In Amarah - 6 October

Y, our main logistics staff, arrived last night and this morning we drove, finally boats and people all together for a change, the remaining distance to Amarah in Missan Governorate. The city was founded only in 1860s around an Ottoman Military outpost.  During the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, there was alot of fighting that occurred in the Missan Governorate.  The city is on the main Baghdad-to-Basrah road and is only 50 km from the Iranian border and is very close to the Hawizeh Marsh, Iraq's one and only RAMSAR site (internationally important wetland).  There were also alot of mass graves around the city from the 1990s as many from this area supported the uprising after the 1991 Gulf War that Saddam brutally put down.

We are staying a ministry guest house and I'm in a VIP room with a big king-sized bed (featuring a pink cover, in a room with a purple carpet and blue walls).  Unfortunately, the washing machine doesn't work so I had to wash my clothes by hand and the shower doesn't drain, so I'm sharing a bathroom with the boys, but other than that, no real complaints.

I've spent the day washing clothes, getting cleaned up, and uploading photos and information (at a rather glacial internet speed). I still need to spend time download the water quality data, but mostly today is for rest and tomorrow is for boat repair and preparing for our Amarah event.