Manado, Day 2 of the "Chicas Locas" Expedition

I received the following update from our guide, David Marchi:

Sooo....I couldn't get any information about Franky's son's birthday party thatRobyn and Roxanne went to the first night in Manado because they slept until noon and when they got up for breakfast(?) I had already taken one of Guy's (Cotter's) clients out to Bunaken Marine Reserve to do some much needed snorkeling and sightseeing. Apparently, the R&R team were the life of the small party (80+ people) and ate dog and roasted pig. Needless to say they didn't show for the 6 am breakfast to go snorkeling. Anyway, we got back from the Marine Reserve and went out to dinner, which took about a half hour to get there because we went into the highlands.

After a long and windy road back down and my bout of motion sickness we all met up for breakfast and did a thorough gear check. Guy and I got together with Franky regarding logistics and we will be leaving for Biak tonight at midnight. Guy, Rox and I are still trying to figure out why the flight is at 2 am but just realize thatFranky does have it together and once we get to Zebra Wall Guy and I will have a bit more control. We got all the laminated topos from Clark which will be a huge help as well as all the group gear excluding the solar panel, which will bound to turn up by the end of the day.

From all the reports Franky really does have it together but business just operates a little differently here. Lots of middle men and behind the scenes arrangements. Much different from expedition logistics in the US. That's part of the adventure though. I spoke with Franky about the porters and instead of making those arrangements, we will be just be dropping the majority of the gear at base camp with the helicopter. Talk about luxury. Anyway, Guy and I have arranged to spend an extra day at Zebra Wall to review jugging and hopefully will leave some time for him and I to set up a Tyrolean traverse across the rap/climb section. Good idea, eh!

Everything is going well and we're looking forward to getting out of Manado and onto the mountain. I'll try to give you a call at some point with the SAT phone. This is probably the last email transmission, so I'll talk to you soon.
Cheers,
David