And on we go...

The saga continues - yet another meeting to finally resolve the issue today, and yet another to do the same tomorrow... Sunday saw quite a lot more printing of documents and things in time for me to take everything to the lawyers in the evening and talk through my life history. It was actually quite satisfying to have finally printed out a nearly complete list of my publications - I certainly didn't just knock them out over the weekend! And today I had yet another interrogation, this time by the combined taskforce convened to deal with the issue from all the various parties (interested or uninterested as the case may be). After I did my bit the lawyer went in and used all my publications and papers to convince them I really am a scientist and might actually have some purpose in being here beyond being a British spy and we were sent away to come back later when a decision had been made. So off we trotted to the law offices to sort out accounts and such like, only to be called straght back in for a decision. Wow! Dynamism!

Or then again, not - the decision turned out to be that we were obviously guilty so we had to write a letter asking for clemency, deliver it tomorrow morning by 9am and we'd get a final answer later in the day. So, the next final meeting will be some time tomorrow. Hopefully not just after I get out to the friends we'll be visiting 40mins east of here... The lawyer expects this to be the end of it - but can't promise it - but thinks it might well also be the end of my binoculars, GPS and notebook... We shall see - it's certainly preferable to see them destroyed but me going free than some of the alternatives that have been banded around. And hopefully the insurance would cover replacements this time - not sure what I'd have to put on the claim form though...

Otherwise, Sunday evening's highlight was a visit from Sister S, a lovely Irish nun who confessed to having several habits and one of the best connected people in Arusha who has been extremely helpful in the last few weeks. And today the rest of the family took the Wicked Uncle out to Lake Duluti (of the overgrown millipede and lizard fame) for the afternoon. And despite making him carry the mancub under low trees and over large boulders there seemed to have been too many people around before them and they report no exiting wildlife sightings. So let's hope there are monkeys to be seen tomorrow...