Climbing to the 'Roof of Africa'

Kili Climb:Rongai Route
Day 1
May 19, 2007
From Rongai Gate to Simba Camp

The first day got off to a late start. We were up early with the anticipation of our incredible journey and Jasper (our climb operator) was supposed to pick us up at Kilema Hospital at 09:30. It was almost 10:15 by the time our guide ‘Entold’ walked up the steps of CACHA house (perfectly on time for Tanzanian time). We were going through last minute checklists in our heads to make sure we would have everything we needed for the 6 day hike and climb. We initially thought our guide’s name was ‘Anton’ and actually called him that for 4 days! It wasn’t until I signed one of the log books at one of the camps, right after him, and I looked at the spelling of his name that I realized. He didn’t seem to mind. The climb operator provides the food, guide, assistant guide, and 6 ‘porters’ to carry all of our stuff (food, tents, folding chairs, buckets to collect water from nearby streams and cooking utensils). We were only responsible for carrying a day pack that would need to contain everything we would need for each day of hiking. The porters breeze past you on the trail and go ahead to set up camp each day, so, if there is something in your large backpack that you will need then you are out of luck…carry it in the day pack. This includes rain gear as well as the weather can change at any time and you can be very wet for the remaining hours of the hike. We left Kilema in a safari truck and headed to the village of Marangu for our final briefing with Jasper. We then traveled to the main gate of Kilimanjaro National Park, known as the Marangu gate. It is the start of the Marangu trail as well, which is known as the Coca-Cola route because it is relatively flat and you sleep in huts along the way. One of the camps also sells Coke and Beer, which is how it got its name. We registered at that gate for our 6 day climb and then went back to Marangu to pick up our food. Jasper wanted it to be ‘fresh’ so it was all purchased that day. Humphrey, who acted as a porter during the hike and a cook at each camp would be our ‘chef’ for the entire duration. We then left Marangu gate in the truck with several of the porters in tow. The rest of the group would be meeting us at Rongai gate. The journey to Rongai was 2 and a half hours around the base of Kilimanjaro to just before the Kenyan border. We also ascended several hundred feet as well and you could see the tree line shrinking with smaller banana trees and stumpy looking corn. As we approached the gate we drove through a very desolate shanty town. The main source of income in this area looked like subsistence farming but the land was nothing like the lush land in Kilema. From the gate we could see out over Kenya and the border of Amboseli National Park (where we had been on safari only a few weeks earlier). I really felt like we were getting to know the mountain. The trail head looked like nothing really, just a skinny little path leading into a corn field!! We spent a while at the gate as the porters had their packs weighted. We found out after the climb that the weight is taken for several reasons. There are regulations on how much a porter can carry (25kgs) and the weight of all the gear is used to calculate how much weight in should come down the mountain. There are strict rules on how much garbage you must carry back down. The mountain used to have a history of being very dirty, especially on Marangu route. It has a clean up team now and looking back on the trip, was, on the whole, extremely clean…and besides, having climbed it now, my guess is that it is the tired and careless climbers, not the porters who leave their garbage on the mountain. It looked like our porters were carrying more than 25kgs, maybe more like 30kgs (and we found out later that that is what they had carried after paying the gate warden a bribe). It is done by tour operators to save money on porter salaries (which are already terrible at about $3.00 to $5.00 per day, guides and cooks make double that or even a bit more). The companies rely on the good hearted and generally happy to be back climbers to provide the rest of the income for the porters…usually about triple what the tour operator has paid them per day. That just seems to be the norm here whether on safari or climbing Kili. It would be hard not to tip them well from the moment you see them lift that big, bulky, heavy bag on their head to start walking for six hours, UPHILL and one of them was wearing flip flops!! They are mostly young guys out of secondary school or with even less education. Some were older and had families (Hassan, our assistant guide, and Entold, our guide both had children as did Humphrey the cook). Two of the porters who I adored, were kind of ‘porters in training’. Both spoke good English and one of them was even in the Arusha Wildlife College to become a guide/safari driver etc. Our trip was one of his placements. He still carried the requisite load on his head though. He was a Masai named Obadia. He told us of how his family had left their Boma (village) in the Serengeti and his father had taken his family to Arusha away from the traditional ways. He wanted his children to be educated…girls too. Obadia was a great companion to have along the way. He served us all our meals and towards the end was practicing his Spanish with Dharma. Many of the educated Masai men here speak several languages. Roman and I met one on the beach in Zanzibar who spoke Italian, English, Spanish, Swahili and Masai!!
After an hour of walking through corn fields uphill we entered a rain forest ecosystem. The trees and flowers were beautiful. After a few minutes a park game warden joined us on the path with a large rifle. He would be walking with us to Simba Camp (our camp site for the night) and would stay overnight. This side of the Kilimanjaro National park borders on Amboseli National Park in Kenya…the home to the largest herd of elephants. At this time of year the elephants regularly climb up the hill side to feed on the lush greenery that grows during the rainy season. We passed elephant poop not long after the ranger joined us and I was glad to have him along. We arrived at the camp at dinner time and Humphrey was already preparing our meal. We got our sleeping bags organized and waited for dinner. We were all hungry and we couldn’t believe how cold it got as the sun went down (close to zero according to Dharma’s thermometer and very damp). After dinner we tried to sleep but the tent was on a slight slant and it was COLD!! I slept most of the night with my head inside the sleeping bag. Roman wore his toque. That was the way we would sleep for the next 5 nights. I haven’t even mentioned the toilet situation yet. There were a few outhouses at Simba camp which I avoided. As you look for places to pee you see little blobs of toilet paper in various stages of decay all around the camp site. They were left, I assumed, by likeminded people who were also avoiding the outhouses. Suffice it to say, I did not venture into one of those outhouses once in 6 days, But, I very respectfully collected all my toilet paper along the way (honest!!). The porters kept a garbage bag for each site which they would carry back down the mountain.

Day 2 Simba Camp to Third Cave
We awoke to a glorious sunrise and a clear, cloudless Kibo Peak. (the main peak that you see in post cards is called Kibo, the smaller peak, which is jagged and pointy and 17 Km’s from Kibo is also part of the mountain, is called Mawenzi. The day was already looking good and after breakfast we headed out on a 6 hour hike. The cook gave us each a packed lunch of a small sandwich and a hard boiled egg and fruit. We carried boiled water for the day in our day packs. The trail from Simba Camp to Third Cave was beautiful. About every hour or so the landscape changed as we entered a higher vegetation zone. The flowers were unique and surprisingly colourful. We continued to see plenty of elephant and Cape buffalo poop along the way. After 6 hours or so we reached Third Cave. There is a series of rock cuts that have caves in them along the way…this was number 3 (original name). Our tents were already assembled as the porters had arrived ahead of us. We rested for a while and then played cards in the sunshine. The view looking down into Tanzania was awesome and we were just ABOVE the cloud line at that point at 3800 meters or about 12500 feet elevation. We didn’t notice the altitude unless we tried to do something very quickly, then we felt a little bit short of breath. We had decided with Entold, our guide, to make Third Cave our acclimatization camp. We would be staying here for two nights. Tomorrow we would hike to the ‘Outward Bound’ school hut which is at 4750 metres and then back to Third Cave. To improve acclimatization it is recommended that you hike ‘high’ during the day and sleep ‘low’ before your ascent. We were all a little bit nervous about how we would feel on our hike the next day. The Outward Bound hut is used by schools from around the world. They take teenagers there to ‘challenge them’ and help them realize some difficult goals. We all had a terrible sleep that night. It was cold but not damp. I blamed it on the altitude (which often causes insomnia as one of its common, albeit, mild, symptoms), Roman blamed it on the faulty air mattress that failed to hold any air for the entire trip. It did serve to insulate him from the cold ground though. He was very kind to let me keep mine…the only one that worked on the trip. The ground still felt hard despite it. I spent most of my nights lying awake thinking how cold I was or how high the mountain was or reflecting on my life and the last four months in Africa.

Day 3 Acclimatization Day Hike to Outward Bound School Hut
May 21, 2007
We were allowed to ‘sleep in’ a little the next day as it was just a day hike and we had no tents to pack up. We headed off after breakfast and made our way across a desolate looking plain and a dried up river bed. Kibo was in front of us but was soon shrouded in clouds as the morning progressed. The air got cooler as we progressed to the hut. By the time we reached the hut three hours later it was zero degrees and windy. The hut was deserted and kind of eerily sitting on the lower slopes of Kibo. Looking up I felt a sense of panic at how high the peak really was….I wasn’t too convinced that I could make it. It was also really lonely up there. There were some bunks in the hut and remnants of cooking utensils left behind by the last group (including a frozen onion and an eggplant). There was a bucket of rain water that was frozen as well. We all felt a little bit ‘weird’. I had tingling in my fingers and lips. Roman and Dharma had headaches. We all felt a little bit short of breath. The air was definitely thinner up there. The school hut is actually 50 meters high than the next camp we would be staying at just prior to our ascent…so a good choice for acclimatizing. On the way down the hill from the hut back to Third Cave was when I realized that my boots were going to give me trouble on the way down. My big toes felt sore and my right heel had the makings of a large blister. The boots were new but I had tried to work them in by wearing them on different hikes in Kilema. They had felt fine until now.

We made it back to camp in about an hour or so…it is always quicker to get down. We felt more normal again as well, which was a good recovery sign. We rested in our tents until dinner and then feasted on another one of Humphrey’s amazing meals (all cooked over one flame of white Onyx gas). I slept fitfully again, although Dharma and Roman said that they had slept quite well that night. We packed up in the morning for our hike to our final camp, Kibo Hut, 4700 m or 15600 feet.

Day # 4 Third Cave to Kibo Hut
May 22, 2007
We got on our way pretty early and made our way back in the direction of the school hut but veered off to the left towards Kibo Hut. Kibo Hut is the last camp for the Rongai and the Marangu routes before you attempt your ascent. Machame route ascends from their last camp directly to Stella point. Kibo hut had several buildings including the Ranger’s station and the hut building with a small dining area where we were given permission to eat our meals. It was a stone hut and colder in there most of the time then outside. Without the sun shining the temperature was about 5 degrees Celsius and windy. We had sleet that afternoon while we rested in out tent after our arrival. It was cold peeing behind the rocks but I stuck by my plan! We met some British climbers while we ate lunch. They had just descended. The woman was very cheerful and full of excitement. Her boyfriend was happy but more reserved. He had had a difficult climb. She said that he was delirious and had crawled from Stella Point to Uhuru Peak (the top), which on foot should take an hour! They had both made it despite his troubles with the altitude but I was feeling nervous. It sounded like a painful experience. As the afternoon progressed we met other climbers who had come along the Marangu route. They had stories to tell of other climbers they had seen who had to turn back due to altitude sickness. We all felt reasonably well and our hopes were high that we would make it. Our main symptoms were mild headache, insomnia and loss of appetite. The schedule for the day was that we would have a light dinner and try to sleep until 10:30 pm. We would be awoken for another light snack and would be expected to be ready to start our ascent at 11:30 pm. The walk from Kibo Hut to Gilmans Point (the first main accomplishment along the way) would take 5 hours, up some steep paths, in the dark. We would be using headlamps to light the way and following each others footsteps.

10:30pm May 22, 2007 The Ascent
One of the porters woke us at 10:30 pm. I don’t think any of them learned my name during the whole trip. They were polite but perhaps dealing with aggressive women who want to climb mountains wasn’t really their thing. I never felt disrespect but they always woke us by coming to the tent and saying “Mr. Roman, time to get up” or “Mr. Dharma, time to get up”. We all admitted to having butterflies in our stomachs…in anticipation of THE HELL that was to come!!. We nervously had a cup of tea and some cookies in the freezing cold hut. We were in full winter gear with ski jackets, ski pants, hats, gloves and face shields. We packed a lot of water for the trip thinking we would need it but none of us felt like eating or drinking for almost the entire duration of the ascent. We started off, moving slowly up towards Gilman’s Point. We could hear the other small groups (and see their headlamps) of climbers and their guides emerging from the camp and trekking their way up behind us. About an hour into the climb, Entold realized how heavy Roman’s pack was and decided to carry it himself. It colder as we ascended; we just continued ‘pole pole’ (slow slow). The pace seemed to work for us and we stayed in the same order that we had hiked for most of the trip with Entold, Dharma, me, Roman, and, Hassan. We took several breaks over the 5 hour hike and just as I felt like I couldn’t go any further we had reached Gilman’s Point. We took a 5 minute break here. We all wanted more time to rest but with the sweat under our jackets, you could feel yourself freezing when you stopped moving. Every time I felt like stopping or seemed like I was struggling I could feel Roman’s hand on my back, supporting me and urging me to go on. We trudged onward along a particularly steep snowy path with cliff to our right and mountain on our left. When I saw that path later on our way down in the daylight, I was really happy that I didn’t know how far the fall would have been…I guess ignorance is bliss, especially up there. We arrived at Stella Point about an hour later and took another rest. There was a group from Pittsburgh there. They had just come up Machame route. We rested for a short while realized that the sun was just starting to emerge on the horizon, in the East behind us. As we left Stella, the sky started to take on a beautiful orange glow and it slowly lit up the peak ahead of us to our right. We were to hike slowly, uphill on icy snow for the next 45 minutes to Uhuru Peak….the TOP of Kilimanjaro. As we approached the peak the sun was completely up. We could see out into Kenya and Tanzania. The shadow of Kibo peak could be seen partially obscuring Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania, about an hour away near Arusha. The Kibo glacier was clearly visible in a large valley to our left. Roman and I both found the size of it mind boggling. You can’t see it from the bottom, but, believe me, it is HUGE. You could see multiple hues of grey and blue through out it, signifying the various stages in time over which the glacier had formed. To our right across a large cliff and valley was the Kibo crater. We were unable to look into it as the lip of the crater was almost higher than where we. It also looked enormous. You could picture how it was a volcano 100,000 years or so ago. I was so cold (and crying hysterically) at the top that I wasn’t really able to take pictures. Even my kneecaps were shaking. Roman and Dharma managed to get out their cameras and took lots of pictures. We got the requisite picture at the sign that says ‘Congratulations, you have reached Uhuru Peak, 5896m or 19350 feet, The Roof of Africa”. I actually couldn’t believe that I made it. Even now, as I reflect back on that night, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. After about 15 minutes at the top we headed down. The trip down is faster than the trip up but I thought it was equally as painful. The sun was out so we started to slowly defrost but my feet started to get really sore…those toes again…they are always my weakest link!!. We made our way back to Gilman’s Point and then descended down a steep section of the cliff. I just figured we would head down the same section of path that we came up but after a half hour or so down Gilman’s we reached an area of the mountainside that was all soft sand and scree. Entold. Our guide looked at me and said “ Go ahead, you can run down it”. I actually thought he was joking. I started looking for the path we had come up but didn’t recognize it. I knew there was no way my ankles would make it down that mountain without twisting or breaking. Entold took my hand and arm (ina sort of death grip!) and literally ‘skipped’ down the scree with me. Roman and Dharma and Hassan followed behind. Within 20 minutes or so, allour thighs were burning. We took several breaks along the way. Towards the bottom, the pain in my toes was excruciating and I knew that my blister had extended above my right heal. At the bottom, the sun was shining and the porters came out to greet us and welcome us back. We collapsed into our warm, sunny tent after I gingerly removed my boots and assessed the damage. My right foot was a mess. I fell asleep in minutes wondering how I was going to wake up in an hour and a half and walk another 9kms to Horombo Hut.

Day 5 After the Descent, Kibo Hut to Horombo Hut
May 23, 2007

After an hour and a half one of the porters woke us and told us our ‘chai’ (Swahili for tea) was ready. I knew as soon as I awoke that there was no way my hiking boots were going back on today. I couldn’t even pull a sock over my right foot. It was just too painful. I put on my Birkenstock’s and limped to the dining hut. We left the camp just after noon that day (having been awake the entire night) and walked to Horombo Camp across what is known as ‘the saddle’ between Kibo and Mawenzi peaks. The walk was slowly downhill and my feet seemed to withstand it using a walking stick and moving slowly. After about 2 hours my feet were throbbing though and I leaned on Roman for support on the left and my walking stick on the right. The path was quite rocky and proceeded downhill. The last two hours of that 4.5 hour walk felt like forever. When we arrived at Horombo Huts our tent was already assembled. We set up our beds and then went to play cards in the dining hut. The sun was setting and you could feel the cold, damp clouds moving in. I was still barefoot in my sandals but after a couple of Tylenol my pain started to subside. We met some other climbers in the hut and discussed the climb with those who were on their way up. We exchanged stories with those who had also climbed the same night as us. Before the end of the evening, two climbers had gone to their huts to get me some ‘blister bandages’. One had been given them by a friend who said they worked well, the other had used his himself and also vouched that they had worked well. We headed to bed as it started to poor rain and slept reasonably well. We were all so exhausted that the ground just didn’t seem as hard that night.

Day 5 Horombo Huts to Mandara Hut and then Marangu Gate
May 24, 2007
We awoke to another sunny day and reflected on just how lucky we had been with the weather for the majority of our trip. I complained again that I didn’t think I could put my hiking boots back on but Roman insisted I try once he had bandaged my heal up with the donated blister bandages from the night before. He was right, it didn’t feel as bad as I expected. Nevertheless, we carried my sandals in the day pack as a back up plan if my feet got bad. Entold and I also discussed that there was a rescue truck that could come to pick me up about one hours walk from the Mandara Huts. I only had to walk 12 kilometres with these feet and then another 2-3 past Mandara and they could pick me up. I said yes, anticipating that by that time my right foot would be sore. I limped a little bit but with my walking stick and a couple of Tylenol, I seemed to manage. The trail was beautiful with unusual plants (see photos of the famous Sinicia Kilimanjaro tree). There were mountain streams and meadows and eventually rainforest. As we approached the Mandara Huts we even saw the black and white Colobus Monkeys which fly between trees and have a long white tail. At the huts there was no break for lunch, we were told to get moving but not until I had signed the ‘Emergency Rescue Book’. Entold had already filled in part of the required information (our permit number and dates etc). He wanted my full name and signature. As I filled in the book I looked at the names of the people above mine. There was a smattering of people from around the world who were of varying ages. There was a section that said ‘Condition’ and I read quickly down the list. They all said either ‘Condition: serious” or ‘Condition: Poor’. Then there was mine ‘Condition: Blister’. Roman and Dharma got a laugh out of that one. I chuckled too, ok, it is pretty hilarious, that I needed to be rescued from the last 2 hours of walking but, to be fair, my foot really did hurt!!
We descended further down the path for another hour until we encountered the waiting rescue vehicle’ A plumb older man was lying back in the drivers seat. There was a bench and space for a stretcher in back. We all climbed in (those guys were tired too but used my blister as an excuse to get a lift the last part of the way). Dharma took some shots of me looking like I was suffering etc. At the bottom we went to the desk to get or certificates stating that we had reached Uhuru Peak. I immediately took off my boots as well. It felt so good to be done!!!
Next, we gathered ourselves and our belongings up and drove to Marangu village. We sat and had some drinks and food with the porters. They cheered for us and sang the famous Kilimanjaro song (which incidentally in Swahili says something like ‘white person, why do you climb me like a snake, do you want to eat me’) and the ‘Jambo Bwana’ song. It was a wonderful relaxing time. It didn’t smell too great on that little patio though as none of us had had a shower for 6 days!!! After a couple of hours we made arrangements to meet the porters and guides the following day in Moshi to pay them their tips. As I mentioned, the tips are pretty hefty, so we needed to hit a bank first.
As I sit and write this, it has been a several days since we came down the mountain. It is still all so fresh in my memory and I think will remain there for some time. It was a truly incredible experience and climbing Kilimanjaro with Roman, my soul mate was what made it so special. But, please....don’t ever ask me to do it again!

Gender Inequality and the HIV Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa

This commentary was published in the Kingston Whig Standard on Friday May 18, 2007
Just a few more thoughts before I leave this beautiful country. As always, your feedback is welcome!


I have been living and volunteering my skills as a physician in Tanzania, East Africa for long enough now to begin to understand how lucky I am, as a woman, to have been born in Canada. My colleagues at home will attest to the fact that I often complain about how difficult it can be to be a woman working in the field of medicine. I often harp on the challenges that women physicians face as they struggle to develop academic careers, care for patients, and, raise children. Those challenges are no less important now and are still very much a part of my world back at home, however, my time here in Africa has provided me with a daily reminder of how lucky I really am. Sure, I have faced challenges along the way but these pale in comparison to the reality that women and girls must face everyday in Sub-Saharan Africa.

You see, women in Tanzania, and in most countries in Africa do not enjoy the basic human right to equality. From the day a girl child is born into most African families, hers is an uphill struggle to be a child, rather than work, to become literate and educated like her male siblings, and, to be protected from gender-based violence. Girls in Tanzania are kept impoverished by a society where they are married off at an early age, and, forced to give birth when their bodies are not ready to become mothers. Women in Tanzania are born to be someone’s daughter, sister, wife, and, mother. Their value in this society is often judged by how many children they can produce within a marriage; or face abandonment if they can’t.

Despite their low status in this society, women are the backbone of this nation; they cook, clean, work in the fields to feed their families, and, care for elderly parents or relatives. They will walk for miles to fetch water; usually with one of their children slung to their back. Despite their essential roles, they suffer from greater illiteracy, poverty and sexual abuse than their male counterparts, and, significantly higher rates of HIV infection.

Indeed, women in Tanzania have made great strides over the last three decades as awareness has been raised and laws have been modified to protect them from gender inequality. That being said, tradition and custom that affords men distinct power and privilege over women continues to prevail in most communities especially in regions of the country that are largely rural and where both men and women remain poorly educated. No written law can protect a woman from having her land stolen by male relatives or male neighbors after a her husband has died or abandoned her, when customary law (what has always been) dictates that she is not really a person and therefore cannot keep the land that the law states is rightfully hers. Land rights violations here in Tanzania are a metaphor for a vast number of problems that women in Africa face but, they have recently come to the forefront of the women’s rights discourse as the issue has become increasingly common in the face of the HIV epidemic that is still gripping sub-Saharan Africa. Not only are these women negatively impacted by gender inequality throughout their lives, but this inequity has clear and destructive disadvantages for their children, often disproportionately affecting their female children who may share a larger burden in caring for siblings, parents or grandparents.

How can this inequality be reduced? The answers are not simple. Improving the status of women in countries such as Tanzania will take generations. From the day that children are born here they are socialized to accept that men hold the power and make the decisions. Change will require massive shifts in the way that Africans live and think about the status of women. Moreover, women themselves will need to alter the way that they see themselves in African society; with roles in all levels of government and business. Do I feel hopeful that things can and will change for Africa’s women? My answer is a definite yes; especially now after spending several months trying to better understand Tanzania’s remarkable, and, incredibly resilient, women. In many ways, they have been a source of ongoing strength for me. More importantly, I feel even more deeply that things must change. I and others believe that HIV infection rates will continue to rise, largely unabated, across most countries in Africa until women no longer face the current level of gender inequality. It will not occur until women are empowered in the relationships they hold with men. Unless they play a more equal role they will continue to lack the ability to effectively protect themselves against HIV infection. Simply put, true societal change, and, successful empowerment of women will only occur when both men and women in Tanzania believe that gender inequality is unacceptable for what it is; a violation of a person’s basic human rights.

Welcome to God TV

The day we flew back from Zanzibar with Roman’s mom and the kids we were standing on the tarmac behind the terminal at Kilimanjaro Airport. We noticed a private jet land on the far runway and within minutes it had taxied its way towards us. There was a symbol on the tail that had an Arabic flair and I said to Roman’s mom, “I wonder who will get out of this jet? Maybe it’s a Saudi Shaik!” Within minutes an attractive flight attendant with a very short skirt and a pretty uniform climbed down the steps of the plane. Shortly thereafter she was followed by 6 white men all wearing snazzy suits (Armani etc) with some roguish haircuts. They walked a few feet and were greeted by a welcoming committee of Africans carrying signs that said ‘Welcome God TV’. Now I was getting curious. What were these obviously wealthy looking, expensively dressed, white men doing in Africa and what was God TV?? It wasn’t long before a cameraman appeared from the plane with all his gear. He was actively filming their arrival. I asked Roman what he thought and we both decided that they were Evangelists of some sort. Finally they came through the luggage hall and passed us on their way to their waiting shiny, new, white safari trucks. They were traveling in style. I asked Roman to ask them who they were. He asked one of the guys in suits what organization they belonged to. He jumped to the challenge and the man he approached seemed quite willing to provide all the necessary details. They were on a ‘humanitarian mission’ to ‘fix up a some schools and health clinics’ (sounds pretty legit?). He then went on to say that they were with the largest Christian television network in the world, broadcast out of Israel but based in Britain. They were quickly whisked away to their waiting vehicles and drove away. I wonder why they needed a private jet to come to Tanzania for a ‘humanitarian mission’, wasn’t commercial air just as good, and cheaper. I was dying to know exactly what type of work they were doing and who their donors were who could afford to have them fly in private jets.
A day or two later Roman and I Googled ‘God TV’. You can do it too, go ahead. It is a fancy website with many different fancy windows to click on if you too ‘want to be saved’. Apparently, we gather, from the website, one of the snazzy, TV-like personalities was ‘Rory’ of ‘Wendy and Rory’, God TV’s , married, dynamic duo who provide tips on how to find Jesus. When you read their history they both have business backgrounds and worked in business before saving the world from itself (you don’t say!). I have to be honest, I have never seen a single broadcast (but will search for them on satellite when I get home).
I am sure there are lots of opportunities for you to donate money to them to further your spiritual well-being, and, provide for their private jet for their humanitarian African mission. Sorry for sounding so crass and cynical but this is why good and generous people sometimes wonder why sub-Saharan Africa can’t get ahead. There are too many people with their hands in the pot.

Zamani Kempinski Zanzibar

Bagamoyo

It has been about a week since I last updated the blog and a lot has happened. We are all currently healthy (which I think is still an important thing to have achieved afetr all this time here...well ok, a little bit of malaria thrown in but who is counting). The kids left Tuesday night (May 15th) with Roman's mom from Kilimanjaro airport. They have arrived in Kingston safely and according to my dad, Jack even went to school today. Hannah starts next week and her first priority was to go and play in her play room. When you are 4, these things are important.

We decided to give Roman's mom a classy send off by taking her last Friday on the bus to Dar es salaam (again) to visit some of the last few sights she needed to see before leaving Tanzania. She has been a real trooper. It is not easy living here and I know she was out of her comfort zone a good proportion of the time. The cockroahces here are larger than life and difficult to kill. She had a 'killing' routine every night before bed and my heart did go out to her (I pretty much ignore them by this point...you need to block it out of your mind or it will make you crazy). Nevertheless, she wasn't quite ready to block them out. The poverty also got to her and she often would comment on simple things that would make life easier for the people here that simply aren't done...and she was right about almost all of them. The one thing that really got her was the size of the Masai huts. They are very small (you cannot stand up inside) and poorly ventilated. She could not understand why they continue to make them so small!! I gave some basic answers like, well they are supposed to be temporary, as the villages are dissassembled every few years so the clan can move to new land. They are only for sleeping was another answer. It wasn't until we had our hike with our Masai guide, Jonathon that I thought to ask why the huts were so small when Masai tend to be so tall? He thought about it for a minute and answered 'why it is simple, the huts are the work of women and Masai women are not as tall as the men nor do they have ladders or other tools to make the walls or roof higher'. I think she and I were both satisfied with that.

After a not too bad bus ride we arrived in Dar with the excitement of seeing Malinga again and spending time with him.
We picked him up Friday just before lunch at his school. I think he looked smaller than we had all remembered but he was definitely beeming from ear to ear with his trademark smile.
We left that afternoon for Bagamoyo which is 72 kms up the north coast of Dar on the Indian Ocean. Bagamoyo is now a sleepy old fishing village that also has a well known arts college and cooperative. It looks like nothing as you drive through it with old primitive derelect buildings and palm trees but it holds such historical significance for East Africa, and, for world history. Fishermen and farmers were the first to settle there in the late 18th century. The site is the closest mainland site to Zanzibar with Zanzibar only an hour away by boat (whereas it is 3 hours from Dar es salaam). The site, like Zanzibar was settled as well by the Omanis who were involved in the slave trade. Its closeness to Zanzibar is what was so enticing as it was less work to shuttle the slaves (who had ust walked from central or West Africa) to Zanzibar for trade to the rest of the world. Ivory export was also big here as well. Bagamoyo means 'lay down my heart' or 'be quiet my heart' thought to have come from the lament of slaves who thought they would not see their homeland again. There are also several memorials to Dr. Livingstone who I have spoken of previously, and, who helped abolish slavery. The first Anglican church in this part of Tanznaia is there and is now called the Livingston memorial church. It is a tiny little stone church with a tin roof. Livingstone actually visited the church while alive. I took a picture of myself in the little doorway that he passed through. He is considered a pretty important person in these parts for obvious reasons. The two other points of interest we visited before the rain started was 'The Cross By the Sea', which is where father Antoine Horner of the French Holy Ghost fathers first crossed from Zanzibar to the East African mainland. It was the site of the first Christian (actually Catholic) church on the mainland. The other site we saw was the site of the old 'Freedom Village' where the Holy Ghost Fathers set up a mission. Once they were established they 'bought' the freedom of many young men and women. Some of the slaves stayed at the mission site and it got the name freedom village. I have read a bit more about this village and it seems that only a few thousand had their freedom purchased because the mission did not have a lot of money. But, the symbolic nature of what the missionaries did was felt to be more important for that time.
We only stayed in Bagamoyo for about 24 hours. We had planned to stay right until Sunday but left on Saturday as the beach was not a good swimming beach at this time of year after extensive rains during the rainy season. We ended up going to a water park (yes, just like home and even called 'Wet and Wild') at Kunduchi Beach just outside Dar. The kids had a blast while I arranged a last minute trip to Zanzibar. We weren't going to go but I felt that Roman's mom wanted to see it. The kids fell into bed that night (literally). Malinga slept at the hotel with us in Dar for our last night with him for a while. In the morning the mood was a bit down as we all knew we would be saying goodbye to him. We don't have a date yet for when we will have full guardianship and until then, he can't come home with us. I anticipate it will be a couple of months. He is eager to come to Canada but was not disappointed about not coming with us as we had not given him any dates or timelines in order to prevent him from having a big disappointment. To be honest, I think Roman was the gloomiest of all....I was trying to see the positive side of it all and just focus on the fact that he will come to Canada, we just don't know exactly when.
After Malinga was picked up (with lots of Jack's hand me downs in tow) to go back to the orphanage, we headed for the airport for our 15 minute flight to Zanzibar..yes, it really is 15 minutes.
We have learned how to utilize our Tanzanian resident permit well and I managed at the last minute to book us into the Zamani Kempinski Hotel (at the resident rate which is half of what you would normally pay to stay there in low season but still expensive by my standards). I justified the cost as we have been pretty frugal on a day to day basis( yeah, whatever..just rationalizing my need for creature comforts for a few days!). It is on the North Coast of Zanzibar. I was told it was a magical place and it definitely came close to living up to that. See the pictures I have posted. It truly had the magical blue Azure water and white sand. We were the only people on the beach for miles around. Jack and I went sea kayaking off the massive jetty that the hotel has built that goes hundreds of yards into the ocean and is fully equipped with decks for sunbathing, water sports, a full bar and toilets!!.

I gotta go now as Roman and I are climbing Kilimanjaro tomorrow (via the Rongai route). It will take us 6 days. We will climb with one of the medical students who has been here in Kilema for the last month (Dharma Mcbride). Dharma should be a good climbing partner as he is very outdoorsy and very in tune with nature...a really peaceful guy who is a pleasure to be around. We are hoping that the three of us will be able to push each other on if things get tough. It will take us 6 days (summit on day 5 at night). We will climb with licenced guides and porters to carry our stuff....but, (deep sigh) NO PORT-A-POTTY!!!.
I'll keep you posted on how it all goes. Please send us some good Karma...see you in a week!

Tortilis Camp and Kilimanjaro

I have to say that Tortilis Camp was beyond what I had even hoped for. This wonderful safari camp is situated at the base of Kilimanjaro on the Kenyan side. Kili is entirely in Tanzania but the view from Amboselli is second to none. The snow cap actually looks quite different from Kenya as the top of the mountain (Kibo Peak) is quite square and has more snow. The route that Roman and I have chosen for our Kili Trek is from this side of the mountain and is called the Rongai route. It seemed fitting that we got to see Kili from this side having lived at its base on the other side for 4 months now. The camp has about 16 tents that each sit on a permanent base and have banana leaf canopies above them. They are ‘luxury’ tents with a beautiful shower and flush toilet…I felt a bit colonialist about the whole experience (which for me as a person who works with Aboriginal Canadians and has Irish parents has a negative connotation of course) but on the lighter side, I felt like I was in ‘Out of Africa’ and that I should have a British accent of some sort!

Our bed looked simply luxurious and when the tent windows were open it really felt like we were sleping out with the animals…ok who’s kidding, we REALLY were sleeping out with animals!! There is a low electrified fence which apparently keeps the hyenas out but the larger animals walk right over it! The piece de resistance was that while lying in bed we faced Mount Kilimanjaro. Wow. The tour package we purchased included all meals everyone ate in the main lodge which was at the top of a hill with spectacular views of the park and Kili. The sunsets were spectacular and every night they lit the pathway with kerosene lanterns around the camp. The lodge had some old safari antiques as well and the food was Tuscan style for the most part as the owner is an Italian named Stefano Cheli.

On our first full day at Tortilis Camp (which is named after the acacia trees that dot the landscape..they are known as Tortilis acacia in Kenya and Flat top acacia in Tanzania). We did a morning game drive in search of some of Amboseli’s elephant herds. There are between 600 and 800 elephants in Amboseli; the largest herd in Africa. There is an elephant research center in the park as well which has the longest running elephant research study in Africa. They are currently concerned with the survival of the elephants as the herd grows as they could run out of food if the acacia trees decrease in number. The acacias may start to diminish if the snow peak on Kili melts (as it is expected to in the next 15 to 20 years) as the water run-off is substantial and supplies at lot of natural irrigation to the animals and plants of Amboseli (and Tanzania on the other side). I tend to be an optimist and being in Amboseli amongst all these beautiful creatures made me think that we humans will manage to slow global warming….we really don’t have a choice. The elephants were out in abundance and the pictures are posted for your enjoyment although you really needed to be here.

After our morning game drive we relaxed by the pool and then went on sunset nature walk with a Masai guide named Jonathan. Jonathan has been working at the camp for more than 2 years and was very knowledgeable about plant and animal species. He tried to keep it interesting for the kids by also pointing out animal droppings (guess that dropping) and a variety of animal footprints. Jack fellinto a very prickly bush at along the way as well and it took three adults to free him. I even was 'pricked' temporarily as I tried to untether jack's bleeding legs! After we dealt with the trauma of the whole thing(my son can be very dramatic), Jonathon quietly mentioned that it is aptly named the 'wait-a bit' bush/tree. We had a great chuckle over that one...it certainly makes you wait (until someone comes along and sets you free!!). We also ventured past the football ‘field’ that the Maasai in the area had built. It consisted of only one wooden goal post because the elephants had taken down the other one during their travels…yes, I am being totally serious and I have posted a picture of only one lonely goal post to prove it. I think it is one of the best pictures of the whole trip with my two men, and, Jonathan in the Maasai ‘football field’ with Kili in the backdrop. It was a nice walk for the kids and the sun was starting to set as we arrived at the top of a big hill that looked out over Amboseli on one side and Kili on the other, and, just to keep it civilized, a bartender had set up a nice bar with cool beverages and some comfy safari chairs. I think it was one of my top ten experiences to date. Very magical indeed. It seemed that somehow the clouds that normally shroud Kili’s peak moved away just as we arrived that evening. We felt like we were on top of the world. Roman’s mom just kept saying “I can’t believe it…the clouds moved just for us!” We stayed until the sun was set and then drove back down in the safari trucks that were waiting for us…no walking is allowed after dark; even with a Masai who has a big spear!

On to Kenya and Amboselli National Park

The drive to Namanga after leaving Arusha was about the worst ‘main’ road in Tanzania that I have ever traveled on. It was so narrow and dangerous. Fred our driver knew us by now (especially Roman’s mom) and kept speeds down to a minimum (pole pole as they say in Kiswahili..take it slow). Despite the road, the scenery towards the border was beautiful. We passed through a mountainous area with many Masai herding their animals to grassier ground. The border was hot and complicated and not a nice experience. Before leaving Tanzania you have to fill in forms declaring that you are leaving an East African country. When you get across the border you fill out forms again saying you are entering Kenya, another East Africa country. Then when you get into the Kenya Immigration office you need to fill out new forms and hand over cash to purchase a Kenyan entry Visa. The whole process was hot and tiring. Fred had to do it all as well and have the safari truck registered to leave Tanzania and the insurance forms and safari license verified to enter Kenya. Once across the border we headed straight for Amboselli National Park which is about an hour from Namanga. Here we forked over another bunch of cash for two days in the park. Funny enough, the 30 or 40 kilometers of road before entering the park had amazing wildlife. We saw a lone bull elephant, a family of giraffes and a whole bunch of Ostrich before we even entered the park. The ostrich were running in a group of about six along side the road. One of them veered out at one point and was running in front of the car. Fred clocked him at over 40 kilometers per hour!! It was hysterical. I caught the whole thing on video too but I am sure the camera was shaking because the road was bumpy and I was laughing so hard. Once in the park we headed straight for Tortilis Camp where we were booked to stay for two whole luxurious nights. We chose this tented lodge because my friend and fellow nephrology colleague, Marcello ‘Cello’ Tonelli from Edmonton was planning to be there with his wife Shannon and their two children Alex (5) and Bronwyn (7). We had hoped to meet them there for lunch but we arrived late thanks to all the hold-ups at the Namanga border.

Day #2 continues: Gibb's Farm

We were pretty happy to arrive at Gibb’s Farm after a long day of bumping along the dusty roads of the Serengeti. It was a wonderful day though. We did a lot of bird watching and animal spotting. I even took the time to take pictures of some beautiful acacia trees, which I think are my favorite tree on earth. Gibb’s Farm is a small eco-tourism resort situated down a long bumpy road in the town (maybe it’s a village) of Karatu. The area is quite poor and the farm employs about 150 local villagers. Gibb’s is a working coffee farm that has over 100 acres of coffee trees and some beautiful gardens. They grow almost all of their own food and everything is certified organic (if that is important to all you granola eaters out there!). We were just really happy to have some wonderful veggies (even broccoli) and fresh bread. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Tanzanians aren’t known for their bread. Roman’s mom has been desperate for a good loaf of rye but that has proven to be almost impossible. The farm is owned by an American who runs a huge tour company here called Thompson Tours and Safaris. They are high end from the tour perspective and super high end if you are climbing Kilimanjaro. I have mentioned to Roman on several occasions that the only way he will get me to the top of Kilimanjaro is if we go with Thompson. You see, its not that they have a great record of climbers summiting or anything, but, they bring their own toilets!! Yes, a porter actually carries a nice looking (and probably sanitized ) port-o-potty up the darn mountain; on his head no less. For all those of you who have had the pleasure of camping with me, you’ll recall that I hate outhouses!! Nevertheless, our wonderful African adventure has left us rather broke and when Roman and I climb Kili next week it will be with the ‘middle of the road’ climbing company so alas, no portable toilets, just wonderfully stinky outhouses or really nice looking bushes.
As you approach the farm on foot from the parking area it feels like you have actually left Africa. The farm house is quaint and cozy and sits atop a ridge that overlooks a valley that borders on the upper edge of the Ngorogoro Crater. Looking out and watching the sun set felt like I had left Africa and arrived in Napa (yes, California). The guest rooms are situated off the main farm house and are really rustic and comfy cottages. The foliage is awesome and there are more than 200 bird species in the area. There are daily nature walks and theyhave a holistic Spa and a Masai artist in residence who paints daily up in the main farmhouse. We were sorry that we only had a day there. It is a wonderful place. The workers also benefit because the farm gives back to the community by supporting the school and local health clinic. It makes sense because healthy workers who can educate their children probably make better workers!
We all slept well that night and headed out the next morning for the Kenyan border town of Namanga.

Day 2: Elephants are on the loose

We all slept like logs and awoke to the most amazing sight. I actually got up before everyone else and watched the sun rise and while I was sitting on our little back patio I thought that to myself that this would be a great area to see elephants. The acacia trees that the elephants and giraffes love so much were abundant around the huts and out into the Serengeti plain behind the wildlife lodge. I even listened for them because although they walk very quietly despite their size, they are easy to hear because they rip entire trees apart with one pull of their trunk and that is not hard to hear. After the sunrise I hopped in the shower and was there for less than a minute when Roman yelled "oh my God, there are elephants behind the kids house!" Roman's mom and the kids were sleeping in the next hut over. He tried calling their room so the kids could see the elephants but the line wouldn't work. I told him to go out the front door and run across to wake them up. When he opened our door he found 4 elephants in the front of their little hut!! Two mommas and two babies!!! The bull (male) was not far behind and was the elephant that Roman had seen behind the hut. Nevertheless, he bravely bolted to their door (one of the mom's raised an eyebrow or two) and knocked frantically. The kids were at the door in no time and were squealing with excitement. It isn't everyday that you end up with elephants outside your front door!
I managed (with a towel around me) to take a picture of the kids looking out the door staring at the mom and baby. It was a great way to start our day. Once all the commotion settled down and the elephants moved off we made our way to breakfast with an escort. The hotels are pretty wary of guests getting trampled or eaten. It just isn't good for business.
We spent that morning on a game drive in the Serengeti and did quite a bit of bird and animal watching. We had lunch at another lodge and then made our way out of the park back towards the Crater. We were planning to stay outside the Ngorogoro reserve that night and still had a fair bit of driving to do. On our way out of the Serengeti we saw tons of animals including two male lions snoozing under a tree like a pair of house cats. Yep, they were just lying on their backs with their paws in the air in the shade under a bush. I think it is a miracle that Fred spotted them at all. One of them opened one eye to take a look at us as we clicked away taking photos. They have no real enemies and certainly were not threatened by us not all that interested. They were having a cat-nap (sorry).

After we left the Serengeti we went to visit a Masai village. We went to a different one than we went to last year. One that was slightly smaller and closer to the crater. They tend to feel a bit commercial despite the fact that the people who greet you really do live there and deeply value their cultural ways. The women did a welcoming dance for us and then we walked around and explored the huts and the school. The school had all the kids waiting there to greet us (it is really like a kindergarten because the older kids do go to primary school now that the government is paying for it and heavily encouraging education among the Masai...for boys AND girls). Jack was his usual self and just walked right in and sat down with the kids. He shook hands with a few of the older kids as well. It was really special. I actually thought he was quite brave because your senses are really bombarded with a lot of sights and smells while in the villages. It kind of smells sickly sweet, like buttermilk mixed with cows blood (honestly, that is how my nose would describe it). They live on milk and meat and have no running water to speak of for bathing so I guess that is what you would expect it to smell like.
After the visit to the school, I could see that Fred was getting anxious about hitting the road so off we went for our next stop, and our bed for the night, Gibb's Farm in Karatu, just outside the Ngorgoro Reserve.

Day 1: Safari Njema 'Have a Good Journey'

Our safari with Roman’s mom last week was a truly amazing experience. Roman and I had already been on a safari when we were here last October but I was really looking forward to my children seeing wild African animals. When we ‘safaried’ in October, the animals were abundant in all the parks as it was dry season and many come out into the open watering holes in search of water. It is the ‘long rains’ in Tanzania and Kenya right now and considered low season for safaris because many animals are deep within the parks and game reserves where water is abundant. Nevertheless, we felt very lucky with the game we saw. The other draw of safari during this part of the year is that the great migration of zebra and wildebeest is on. During this period over 1 million wildebeest and zebra migrate from the Masai Mara in Kenya, down through the Serengeti in Tanzania. The make their way to the Ngorogoro crater area where the female zebra and wildebeest give birth, then the herd eats all the grass available and moves back up to Kenya. They arrive there in July each year. The migration occurs in part, because the animals are in search of the green new grasses in the lower grasslands of the Serengeti and the Ngorogoro reserve. During the migration there tends to be a lot of predators (lions, leopard, cheetah and hyena) as they find it easy to prey on the young wildebeest and zebras or on old wildebeests who have become sick along the way and fallen away from their herd.

We left our makeshift ‘apartment’ at the women’s center in Moshi last Friday morning and after a stop at the bank, made our way to Arusha with Fred our driver and our 6 seater Toyota Landcruiser (with the pop-up safari top) that we rented for the trip. We were full of excitment and the anticipation of seeing the animals. I was most excited about spoiling ourselves with a bit of luxury (nice lodging and good food)along the way. The ‘safari’ experience has been well branded here in Tanzania with over 200,000 foreigners visiting the Serengeti each year and according to Fred our driver, over 1.2 million in Kenya. The parks in Tanzania are Africa’s best kept secret as Tanzania has not marketed them as well as the Kenyan parks. The Tanzanian national parks tend to be less crowded and have more wild life.
We made our way straight through Arusha to Ngororgoro conservation area. All those entering the park must pay a transit fee…even just to drive through it to the Serengeti. This is a fairly lucrative way for the government to collect extra tourist dollars but the money collected goes to preserving the park and protecting the animals. Rhinos in the crater were heavily poached until just a decade ago. There are a herd of only 14 left there now but efforts are underway to continue to protect them and there are high hopes that the herd will grow in size. There is a separate fee to descend into the Crater itself. Roman and I descended on what I like to call the 'death trap road' into the crater in October and saw many animals. The crater roads are wet and slippery this time of year and the drive down tends to be tedious. We opted to just stop at the edge of the crater, look down and then head straight for the Serengeti. My main concern was keeping the kids interested (and not going over the side of the road and tumbling into the crater in our truck!). I have attached a picture of us at the crater edge. The crater was formed from the cone of an extinct volcano from thousands of years ago. The whole place has a very ‘prehistoric’ feel to it. You almost expect to see a dinosaur walk by.

After the crater we made our way towards the Serengeti. Within an hour we found ourselves within a group of thousands of wildebeests and zebras. Fred our driver is a soft spoken ‘rasta’ but boy did he know his wild life! As we approached the herd he slowed the car down to a crawl, we kept driving along and then Fred said, 'well, here it is, you found the migration...you're right in the middle of it' We sat there for quite a while watching the herd cross the road. Mom's and calves frolicked and baby zebras were everywhere. Apparently the wildebeests and the zebras travel together and rely on each other. The zebra for their keen eye and the wildebeests for their sheer numbers in being able to alert each other when a predator is near. I have attached a picture but I really don't think it does the sheer numebrs of animals justice...there really wewre thousands...really!!

After we passed through the migrating animals we went through the main gate of the Serengeti National Park (and paid the requisite fee, again). The road after this point was quite bumpy and dusty but Fred was on the move so we could see some game and make it to the hotel before dark. We drove with the roof up and Roman used his hawk eyes to spot game. He really has a keen eye, probably from all those years of fishing and standing out in the middle of nature. We knew this portion relatively well as it was the area we spent the most time in when we were here in October. We had seen several lions here as well and we were hoping that the kids would get to see some that day. After about an hour or two of driving, as we approached an area of rock formations called the Kopjes (said as copies) we saw her, a beautiful lionness up on the rocks surveying her territory. As I've said before, the women do all the work of hunting and killing and bringing the meat home for the man of the house. This lionness was looking for prey. They sun was starting to set and it was a really beautiful sight. There are actually four of those formations in that area of the Serengeti. They are called the Simba Kopjes because they have four seperate groups of lion prides who have long since inhabited that part of the Serengeti grasslands. One of the formations is what I named 'Pride Rock' and I am almost 100% certain that the graphic artists who came to the Serengeti to draw their prints for the Disney film 'The Lion King' must have drawn these rocks as Pride Rock in the movie. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they also conveniently chose names for characters by their Kiswahili names. For example Rafiki means friend and Simba means lion. I am not sure what Pumba or Timon mean. Fred didn't think that Pumba was the right word for warthog. Everytime we saw a warthog (and we saw quite a few along the way) someone would sing "when I was a young warthog!.." you know the rest. Hakuma Matata means 'no problem' ...something I like to say often here in my beloved Tanzania!
After we saw the lionness our car stalled and we had to get a safari truck who came up behind us to push us with their bumper while Fred cranked the clutch or gas or something else to get it going. Once we got re-started we picked up the pace as it was getting dark and there are strict rules about travelling after dark in the National Parks. Most animals hunt at night and trucks and people are not very conducive for those activities!! While we were clipping along we almost hit another female lion who was sleeping at the side of the road, completely oblivious to our truck. It was close. Fred mentioned at that point that the fine for killing a lion was $200 US. A little skimpy if you ask me. I would have thought more like $10,000 for hitting such a beautiful beast.
We eventually made it to the Serena Serengeti Lodge. We were pleasently surprised to find that we were in individual huts (with walls and windows to keep out the animals). We got cleaned up and went straight to dinner. On our way to dinner Jack spotted a tiny Gazelle called a Dik-Dik (yes, he also got a lot of mileage out of that one!). They are beautiful little delicate creatures. They mate for life and we saw two pairs of beady eyes staring back at us, a husband and wife, just outside our rooms.
We watched some African dancing that the hotel provided after dinner but we didn't last too long. Bumping along those roads for 10 hours was actually quite exhausting despite the fact that we were just sitting doing nothing. We headed off to bed and planned for an early start the next day.