Pet Heaven

So we are now in the business of burying all the dead birds in the area...seems everytime Nell leaves the property she comes back with a dead bird...our cemetery is quickly filling. Nell and Pearl's Great grandmother (kind of) died this week. These burials have been a bit of a springboard for discussing her death at 100. They are sad....but in Nana fashion....her death serves a lesson for us all....she was a warm and moral compass for the Wood-Prince family, providing continuity and love for them all. Nana always said she wanted to be buried with all the family pets at the pet cemetary at the family Farm....somehow our little cemetery makes sense. Pet Heaven.

Our chickens or "kookoo" in swahili are on the way....Nell and Mapenduzi are working on their habitat today...what she doesn't know is that some 'sunguras" or rabbits are on their way as well....Robby has captured two for them and just has to get them here from Marangu which is just a the bottom of the mountain. He has one more trip up the mountain for the season....so that makes 9 for anyone who is counting. Sheesh.

Speaking of the mountain...our porter training project kicked off this week at Tumaini Center in Arusha...the turn out was well beyond what we expected. Setty had 31 students....including 13 girls!!!! This program has major momentum....it will culminate with a week on the mountain. the kids will take a bus from Arusha and attempt a climb, learing about the flora and climate zones along the way. Sleeping at altitude and food preparation will also be things they will be tackling. This program is really really exciting for me....it really is sort of groundbreaking to be first of all training porters WELL...providing them with knowledge of the mountain, good gear and a respectable salary. I just can't wait for GAA groups to climb with these kids....now we can know ALL our porters have first aid training, english training and tons of info about the mountain. They are ecstatic about getting to have this field trip!!! I am going to take care of setty's kids so his wife can joion him for the training...she has always wanted to try....she is borrowing my gear...I can't wait to hear her impressions. It will be great for their kids as it is for anyone's that are climbing to see their parent attempt this.....not too many Tanzanian women would even think of wanting to try....she is different. So...I know people wrote me about donating gear...looks like the numbers are going to be much higher than I originally thought...perhaps we should start with wool socks, hats, maybe wicking shirts or long underwear....Shawna is coming in Oct. Sam in Nov and Tom soon after both....

It would be great for these kids to have their first piece of gear before their trip which is tenatively set for