The best intentions I had of blogging at the end of the day seems somewhat difficult to achieve due to the reasons covered in today’s personal blog section. Therefore at best expect an update as and when they arrive!
ERA
The first task was to source a 3G sim card and a 3G dongle, which unfortunately is proving to be quite a challenge. The local Claro mobile network store informed us we have to go to Managua city to the main store to get these. After a long round trip and conversations it turns out they cannot supply what we need.
Another source has told us of a different mobile network supplier, Movistar that also has a store here in Masaya so a trip there is planned.
In the field it was a bit disappointing as the first trial to test the WiFi setup to enable photos to be send to the server I had setup failed. All connections and settings appeared to be correct.
Discussing the problems with the team
There was little or no shade and the heat was extreme so I am uncertain if this was a contributing factor. Once back at the hotel I will repeat the setup to see if anything becomes apparent.
iPhone
Another disappointment due to no signal strength at all on the 3G network. I used Hazel’s sim card in my hone to enable me to have data connectivity but given the location we were working in, a long winding path in a bank on either side it was not totally unexpected not to get a signal.
This does not mean the trial is a failure as there are still many options to consider. The best, but most expensive would be the use of the BGAN to provide a satellite uplink, positioning a 3G enabled router at a higher position in range of the 3G signal and providing a WiFi or rethinking how the app gets its map data as it is essentially this that requires 3G connectivity.
The latter may be a promising option whereby the map dataset for the area being worked is preloaded on the device.
However obtaining a 3G sim would be of great value as when working with Guillermo yesterday on the plateau I was receiving a very strong signal.
Personal
Today has made me appreciate the hard work Hazel and her team do and the conditions they have to do them in. The climate is currently extremely hot and dry making it a challenge to carry heavy equipment all day over all kinds of terrain. And not only heavy but expensive, for example the gravity meter alone costs ยฃ70K.
Taking gravity meter readings
Along the path we saw monkeys in the trees but moving to fast for me to get a good photo, no sooner had they appeared, sensed our presence they were gone! It is amazing to see how many different plants manage to survive in such arid conditions, but somehow they do.
Arid environment
There is also an extraordinary number of termite nests up trees rather on the ground where I would have normally expected them to be!
A large termite nest
After the day in the field we went to a restaurant on the edge of an extinct crater that is now a lake. The journey up the mountain to the restaurant was a window into the poverty that exists in this country and is upsetting to see it for real.
Most of the houses are just shacks covered in dirt and dust from the surrounding dry land. People are sitting by the road or in groups outside houses just passing the time while children play baseball in a field that contains dogs scavenging for food and cows.
The road system is one of utter chaos, there is no rule of the road. Cars battle for position with lorries, other cars, horse drawn carts, dogs and people. No one seems to care and just jostle for position.
The people here have so little in way of materialistic things and either seem content with the hand life has dealt them or accepted it as this is what their lives are meant to be.
It makes it all the more uncomfortable therefore to sit in a restaurant where most if not all the people we just passed will never be able to afford a meal there. The scenery, restaurant and food is wonderful, a strange oasis in a desert of poverty.
View from restaurant over extinct crater
I spoke to Mel on the way people live here which is hand to mouth and what happens when they become old? In developed countries people have pensions in order (hopefully) to provide a secure retirement. No such investment is made here, so families stay together looking after the elderly when they can no longer look after themselves.
The end of the meal for me ends on a low note with the sight of a very hungry dog who looks like her life has been one of constant hunger and giving birth to one litter are another. Some of us feed her scraps that she eats so fast conveying how hungry she is. And then sensing food is available another dog appears in much the same state of hunger as the first and joins in eating our scraps.
Everywhere out here in the countryside and in Masaya itself, dogs wander around constantly looking for the next scrap to eat.
Most people are aware of this kind of situation that is happening in so many countries not just here but to see it first hand is upsetting. If the people can barely afford to feed themselves what then of the animals? It is not only dog, but cats, horses, cows all look the same…..hungry.
To be able to blog daily now seems impossible with the amount been crammed into a day. After a day on the volcano, back for a shower to was the dirt and sweat from our bodies then dinner all we are fit for is collapsing with exhaustion!
The day closes with me succumbing to heat and stomach upset, it was only a matter of time!
nice post. thanks.