The fist picture is really the completion of the second mountaintop located on Mr. Roshuko, also known by its call name of "Somet Romeo". This picture shows members of the Rwandan Army, Park Personal, and locals that were assisting us as porters and cooks. Rain was a daily event, though rarely were we caught in rain during our mountain climbs or descents.

This is an event that many visiting Nyungwe National Park look for, which is the Colobus Monkey in the wild. The Colobus Monkey is a food source for Chimpanzees. These monkeys were observed very close to Gisakura Ranger Station which served as our base camp. The background hillside is a tea plantation which are plentiful in this area. A short note on the tea plantation is that the workers who pick tea leaves get about 38 Rwandan Francs per Kilogram. which is about 7 cents. A kilogram is a bit over two pounds, and is similar to collecting feathers.

This photo is taken at the top of Mt. Bigugu, which is a bit over 9,000 ft in elevation. I liked the lighting on the rain forest below, with fog trapped in the lower areas. The work was carried out during the rainy season. I don't think I witnessed a moment without clouds, and it rained every day. Mt. Bigugu was the location of one of the two repeaters installed in the park.

Local welder fabricating the antenna masts. I have not been around welders, but the device appeared to be two rather large coils wrapped with romex wire. No hood, no gloves. He did a perfect job though. We are making the final preparations for the trip to the base camp and eventually the installation of two new repeaters.

Here I am with Daniel at the trail head for Mt. Bigugu. It ended up being a small army of people that we assembled to help us carry about 3000 lbs of equipment and supplies. I had been on this climb once before, so I knew what was ahead of me. An extremely steep climb for the first 1.5km or so, then a leveling out for about 3km, then a moderate climb over the last 2.5km or so.

Preparations for the first ascent up Mt. Bigugu. The 50 plus porters begin to gather and decide how they will carry radio equipment, batteries, antennae, mast, camping supplies, concrete, solar panels, and more, up a very steep incline.

First to go are the 100 AHr batteries. The hike will take about three hours with an ascent of about 2,000ft. This is the start of the trail which is so steep that steps are cut into the mountain, in addition to plenty of switchbacks. It continues like this for almost 2km.

Next up is the antenna mast which provides a challenge through the switchbacks. The mast is about 8 meters long or about 26 ft long. Eight porters were used to carry the antenna and worked in teams of four that would switch off.

Up goes the radio repeater and duplexer pre-loaded in the cabinet. Now we just have to hope that it doesn't start to rain.

Some of the porters seeking shelter from the rain at the top of Mt. Bigugu. Fortunately, the radio repeater and other electronic equipment made it to the top of the mountain about 10 minutes before it started to rain. The porters are waiting to get paid for a days work. What I took notice to was the shoes the porters had to climb the mountain. Some went up barefoot, while most had rubber sandals, and the very lucky ones had rubber boots. I had my REI hiking shoes that were protected by GORE-TEX, though just about all the porters finished before I did. I did carry a day pack which they offered to carry for me. I couldn't bring myself to let them carry it. A very incredible people.

We had a bit more comfortable accommodation at the top of the mountain than the porters waiting outside. We had African tea, which I gladly drank though I am wasn't much of a tea drinker. This trip changed that a bit. In the picture is Ian (top), Daniel (middle) and Jean-jacques (bottom). Jean-jacques was my technical counterpart. Ian is the Chief of Party for the USAID project, and Daniel is with International Resources Group, who manages the project.

So where did the water come from for our tea? The rooftops of the tents and then stored in a gerry can. All their water is collected like this, which is an advantage of being in the rain forest. We tried to carry as little water as possible using what nature provides us instead.

Porters are waiting to get paid before going down the mountain. The porters wage for a days work was between $1 and $2 for about a 6 hour day. No food was provided for them, no safety equipment. No one got hurt. It is the way in Rwanda. The clothing appeared to be used clothing from mainly the United States. I saw a sweatshirt from Lake Tahoe, and several articles of school clothing, such as high school jerseys and sweatshirts.

Prior to the first climb I had asked if we were going to bring ladders. They instead would make ladders, and use the rain forest to provide the raw materials. In this case they made scaffolding from the surrounding timber. I can't imagine doing this in parks in the United States without driving your token environmentalist to tears. The rain forest has been the home of the people in Rwanda, and they, more than anyone, appreciate the importance of the rain forest to their livelihood.

The flora was beautiful. Here is a picture of one of the military people providing safety during our time in the rain forest. The Congo is about 10 km away and there is a very large Rwandan military presence in this area to discourage rebel activity to overflow in this area.

Children along the road to our second mountaintop, Mt. Roshuko. I don't think these children were much more than 7 years old. Collecting firewood in the rain with no shoes. It is just their way of life. No one seemed to complain or look unhappy.

We were a bit unhappy when our vehicle with all our equipment got stuck. Since there is no one you can call to help pull you out it became a matter of taking care of business. Fortunately, we brought a few folks with us (loaded in the back of the truck with the equipment). I really thought we were stuck for the long term. A hazard of trying to travel through the rain forest.

Visual proof that we made it out of the mud, and now we are just trying to keep up speed until the top of the hill. We had quite a gathering watching our foibles in the jungle. Children come literally out of the forest when they hear activity. You will be alone, but when you stop it is common to quickly see a gathering of many spectators.

Finally made it to the trail head of our second mountaintop, Mt. Roshuko. People who wish to work that day make their way to a gathering point. The climb this time is 12km, and is expected to take at least 4 hours. The route took us out of the town, and then up to one end of a ridge line. We followed the ridge line until we reached our mountain. Since the radio path survey was all done on computer, there was a bit of anxiety to see if we would achieve good radio communications.

Provisions were made to protect the electronics prior to carrying it up the mountain. Jean-jacques is seen placing bubble wrap over the electronics to eliminate water from getting into the electronics. Now, all we had to hope for is 4 hours without rain. Our activity creates a bit of interest from the locals.

The trail up to the ridge line. Our trail followed the ridge line seen in the background. This picture was taken very close to the beginning of the climb.

I was greeted by the porters as I made it to the top of the mountain. They looked rather refreshed, and of course always greeted me with a smile. Again, nearly all of the porters made it to the top ahead of me. The porters carrying the antenna mast were the last to make it up the mountaintop. I would have rated this trail impassible considering the equipment we were carrying. The quick drops and climbs on rain slickened mud was a challenge. I wonder if I was the only person to fall. I am pretty sure I was the only person to fall twice!

Raising the antenna mast with antenna already attached. One slip here and there will be no mountaintop repeater operating at this site. I was quite certain that the antenna would not survive being dropped. I was thinking Iwo Jima at about this time. Everyone helped, including the cooks, the army, and the park rangers.

Antenna on its way up. Will it make it, or will the unthinkable happen. I still wasn't too sure at this point. That stick holding up the end was a help, along with the guy in a tree (just out of sight to the left) pulling a rope to help the lift and prevent the antenna from falling.

Antenna up, and ready for the concrete. Yes, the concrete was carried up also. The installation of the antenna went extremely well. Lots of help, lots of satisfaction, and a great deal of relief from me.

An example of simplicity. Why bring a broom when the local vegetation tied together works perfectly to sweep the floor in our repeater house. The people were extremely proud of the new installation, and immediately cleaned the floor once we were done with the installation. Tomorrow, I will descend the mountain.

We brought our own cook along with us. This time Jean-Jacques had asked for some meat, rather than just rice and beans. We were able to get a goat from the village at the base of the climb. We also added banana, which was used more like a starch. The cook was kept very busy, as we had three full meals a day. I actually took some cheese with me to have in the morning to add even more variety. Everyone loves cheese, so that vanished quickly.

So here is dinner. A green banana, which was peeled and cooked, smothered with some kind of gravy. We had beans and goat meat. Camping at its finest. The goat was a bit tough, and the banana reminded me of eating rice cakes, kind of nondescript flavor. The gravy helped a great deal.

The Rwandans were very creative in clearing the timber. Here a person has climbed high in the trees to continue the thinning and clearing process.

The tree cutting even gave Jean-Jacques a moment for pause. By the way, all of these trees were cleared with either a machete or an ax.

Time by the campfire at Somet Romeo (Mt. Roshuko). We build a fairly substantial fire from all the fresh cut timber that accumulated after clearing the site for better solar exposure.

The big moment. Testing the radio repeater. Jean-Jacques is testing our new installation, and the link between the two repeaters. Curious onlookers are awaiting the news. Everything worked perfectly.

Jean-Jacques with the radio cabinet. The top part is the radio and amplifier, and the gold color item is the duplexer. My greatest worry was that the rods that come from the top of the duplexer would move, which would have been a considerable setback with the installation. This did not happen as our preparations worked well to prevent any damage to the equipment. Jean-Jacques is now the local expert and feels very comfortable with maintaining the system. He would like to install many more throughout all the parks in Eastern Africa.

One final adjustment to the UHF antenna was made to get things just right. This picture is shot at Somet Tango, or Mt. Bigugu. Jean-Jacques is seen climbing the mast.

If you have never seen a radio repeater and an amplifier up close, then this picture is for you. The Daniels equipment was exceptional, and their support to this project invaluable. The repeater runs on very low power. It survived being shipped from Victoria, Canada, to Auburn, California, then off to Kigali, Rwanda, then a 6 hour drive from Kigali to Nyungwe National Park.

I can tell you that the people in Nyungwe National Park were very grateful for this gift. I hope someday you can travel to this beautiful rain forest and possibly see the Colobus Monkey, the Chimpanzees, and the Mountain Gorilla. The only problem I was notified about after I left was the batteries were discharging a bit more than expected. I had planned on the repeaters being in use about 6 hours per day (transmitting). The rangers were using it much more than that, which will certainly settle down over time. There is always excitement when one gets something new.

On our return from "Somet Romeo", we drove along the shores of Lake Kivu. Across the lake is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lake Kivu is also called the "exploding" lake because in the event of violent overturn the methane and carbon dioxide will kill virtually all vegetation, along with threatening the 2 million people that live along the lake shore. It would be nothing short of devastating. The lake is known to overturn about once every 1,000 years, though the cause of overturn is not known.

Here we are finishing the last of the programming of the portable radios. This was our work area at the base camp, surrounded by beautiful rain forest and frequent visits by the native monkey.

Being that our work was completed about a week early Ian and I traveled into Uganda and the city of Kampala. It was about a 6 hour drive with some parts of the road very slow going. Ian wanted to show me the other beautiful areas in the region. He was raised in Uganda, so this was like going home. His eyes definitely showed his excitement when we entered Uganda and the place that he called home. On an earlier trip to the USA by Ian, I had the opportunity to show him San Francisco and San Diego. We met in San Diego at the San Diego Zoo and then flew to San Francisco. A whirlwind tour of San Francisco, then a night at my place in Auburn. Ok, back to the picture above, this shows a fairly large anthill. The community must keep their distance these, as they can move into homes. I used to play with ant nests as a youngster. This one probably would have been a bit forbidding, standing about 10 ft high. I never did see a child anywhere near these.

All along the route between Kigali and Kampala there were roadside vendors. Uganda flourishes with an abundance of food, along with many different varieties of food. Here we stop to take a look at some fresh caught Talapia from Lake Victoria. This is their version of the fruit and vegetable stands that we have in farming communities in the USA.

Here I am at the equator in Uganda, or so they said. On each side of the equator they had a bowl with a drain so you could see the water moving in different directions depending on what side of the equator you were on. I noticed the tilt of the bowls had probably a lot more to do with which way the water drained than anything else.

The various meats of Uganda. The round tubular things are intestine casings, packed with organ meat. There was also chicken, beef, and of course, goat. No, I didn't try any of it, but I was watching TV in the states about a week after I returned and watched the Food Channel, Bizzare Foods with Andrew Zimmern taking this same route and eating the food, and specifically what was inside the intestine casing.

Stop the BUS! A very common sight in Uganda. The bus pulls up and the locals sell food. No sense hardly pulling over, or even getting out of the vehicle. Ok, where are those intestines? Gotta keep an eye on those.

We have just ordered lunch on the shores of Lake Victoria. This is actually a resort area along Lake Victoria. Ian has just ordered Fish and Chips, which is a whole talapia deep fried. I opted out for the hamburger on this one. It was just the beginning of the day, and during the week, so not many people were around.

Ian and Mark with Lake Victoria as a backdrop. The end of the trip and time for the long drive back to Kigali and my flight home.

Our accommodation was in Chandigarh a few hundred kilometers from Delhi. Chandigarh is located in the flat lands below the Himalaya. Our office was on the ground floor and we lived on the second floor. The second floor room with the balcony was my room for this stay. This stay was going to be a bit different than staying at the Raddisson Hotel Tala Bay resort in Aqaba Jordan. The adventure was amazing nonetheless.

Cricket game out in front of our building. Cricket is played everywhere in India. There probably wasn't a single day that I didn't see enthusiastic kids playing the game. These kids are fortunate to have something that at least resembles a wicket. Later on this trip while I was in the Himalaya the children used cardboard, old signs, anything the would functionally do for a wicket. I decided not to try my hand at this game next time because my experience playing cricket in Australia was still in my mind. Throwing a ball without bending your elbow could be the most unnatural motion I have ever experienced.

Gathering to begin our trip in the Himalaya. I, of course, thinking I was going to India forgot all about the temperatures I would experience in the Himalaya. The people in the center part of the picture from left to right is Dr. Jose (DHI-India), Rajeev(Bhakra Beas Management Board), Dr. Macdonald(DHI Team Leader), Roar(DHI-Denmark, Modeler), and Engineer Virk(Bhakra Beas Management Board).

Our first meeting which took place in Shimla. This is the office of the Central Water Commission, and one of the foremost experts on the Satluj River Basin. Mr. Doje(center) was raised in village of Pooh along the Satluj River, very close to the Tibetan border.

This is a picture of a hillside in the city of Shimla. This would be the last city of any appreciable size that we would see as we drive towards the headwaters of the Satluj River. The homes are built precariously on the hillside, but on the other hand, imagine the views everyone has!

The streets of Shimla are very narrow. Often when traveling on these streets drivers would need to back up to allow for passage. Obviously, there wasn't much flat land in this area which makes the level ground a premium commodity of sorts.

At first this looks like a horrible accident involving two dogs, numerous cars, and a few disinterested people, but actually just a couple of dogs sleeping in a parking lot (the actual explanation seems more difficult to believe, as I can't figure out how any of these cars get out). Picture taken in Shimla.

Building with a few opportunistic monkey's waiting to seize the best opportunity for a meal. We are at approximately 7500 ft in elevation.

Destination sign as we head out of town. We will be spending our first night in the Himalaya at Rampur. A glimpse of the mountains portends things to come.

Engineer Virk and Alasdair (Team Leader). We stopped to get lunch. I also took the opportunity to buy a much needed sweater from the local vendors. Though temperatures were in the mid-90's in Chandigarh, the temperature in the Himalaya were very cool. The new sweater cost about $10 with the help of skillful negotiations by Dr. Jose.

Lunch is being prepared. I have never had Indian food before. I had nothing but Indian food during my week trekking the Himalaya, except for a random breakfast omelette. The food was very good!

Our first stop at a snow gauge was in Narkanda. Alongside is a a post to measure snow depth. The observer explains how he collects data and the amount of snow dept maximum at this site (1 meter).

We drove over a ridge, and dropped into the Satluj River valley. This river has its sources well within Tibet. In the past a dam broke in Tibet and sent enormous amounts of water via the Satluj into India with little or no warning. I will need to consider activities in Tibet as part of the data collection and acquisition design.A short note on how flow is measured. Observers take a cart that rides on a cable over the river. They drop sticks in the water and measure the time it takes the sticks to travel a short distance. The velocity of the stick is then converted with the assistance of a table to flow(discharge).

Roar, from DHI Denmark in discussion with Rajeev. This is the automated rain gauge that will be replaced with state of the art precipitation measurement equipment with real-time notification. The bronze colored drum shaped item is supposed to hole a strip chart. There was neither a pen or a chart to record the precipitation automatically. The station location is one that we will keep, we will just replace the automated gauge with new technology.

Rampur weather station performing field survey with the mountains that we will soon be exploring in the background.

Weather shelter for minimum and maximum temperatures along with temperature and dew point temperature. The shelter has seen the impact of decades of service in the Himalaya.

The Rampur weather station is also a relay station from all the other weather and water level stations in the area. The observers in this area call Rampur and Rampur uses high frequency radio to relay the data back to headquarters. Soon, all of this information will be relayed to Chandigarh in real-time, which is one the objective of my work. From left to right is Dr. Rau, Engineer Virk, the observer/engineer, and Rajeev. The Bhakra Beas Management Board has had a difficult time finding an engineer to serve at this remote outpost. Soon, there will be no need for an engineer at this location.

This is the building that houses the observer/engineer in Rampur. I suppose I need to work on my Hindi to explain what the sign indicates. Apparently, I will have several more opportunities to learn Hindi, as I am expected to be in country five more times.

We leave Rampur towards the Tibetan border. The valleys are carved from glaciers. To the right of the canyon is a penstock used to transport water to turbines for the generation of electricity. Much of the Satluj River is dry as the hydro-electric parties are allowed to reduce water to the river at a quantity of not more than 15% of minimum flows.

Engineer Virk to the left and Rajeev to the right work for the client which is Bhakra Beas Management Board. These two became very good friends during our travels in the Himalaya, and the week after when we were off the Himalaya in Chandigarh.

This is a Hindi temple alongside a treacherous portion of the road where apparently many people had lost their lives. If you were to go over the side of the road you were usually greeted with at least 1,000 ft of free fall, where survival was not a likely outcome. These temples were put up so that those traveling the roads could stop and pray for safety. Did I go in to these temples? Absolutely!

Rajeev to the left and Engineer Virk paying respects for safe travel. The pictures that follow are evidence why a short stop and a prayer or two would be highly recommended. Both Rajeev and Engineer Virk were extremely patient with me in explaining the customs and rituals of the regions.

At the site of the temple was the cable car which traverses the gorge. The locals use these cars to transport materials back and forth, as travel from one side of the canyon to the other would be laborious to say the least. People literally live everywhere in this region. An interesting note is that most if not all people have power. The government makes sure that every home has power brought to the people by the government. It would be doubtful that the people in this region could ever afford the cost of running power lines to their remote communities without the help of the government.

This is the sign as we leave the temple site and head further north towards Tibet. I am guessing that Nako Lake is very close to the Tibetan border. Our destination is both Sangla and Kalpa. This stretch of road is one of the few segments that had guardrails. Good insurance just in case the prayers needed some time to kick in.

Just a few minutes from the temple site is a stretch or road that was run by carving the road out of the hillside. The roads are like this for more than 100 miles.

Another picture of the road with the canyon below. I was wondering how this road drives in Monsoon season, or maybe during winter when snow would be on the road. My next visit is actually planned during the beginning of Monsoon season, so I suppose I will find out how this road holds up...and how I hold up.

A view from one of the higher elevation locations. Evidence of more water is seen in the increased vegetation.

Karcham Dam is one of several Hydroelectric plants that is underway. Over the coming years there will likely be 20 more plants being constructed. As I mentioned, the operators are allowed to use virtually all of the water in the river. Rather than the water being released from the plant into the river, the water is diverted from the reservoir to through tunnels to yet another power plant. During high water flow, especially during the monsoons, the hydroelectric plants stop taking water because of the amount if sediment in the river. The Satluj River becomes a the wild river that has defined its existence for ages.

Construction works at Karcham. Across the way are the water intakes for hydrogeneration. The dam center point is going to be across this cross-section of the Satluj River.

The Sangla precipitation gauge with snow staff in the background. The crew is Dr. Ray, ME, Rajeev, Engineer Virk, Dr. Jose, Roar and Alasdair.

Flat land is a rare sight in the Himalaya of India. Orchards are in full blossom. Apples are very popular in this region. Years ago a flood flow coming from Tibet caused a great deal of devastation at this location.

This is identified as the last place to get a meal in India, next stop is Tibet. The Tibetan border is about 50 miles away.

Hydro-power in use. This channel takes water by paddle wheels, which in turn is used to ground grain.

I told you they were grounding grain. This is the inside of the little hut. Water is moving a paddle wheel that is connected to the grinding stone

Local children in the village of Chitkul.

Friendly card game with typical headgear...well, except for the baseball cap.

Cattle are plentiful in the area, but are off the menu in India. There is a special coexistence between cattle and man in this area. Cattle are allowed to live under the homes during winter. In return, the cattle offer body heat to warm the living area above. I wonder just how much heat do cattle provide? Another question for my next trip.

Precipitation gauge, instrument shelter, and snow depth post at Chitkul.

Mixture of new and old technologies. Even in these remote areas of the Himalaya you can still tune into CNN.

Another vista from Chitkul looking north towards Tibet. Chitkul is at about 11,000 ft. while the surrounding mountains rise towards 20,000 ft.

We were invited into the home of the observer at Chitkul where we were greeted with a warm cup of tea and a ceremonial love and friendship necklace. The necklace was comprised of string adorned with almonds and walnuts.

Snow observatory at Rakchham which is between Chitkul and Sangla. All of the weather stations are located in the lower laying valleys, which aren't very suitable for measuring snow pack. During the design phase of our work we will need to consider various sites that are higher up in the basin. Sounds like the perfect hiking experience to me. I hope to hike in the region during my next trip, as long as Monsoon season allows me to do so.

Our gracious host that provided us with hot tea, biscuits and the friendship and love necklace.

Outlet along the Satluj River. This section will soon be underwater as it will be a run of the river reservoir for more power generation.

Prayer Flags. This is a bridge on the way down from Chitkul. Prayer flags are intended to protect the people, and in this case to protect the bridge from flood waters that likely have destroyed the bridge in the past. This is a very familiar scene as one gets closer to Tibet. There are extensive prayers written on each and every flag.

Time for lunch, and no, we can't eat the cow! Cows appear to have equal status to that of people. We are trying to get a quick lunch before taking a shortcut over a mountain pass as we make our way out of the Satluj River basin and on into the Beas River Basin.

Disposing of trash is never a problem, just burn it in the streets.

Oopps, that mountain pass shortcut wasn't such a great idea. Even though there is no snow on the road, we met people walking down from the pass. Apparently, a bus full of people got stuck in the snow. Another bus went up from the other side and it also got stuck. Now there was no way to cross the pass. We would instead sleep in a guest house close by and essentially lose about 1/2 of a day.

Goat crossing and an unexpected delay. What else would you expect in the Himalaya? Another small delay during our travels.

More goats! Now that's a lot of goats.

Time for a quick lunch with the typical Indian fare which includes roti and plenty of vegetables flavored with Turmeric. From never having an Indian dish in my life to have five straight days of Indian food helped me quickly develop an attitude of adaptability.

Next stop was the balancing reservoir. Water is moved from the Beas to the Satluj for both hydro-generation and water deliveries into the Punjab region of India. This are Engineers and an observer inspecting the records of reservoir elevation, gate elevation, and discharge into the final pipeline which delivers the water to the Satluj. The water connector link between the Beas and Satluj is over 30 km long, or over 20 miles in length. The balancing reservoir serves as a safety precaution in the event too much water is in the connector link.

We managed to get over to the Beas River, and this is Pong Reservoir. The agency building the reservoir had to inundate a city. The city was relocated. There was a thought to disassembling the temples, but they residents of the city decided to keep the temples in place. Every year the water drops to reveal the temples. The temples are sill visited by the local population.

We just completed the field survey in the Beas and Satluj basins. We gathered the group and enjoyed a dinner. I think I have American Chop Suey (or at least that is what they called it). Dinner for the team sponsored by Innovative Hydrology. We ate at the Maya Restaurant, in the event you ever visit Chandigarh and are looking for a dining suggestion.

Engineer Virk and his wife to the left sharing typical Indian food.

Rajeev and his beautiful wife at dinner

DHI Denmark represented by Lars to the left and Roar to the right. Lars is the DSS expert while Roar will be working on rainfall runoff models. We became very good friends during our time together.

Dr. P.C. Jose (pronounced Joes). Sure, I call him Dr. Jose, until they reminded me that I wasn't in Latin American anymore. Dr. Joes will work with me on the data acquisition system. He lives in Delhi, and will be my local partner in developing the design and procurement for what should be in excess of $2,000,000 for the network.

My first morning I was greeted with a great view outside my hotel room balcony. Five swimming pools, a beautiful beach, snorkeling... It was about this time that I decided that I made a very good decision in coming to Aqaba. I never did go swimming though, as a one week stay with a 10 hour time change, while working all day didn't leave much time for anything more than work and sleep. In the distance is the Saudi Arabia border.

A view from the grounds looking across the Gulf of Aqaba. Immediately across the Gulf are both Israel and Egypt. Two of the five pools in the foreground. The hotel was the Radisson, Tala Bay Resort, which will not disappoint you if you should decide to visit this part of the world. The premises and facilities were not used very much during this time of year, as this was definitely the cool season. In a few short months I imagine the pools will have plenty of folks frolicking, and all of the furniture occupied. There is even a favorite of mine, a swim up bar in one of the pools.

Time to get to the reason why I came to Aqaba, which was to provide a survey of the area which will result in the design of a suitable flood warning system. When the rain comes, the water is collected in steep mountainous canyons which eventually makes its way to numerous alluvial fans on the way to Aqaba, and unfortunately, my hotel! Here is a bridge at the mouth of the canyon, just before the water enters the alluvial fan. Water levels during flash floods end up being several feet above the deck of this bridge. These events occur very infrequently, which makes the event even more disastrous when it does occur. Locals seem to easily forget the impact and dire consequences to flooding when events occur so infrequently.

Another view from the same bridge as before, this time looking downstream. The dry riverbed is called a 'wadi'. The area has numerous wadi's, to numerous to measure, so we will have to find the most optimum sites which serve as good measurement points for flash floods. The alluvial fan starts just after this bridge.

Picture of the railroad bridge that is crossing the wadi. It's a fairly large channel to measure across, and when water does start flowing it is hard to tell which portion of the wadi will the initial river channel occur. This is one tributary depositing water out over a massive alluvial fan less than 10 km downstream.

Another angle of the same railroad bridge. Evidence of high water and recent catastrophic flooding doesn't discourage building things, such as the tower to the left, immediately in the wadi.

This is a picture of a bridge which carries traffic over the confluence of two major wadi's. Ayman is seen next to the truck that was to take us through the project area looking for good sites for precipitation measurement and water level measurement.

Ayman and Lou, both with CDM looking at watershed maps. The wadi's are very wide making river measurements difficult. This will certainly be a challenge for the team.

This section of river has a control structure, which basically controls the water flowing over it. If we can measure over this concrete/aggregate mix, then we will have a chance to more accurately determine water level and flow than trying to measure over the gravel of the wadi.

This is at a military checkpoint at Titan, which is an incredibly small village. This picture was taken just before they told me that I can't take pictures...oops. They got pretty excited when we drove up to the checkpoint, but seem to be more relaxed now

A picture from one of the vast wadi's where water flows after a severe rainstorms. These event occur very seldom, and not even annually. Rainfall in Aqaba is on average 30 mm, which is just greater than one inch of rainfall the entire year. This wadi is located in the mountains above Aqaba, which get close to 5,000 ft. This picture is testimonial that when it does rain in this area, the flood flows can be significant. This is a bad place to be during a flash flood.

Here is a picture of a Bedouin Camp. The Bedouins are legendary in these parts. They make a life out of living in these very remote parts. The massive brown tents distinguish this group. We saw several of these camps in the most remote parts of this basin. One of the tourist attractions is to actually stay in a Bedouin Camp. When I heard that when they are very short of water they kill the camels that accompany them and drink the water out of their second stomach, which is used to primarily used to store water.

Out on the road for more site surveys. The region has this monochrome look to it with very little vegetation to add contrast. This picture is a rare sight of some vegetation. Roads like this go on for miles and miles...or in the case of Jordan...kilometers and kilometers.

Another view of the rock formations in the area and an extremely wide wadi. Elevation here is about 3,000 ft. In the USA we talk about being above or below tree line. I never did find a tree line, even at sea level.

Finally!! A camel! Actually, I saw many camels, but they are difficult to take pictures of when you are traveling 80 km/hr over the desert while having on hand hanging on for dear life.

Here we are at the Wadi Rum. There is a move underway to make this a "Wonder of the World". This is one of the prime tourist areas in Jordan. There is hiking, mountain climbing, camping, and of course camel rides out into the more remote areas of the region.

Typical rock formations, that are actually very unique, as seen on our way out from Wadi Rum. I was interested in Wadi Rum because it had one of the tallest mountains in the region. I was considering the use of the mountaintop for a radio relay station, but I think mountaineering equipment is required. I am quite certain that the porters in Rwanda could figure this one out.

Pimp my ride? This I have to see. Another shot of a camel. Just can't have enough pictures of camels.

Close-up of the same camel that I shot in the previous picture. The front legs are strapped together to prevent the camel from running off.

This is a picture from the very back of the project area looking west towards Aqaba.

We found a radio repeater at the back edge of our project area. This is a good sign for us as we move to designing the flash flood warning network. We were up there for a few minutes when one of the people guarding the repeater motioned us to leave. The historic city of Petra is only a few km away. I didn't get a chance to go there, but will get there certainly need to visit Petra next time.

Lou, my site visit partner is in the foreground, and a Jordanian who watches over the historic ruins. We more or less stumbled on these ruins and decided to get out and visit. Included in the ruins was a Mosque and a Catholic Church.

On our reconnaissance of the area we stumbled upon some ruins. These ruins had remnants of both a Mosque and Catholic Church. The interesting part of this story, aside from the wonderful ruins, is we were actually driving through the ruins by accident as we were coming across the desert up from behind the ruins. We quickly found our way out to the main road, and took a break to investigate things. This is my travel partner Lou, who joined me during the week in the field.

More camels in the vicinity of the ruins There isn't much else in the form of civilization as far as the eye can see.

More ruins with Lou taking the point. The ground here reminded me of silt, with our entire shoe disappearing in the substance. I believe the building to the left was the Catholic Church.

A beautiful view of the mountains while standing in the wadi. Thees wadi's can be extremely wide, giving me a perspective of the flood flows this region can experience.

A view of the surrounding terrain from the middle of a wadi. I have never been to the moon, but this is how I would expect it to be, outside of the stray plant here and there.

Picture from the middle of the wadi looking up to where the wadi begins. The upper portion, in the distance, would be an excellent place to locate a precipitation gage.

A view from one of the higher elevation locations. Evidence of more water is seen in the increased vegetation.

Another view of the vast area. This is approximately the area that Lawrence of Arabia was filmed (never have seen the movie!)

And you were expecting something different in this picture? Mountains seen in the background are excellent potential sites for rain gages. Cloud formation is a common occurence ove such mountainous areas. The mountains in the distance probably don't contribute to the severe flash flooding as they are a large distance from the great alluvial fan that is immediately above Aqaba. If you have a chance to build near an alluvial fan, I would suggest not.

Lou is in the distance doing his best in getting lost. Probably looking for that oasis.

We finally reached the ridge line. Aqaba is just on the other side of these hills. This type of steep rocky terrain is ideal for flash floods as all the water that falls is channeled in the gullys and rapidly collects creating a significant wall of water.

This view is looking away from Aqaba from the ridge line.

Finally, the Oasis! This lone palm tree was easily the tallest plant in thousands of square kilometers. It appeared to be thriving, maybe because of ground water in close proximity. This palm tree was found very close and immediately downwind of the main ridge line.

Ted and Lou at another spot along the main ridge line, and another great location for a precipitation gage, as long as we can keep it out of the howling wind. A location 100 meters or so downwind would be about perfect. Aqaba is just a few kilometers beyond this saddle.

Picture of the repeater infrastructure along the ridge line immediately downwind of Aqaba.

From the minute I arrived, there appeared to be something immediately wrong. The first thing I needed to do is to learn to drive on the left hand side of the road. Since I consider myself a 'universal' driver (I generally drive in the middle of the road), the adjustment wasn't to great.

Snowy Hydro, the place where I work. My office is on the top floor, looking out to the back (towards the Snowy Mountains). Upon my arrival, we were in the full transition to Fall. To think I just left winter in California coming out to Australia!

Ok, I need to show you a few work pictures, since that is what I am here to do. These are cloud seeding generators that the Snowy Hydro put together in a matter of a few months. The tower structure is tilted up, and silver iodide is burned from an orifice (not shown). These have now been all placed in the field, while we await the first cloud seeding opportunity.

This is the Snowy Hydro Company Jet. Ok, ok, so it is a 'push-pull' airplane (note the two propellers ahead and behind the aircraft....or is that behind and ahead?). I wasn't sure the two propellers were used to make the aircraft fly backwards, but I none-the-less hopped in, and flew in the customary orientation. I was on my way to Khancoban, over by Tumbarumba, and Corryong (Ok, I really like the names here....more to come!)

I have been organising the balloon launches, and training the group to provide launches 24x7 before, during, and just after winter storms. Here is the balloon launch contraption, and a few of my newly trained students ready to release the 'mother of all balloons'! A few look skeptical, but they were not disappointed.

Up, up and away. The amazing thing I find about balloon launches is how long people will sit and look at it. There appears to be some kind of contest on who would be the last to see it. The balloons travel to about 23 km, or about 14 miles, or better yet, 75,000 feet, about twice as high as commercial aircraft (and you didn't think you were going to learn anything today, eh?) Another thing to note here is that 98% of the vegetation is Eucalyptus, AKA Gum Trees. Those are all Gum trees in the background.

This is a picture looking off to Mt. Kosciusko, the highest peak in Australia. The mountains get to about 2200 metres (for you that don't have your handy metric decoding guides, that would be around 7,200 feet, or the approximate elevation of Donner Pass). This is taken from the Perisher Ski Resort, where we have a radar and radiometer placed. Ski resort structures are shown in the near distance.

One of my outings was a bonfire one Friday evening. To this minute, I am not sure what the blinking rabbit ears were for, but hey, we all had fun. Of course, Australian bonfires are just not the usual run of the mill bonfire. This one was as high as three stories, and would have certainly qualified for a major fire in the States.

I think they got carried away with the fire. The food here is being cooked from both the bottom, as well as the top, along with the cooks. I would have been calling the fire department about 20 minutes earlier, but at this point, the fire was finally just getting down to a manageable two story size. The fare tonight was Veggie burgers, Tabuleh, Hamburgers, Chicken Burgers, Beer, Wine, and a spiced wine thing. Dessert were these amazing confections, like sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. I am fortunate that they don't have these outings often, it's just way too yummie.

Here I am somewhat in the middle with friends from the bonfire. I am not sure why the bloke to the right removed his bunny ears, but he did. I do like pink!

This is my most recent outing, heading for Merimbula, which is part way towards Eden (both figuratively and literally). This was a very memorable and stunning trip. One knows very quickly that they are no longer in Kansas as indicated by this sign. This is definitely Oz.

Before I go much further, I need to stop at a pie shop. Pies are a HUGE thing in Australia, as are Pasties. I had a delicious Spinach and Cheese pie. And no, not all people walk like this bloke does in this picture. He was just messing with me, and we had a good laugh. The bakery is open, so I better get in there.

Ye ole Pie Man. Actually this was a Ye Young 'Shy Pie Guy', probably around 18 or so. There was a girl in the back preparing pies, but when I pulled out the camera, they all tried to hide. These pies are truly delicious, but trying to diet and have pie shops all around is difficult, at best.

I finally made it to Merimbula. The temperature was about 20 C, or at least it felt that way (70 F). I had a very nice two hour walk, and thought/reflected on many things. There were beautiful sea shells everywhere, and few people. I kind of thought that I finally found a place with more seashells than people. Being raised in San Francisco, that was hardly the case.

Hmmmm, a fin in the water. Maybe I don't want to go swimming here after all. This one seems particularly close to the shore too. I really must have a much closer look.

Hey, 'no worries', it's just a group of Dolphins playing in the surf, and, yes it is time to go swimming, but I did forget my swim shorts.

In a place like this, you are on this beach all alone, I am not sure you even need to worry about a swim suit, so let's hop in anyway! This is the closest thing I have been to a deserted Island. The pictures show just a fraction of the beauty, the silence, and the warmth of the sun on my skin, and soon to be...water.

Days end, and time to get to some rest. I particularly enjoy these purple sheets, and will certainly need the heating blankets in the days and months to come.

Something about being in an airplane that wants to make you sleep. This is on the first leg from Sacramento to Los Angeles. We had about a 7 hour wait in Los Angeles, but fortunately Mexicana Airline let us stay in the First Class loungs. Made the wait a bit more tolerable. I suppose she knew down deep how hard I was going to work her in the following days.

We got to Bogota right without any drama, which is nice, and had the next day off, as the Colombians were just coming off a holiday. We decided to take a walk up Mt. Monserrate. This hike started at about 9,000 ft, and finished above 10,000 ft. I pretty much jogged up the path (ok, not really). This is a view of Bogota from the path leading to the top of the mountain.

Here is another picture from the path as we climb up to Monserrate.

All along the climb they had stands for food and drink. I stopped at this one and had a bottled water. The only way to get their supplies up the hill is to carry them on their back, which is no small feat. I had enough trouble just getting myself up the hill. This was about the only stand open, as we did our climb on a Tuesday, sans crowd.

I suppose if I told you that I beat Anne to the top that this wouldn't serve as much proof. I am just about at the top of the mountain, definitely looking for a cold cervesa.

At the top of the mountain is an extremely grand church. Legend has it (taken from stories we read on signs) that people would climb the mountain as part of their penance. I suppose it is a bit healthier than saying 50 Hail Mary's, and a few dozen Our Father's (you mean you never had to do that many? i told you that priest didn't like me).

At the top Anne and I had a small snack as we were aiming to go at a Colombian restaurant afterwards and didn't want to spoil our dinner. I had a nice french onion soup, and Anne had sauteed mushrooms with a magnificent view to enjoy. This was a French restaurant at the top of the mountain. It was extremely beautiful inside, and with the view outside, it was definitely a treat. Makes me think I need to come here at night.

This is after the hike at the Colombian food restaurant called the "Old House". We were both very excited to try Colombian food, but after a few days we were pretty much done with Colombian food (many stories about that), and were ready for a salad, or pizza. If you want to try Colombian soup you should probably talk to Anne first. She has a more than a few first hand experiences. She will need all that food in the bowl, as our first day of work was a 16 hour day. which included a short flight to Nivea. I didn't post pictures from that day trip, though it was significantly lower and mucho calor! (did i spell that right Anne?)

Ok, we must show a few work pictures, in order to right this whole experience, my internet, web server, laptop, and this entire trip off. This is one of the first stations we visited which is called Fontibon on the Rio Bogota. Unfortunately, the Rio Bogota has been reduced to was waste water conveyance. It pretty much is black, bubbles with gas from who knows what. We tried to make our visits to these sites very quickly. Zulma, who Anne got along with very well is shooting pictures next to Anne. The other two fellows are engineers with the company we were visiting. The one guy kind of reminded me of a version of Bob Marley. (maybe it was the dreads).

Pretty exciting, eh? Ok, sure it isn't a thunderstorm, or a hurricane, or not even a rainy day. This is the equipment that was installed that I will need to work with. We call this a SCADA system that was used only to collect data via GSM (Cellular phone).

This picture is dedicated to all those technicians who can't find their keys when they arrive at a site. We were working on this lock for about 10 minutes, when just as I shot this the lock opened. Yea, even the technician appears to be a bit stunned. The buildings were called caseta's.

Here we are with a great view of the station. A pretty massive solar panel, and eternally green fields, which is a comforting respite from the Rio Bogota.

Here are one of the devices that measure water level. Since the water is so hazardous, the level is best read without contacting the water. Looks fairly tranquil, but believe me the odor was definitely hastening our stop here. The sensor is at the end of the boom, and it reflects sound off the water (sic) from which we can tell the water level.

After working three days in the field we were greeted with a weekend to do more things. Having Anne with me was a special bonus, as it kind of forced me to get out and see things. We took a trip to a magnificent Salt Mine. This is considered one of the more amazing wonders in the region. A massive salt mine and deep inside the mine is an incredible Church. Yes, the do have a cross or a Church just about everywhere. This was pretty unbelievable.

Here is the entrance to the Salt Mine. This was about an hour out of Bogota. The tour took about an hour to get through.

A sample of the items inside the salt mine.

Another item inside the mine. Photo's were hard to come by as object were usually too far in the distance for a flash to be effective.

I had to shoot a shot of Anne hard at work. I know it got to be a bit draining to speak both languages but she did a great job. They were laughing much of the time, and one can only wonder if they were laughing at me...though I do know a bit of spanish, eh Anne?

Ok, so I have pictures a bit out of order. This was taken on the first day, which was part of our 16 hour day. This is what we did on our 4th of July. This was the Rio Magdelena, which runs almost across the entire country. The water is a bit cleaner here as we are about 300 km from Bogota, and much lower in elevation.

A nice picture of the landscape.

Anne enjoying a Mojito, while I sample the local Tequila (ok, it was Jose Cuervo, yikes!) We heard the song Guantanamera every evening at happy hour. We heard the song "Yesterday" a bit too. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, where you can't beat happy hour. Anne took advantage of it a bunch, as she was once again of legal age.

I liked this picture mainly because of the observer, who is the gentleman in the middle. We are out away from Bogota, and things change quickly. Zulma is on the left, and Nicoyan on the right. Incredible people here, and extremely nice.

A bit of evidence of how late we worked at times. This was part of a 13 hour day. Couldn't see much else, so I shot a picture of this building.

Another adventure was having to get on a boat to get to a couple of sites. Yes, this is an average day in the area. We were hovering around 9,000 to 10,000 ft all day, and it was cold once the boat got going.

This is why we had to use the boat. One of the stations is on the top of this structure in the middle of this lake. The lake is also the site of a recreational area.

As part of the boat trip we stopped on an island in the middle of the lake to see if we had a good site for a weather station. We had to climb a few hundred feet up a very steep hill. This was the most jungle we had seen during the entire trip.

Here is a picture of the island as we are leaving it.

A picture of an exisiting weather station that we will be changing. This is an ALERT station which uses radio to transmit rainfall. Very few of these were still operating. This is an example of what NOT to do with a station. The solar panel and antenna actually cover part of the opening for the rainfall. We will fix all of this up for them.

This is near the end of our trip site surveying. The last day was pretty difficult. The river below is topped with foam, as this is all waste water heading somewhere. These rivers when still smell bad enough, but when the river is running and water splashing it is an order of magnitude worse. Having fun yet Anne?

I had to include another work picture. Here is an ultrasonic level sensor trying to read the level of the murky water below, though what I think it is really measuring is that bush just beneath it.

Here is the survey crew on the last day. It was a great trip and fun to have Anne join me on this one. I know it was a trip that I will never forget.

The Warden and my translator/Ranger (Kalimba Innocent) during my climb up Mt. Bigugu.

My first night in Kigali (the capitol), was spent at the Iris Guest House. Like many "hotels" there was evidence of plenty of security.

Just up the street from the Iris Guest House I found a Chinese Restaurant, appropriately named "Shang Hai". I am going to try this restaurant when I return through Kigali. If you never hear from me again, and are looking for me, you may want to start here.

The second day in Kigali we were off on a 4 hour ride to Nyungwe National Park. My driver stopped for a roadside snack, which was barbecued corn.

The corn was extremely dry, in fact some of the kernels on the right side had aleady started popping. The good news was that all my teeth remained intact.

This is my accommodation at Gisakura Ranger Station. A three bedroom house with fireplace that I shared. Yes, the fireplace was used every night as guards would come in and haul in firewood and even start the fire. Ahh, to be royalty if only for a week. The area was absolutely stunning.

My first night in, I was met by a few other people who quickly became friends. Nothing like a good game of cards and a glass of South African wine to start the trip

This is the view from my house. Stunning to say the least.

I had frequent visits by monkeys in the front yard. We had to keep the doors on the house locked because the monkeys had already become skilled at opening doors.

My first field trip took me to the Uwinka Ranger Station which is in the middle of Nyungwe National Park. From here you could trek off to waterfalls, or just hikes through the jungle to enjoy nature. I was there to test radio communications.

We are now off on a dirt road, just outside the park. There were many plantations, and the people never let terrain get in the way of planting. Most of the crops were "Irish" potatoes, cabbage, bananas, and tea. Obviously, all cultivation was done by hand.

We arrived at the Rusizi Ranger Station. This is the cook house. If you look carefully, you can see the fire to the left inside the door. It was just an open pit. Much of the smoke would billow out of the eaves and the doorway. They were nice to prepare lunch for me on every visit.

Lunch at Rusizi Ranger Station joined by a group of rangers. The Warden is sitting next to me. The meal for the day was a massive amount of rice served with beans and anything else they could find to give them flavor. NO, I couldn't clean my plate. The servings were enormous.

Tea plantation just outside of the park. Ok, ok, I was really contemplating whether to mention this or not, but I wonder if this is where Bill Gates got the idea for desktop wallpaper?

Rwanda's version of Spanky and the Gang. These children were at one of the tea plantations were we had a short visit. I believe one of my best pictures of the trip.

My first taste of scotch (outside of a random rusty nail). This was going away night for friends of the Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID contingent. Ian is to the left, who is the Deputy Chief. Ingrid is above him (from Uganda), and Louisa is a Brit. The three bottles of Scotch that I brought was definitely a capital idea. Two bottles left after this night. Of course, we all pledged lifetime friendships. A truly extraordinary group of people and now friends.y extraordinary group of people and now friends.

The day following the party I had an excursion up the highest point in the park. At this point I wasn't all too sure the party the night before was a good idea. That combined with the fact that my guides looked like they were members of the national marathon team didn't help matters.

Hey Mark, over here". Ok, now I know the party before wasn't a good idea. To help slow themselves down the rangers were wearing rubber boots, not exactly North Face hiking gear. The ranger brought up no water, and reminded me that he could run up this mountain, which I didn't doubt. For a brief moment I thought maybe the advantage had swung back to me.

Off goes the Warden. I wonder if he realizes that I am lagging behind, obviously trying to give him a head start being that he has rubber boots and all. This is on a stretch of a 3 km flat part which was a welcomed sight after the 1 km nearly vertical. The total climb was only a modest 2,000 ft.

Arrival at the top of the mountain, and the Mt. Bigugu repeater station. Actually, the repeater is really three rangers that stay up there and relay messages from point to point. Part of my task is to add a radio repeater which will not require the rangers to man this station. (Hey a work photo, how did that get in here?) The Warden takes a rest at the top. I am still standing, so I accept victory graciously. A minor note is that during the whole climb I never saw either ranger sweat. The same could not be said for me. A rangers tent can be seen in the background.

Another cook house sanschimney. I wonder what they are cooking for lunch? I am a bit hungry.

The fare was rice and beans, with the plates being even larger than the lunch the previous day. We are sipping and after meal tea.

Instant friends were made on every visit. The ranger asked me for my mobile phone number and gave me his upon first shaking his hand. He wanted to show me his living quarters (each ranger has is own tent as the rangers man the mountaintop 24x7. I found a rather old AK-47 and couldn't resist. I do wonder if this weapon was purchased in preparation of the genocide.

A view point on my stroll down Mt. Bigugu.

This was my final day in the field. We were visiting potential micro-hydro sites. We had walked some distance down a hill to inspect the flow of the river when these boys appeared out of the bush. When I grabbed for my bag to retrieve my camera they started to scatter like birds. I moved a bit slower, and waived for them to come forward. Afterwards, I showed them their own pictures on my camera display. It was as if they had never seen a camera before, which is most likely true.

The boys continued to follow me down to the river. A few boys to the left were bold enough to pose as some fearless warrior.

I couldn't let this opportunity go by. Soon after this our ranger appeared carrying a stick, and this was enough to make the boys scatter back into the vegetation.

While inspecting a micro-hydro site I caught this picture of one of the native carrying a log. Everything is carried on your head in this part of the world. I think in the USA were are supposed to use 6 people to carry this log, with all participants using back braces, and of course initially lifting with your knees.

Wherever we went we seemed to gather a crowd. We are examining the flows at this site and the potential for power generation. I am guessing 40 cfs, but it has been a while since I was in the stream measurement business.

A final shot of some children and the end of my field travels in the Nyungwe National Park. I have been asked a bit about the food in Rwanda. The park served meals that didn't vary much. Breakfast was porridge and an egg, served with toast. Dinner was usually fish, chicken, or goat, served with vegetables (peas and cabbage), and potatoes or rice. There was very little variation during the course of my stay. I do believe meat is a rarity, as evidenced by the lack of animals being raised. I have a final day in Kigali, then I head home. I hope you enjoyed the pictorial. Comments/questions are always welcome. I will likely be returning sometime after October if the design I come up with is cleared by USAID. It's definitely time for Pizza. Thanks for joining me!