Start Marking Out

Tuesday was a bit of an office day for me so not much else happening. Early evening I went to go and meet one of the overland trucks and take their gorilla permits to them. Also spent a couple of hours chatting to their clients about Rwanda and the gorillas. Andy and I did go to the Cyanika border (Uganda) to sort out some Customs documents for the car which was a nice scenic outing with the lakes and mountains looking amazing as usual. I didn't take any pics as there always seem to be powerlines in the way at the best spots.

This morning, Andy and I set out to the site with compass and drawings to start the marking out process so we can be ready to start clearing immediately when we get our Environmental Impact report approval. It was really good to be out at the site and actually even more exciting because we are potentially (and hopefully) only a few weeks away from turning the first soil. It was once again abundantly clear that the layout of different sections and/or buildings will be moved a little to accommodate the contours. Part of this process will also include us making a call on whether we will be incorporating certain rocky outcrops into the buildings and if so, how.

The evening I took some of the overlanders to the little local bar where they had bought their beers for the campsite (no beers sold at the present place they camp) and we had some beers with the local patrons. I hadn't been to this little bar before but I knew some of the guys there and it turned out to be a really good little visit. Also realised again how much people in town actually knew about the project and everyone's just extremely keen for it to get started. I was also offered a trip up to the peak of Karisimbi (one of the Virunga mountains) with the helicopter doing the flights up there to set up the new mast/antenna. I'll see tomorrow if it was just talk - it will be nice if it does happen though.