been drinking, but there is something hard to describe here, an almost mystical quality. I mean, this area is called Gondar for one thing. People here resolutely believe that it was here that Mary and young Jesus fled when escaping King Herod. The Ark of the Covenant, of biblical and movie fame is also believed to be here. In fact the island in the second picture, is where many believe the Ark was first kept after it was taken from Israel. In fact you can see the exact spot where it was kept for several centuries. It actually makes sense to me that if you were trying to protect an object of such significance, one would want to take it to a place where it could not be easily found. And this place certainly fits that description. Way up in the highlands, historically inaccessible and far from major trade routes and then on a tiny island in the middle of a pretty big lake (even today it takes 2.5 hours by boat to get there). I don't know myself but like I say, there is something that makes one want to believe.

Blue Nile Falls, just downstream from Lake Tana, so quite close to where the river starts. Much of the river is now diverted for hydroelectric power and what you see here is only 25% of the whole thing. Also this is after rainy season so it can get much bigger. The Blue Nile is one of two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the White Nile, but volume wise, the Blue Nile brings the majority of the water. In fact this creates some water resource management issues between Ethiopia and the countries downstream (mainly Egypt).

A woman serving coffee at the Blue Nile Falls was wearing this coin, an Austrian thaler. First minted in Austria (of course) in the 1700's (you can see the date 1780 on the coin), it was commonly--but not exclusively--used as currency in Ethiopia even into the 20th century. Now worn as jewelry I guess. This coin was almost certainly not minted in 1780 since that date has apparently been stamped on all thalers since that time.

The first pouring of the coffee ceremony, abol

The second pouring, tona

The third pouring, baraka

Alem Saga mountain, in S Gondar region, Ethiopia.

A massive, beautiful tree that I could only capture using the panorama function on my phone. I think the trunk is at least 3 m wide. In behind is Lake Tana, effectively the source of the Blue Nile. A very peaceful and relaxing place with gentle almost hypnotic maskino music playing in the background.

A new savings group in a new watershed in Congo. This new watershed is next to a watershed where farmers have already been forming savings groups, planting trees, practicing more environmentally friendly ways of farming for 3 years now. People in the new watershed (where photo is taken) have been watching and waiting and are now doing what they have seen their neighbouring watershed doing (with a little training help). In fact there is a chant that savings groups say at the beginning of every meeting and some people in the new watershed had already tried to memorize it before they had received training.

No hippos this morning but tiny jumping fish that you obviously can't see in the photo. I don't know exactly how coffee is made here but it is so strong that I ask for hot water to dilute. This morning I did one part coffee, 3 parts water and it is still too strong. The quality of coffee beans here is generally very good though.

Finally after 6 days of hiding

I'm at one of the more touristy restaurants in Moshi, and I decided to order their coco ndizi, a traditional dish with boiled bananas. The menu caters to the tourist palette, having mostly things like burgers, pizza, pasta etc, so local food is not that much on the menu. Generally when travelling I try to eat local. Partly because if I want pizza, I can eat all the pizza I want (and often do) when I'm home. Partly because my experience has been that local food is more likely to be better prepared 4 to 5 times out of 10 when I'm on the road. Partly because I'd rather try new or less familiar things (see the first point). When I made my order, the waitress cautioned me that it would take 30 to 45 minutes, which made me think two things:

1. "how is that different than so many meals I've ordered in so many different places?"

2. "it's Saturday, and I have time to kill, and sitting on this pleasant shaded patio in the nice garden sounds ok"

This farmer is running his own native tree nursery in a very dry part of the Sanya River watershed. He showed us probably a dozen species that he is propagating, planting on his own land, and sharing with his neighbours. He told us he is doing this to preserve species that are important and are disappearing. I think it also seemed clear that he is doing it because he has a passion for trees. Shown below is a species that according to tradition, brings rain and peace.

This savings group has an agreement with the nearby national park to collect seed of native trees from the park, raise seedlings, and then plant those seedlings within park boundaries to restore native species. The group started in 2014, and had their own tree nursery for their own tree planting project, which just happened to be right outside the park gate. Park authorities took notice and offered to fund the group to do a native tree planting campaign. This is a win-win because the group is now generating income, and the park is getting native tree restoration at a much lower cost. In addition to this collaboration with the park, the group is establishing their own community forest just outside the park boundaries. This is a real breakthrough, because for many years, it has been difficult or impossible to have any kind of community based activities in collaboration with the park authority. Our experience in Thailand tells us that CFM (community forest management) can be a huge success, and it is exciting to think about the possibilities that may now open up for this group and perhaps others. The best part? The name of this group is 'Planet'.

These photos show an association of savings groups that have come together to form a larger association. There are about 20 groups in total involved and they combine the savings to form a larger fund allowing them access to larger loans. There is a lot of discussion these days about the merit or lack thereof of this type of umbrella organization, but this group has been operating successfully now for 10 years. In fact, this is their celebration of those 10 years. I am guessing there were about 300 people in attendance. There were displays of various projects of groups or individuals and shown below are some teas and spices made and sold by two women who are part of the association. Also a video to give you a taste of electric slide--Tanzania style.