27 APR 2007 – Back to Civilization

27 April 2007 – Back to Civilization

Made it to Johannesburg yesterday without any problems.  I was greeted at the airport by Ronel, a Simuflight employee sporting an Air Serv sign – I love it when a plan comes together.  Everything people have told me about South Africa seems to be true – it’s like any other developed country.  The roads are paved and the buildings are modern, that kind of thing; although Johannesburg has been described as the South Central Los Angeles area of the country with high crime rates.  Before I left Entebbe I had lunch with a South African native that referred to Joberg as “the world’s deepest long drop”.  I’ll let you figure out the translation.  Ronel had a heavy right foot until we got on the freeway, expressing similar concerns of the area and made it very clear that under no circumstances should I drive into the city at night.

We drove to the Simuflight office located at the Grand Central Airport in Midrand, about 40 minutes north of Joberg.  From there I got a tour of the facility, checked out the sim, met the instructors, got started on a bunch of paperwork and went over the schedule for the next couple of weeks.  I guess the vacation is over – it’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.

After all that I was handed the keys to the Simuflight courtesy car and given a map to the Air Serv apartment about 3 miles away.  Ahhhh…  the moment I’ve been waiting for.  Yes, they drive on the left over here, and yes the steering wheel is on the right.  The car is a Hundai something and a 5-speed manual.  I haven’t driven a manual with any consistency in years but so far haven’t had any problems – the shifting order is the same with 1st being in the upper left and reverse being in the lower right.  Once I got going I kept repeating in my head “stay to the left… stay to the left… “  Only once, while making a left turn did I bump up against the curb and realize I was too far left; from then on I just kept myself inline with the driver in front of me and so far it’s seemed to work out alright.  I made it to the apartment just fine and the car is in one piece.

The apartment is similar to what you might find in an apartment complex in the US.  Air Serv has rented it since it was brand new and Air Serv pilots are the only people who have ever stayed here.  As a result, a bit of personalization has been added.  For example, someone has gone around and labeled nearly everything in French, as most pilots end up going to the Congo where French is the predominant language.  I’ve considered going around and adding the Dari or Arabic equivalent.  Might be a good break from studying South African air law.

The key to the front door is something to note – it looks like a skeleton key from old movies or cartoons, and you can literally see right through the lock into the apartment.  There’s a security gate that uses a regular key – why the front door is like that I have no idea.  I’m no locksmith but I don’t think you’d exactly have to be Houdini to get the front door open.  I figure the security door is there for a reason so as long as I’m here by myself I’ve got the security gate locked as well.  Actually it was a suggestion of the Simuflight staff – apparently Midrand isn’t exactly crime-free either.  I am by the way getting a roommate; a pilot that’s been working for Air Serv in Kinshasa for awhile but has been flying US registered airplanes.  He arrives Saturday night to begin South African air law classes and validation.

Last night I went out to find something to eat.  There are a couple of restaurants near by that resemble any small restaurant you might find in Pacific Beach.  Took an empty seat at the bar and ordered a tap beer and a bacon-cheeseburger.  It was heaven.

3/4 of the way through beer #2 and contemplating beer #3, it dawned on me that I still need to drive myself back to the apartment.  Obviously driving on the left is still very new and considered the possibility of having an ‘American moment’ and making a right when I should have made a left and ending up in a head-on collision.  After a quick, mental risk analysis, responsibility prevailed and I called it a night.

This morning I went out for breakfast at a place called Mugg & Bean – a gourmet coffee house similar to Starbuck’s, but with food.  It is ‘Freedom Day’, a national holiday marking the end of apartheid so the place was pretty busy.  I didn’t mind though, it was nice to eat without being swarmed by lake flies or having to scrape ants out of the butter.

The weather here is similar to San Diego – a nice break from the Entebbe humidity.  It’s autumn – it’s cooling off and the beginning of the rainy season, again similar to San Diego.  It’s at about 26° South here while San Diego is at about 32° North.  Also, we’re 7 hours ahead of the Midwest, 9 ahead of the west coast.

KingAir classes begin tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 9am.  I’d like to thank everyone at ECS in San Diego for the year’s worth of lessons on 4KW and insisting I study the Simcom book and KingAir POH.  It was time well spent and will definitely make training easier.

More news when it’s fit to print.

~dj

photos of the Air Serv apartment at flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djhorton/

25 APR 2007 – RSA Update

25 APR 2007 – RSA Update

Hello All,

Just a quick update:

I finally got my trip confirmed to South Africa; I leave Thursday morning, nonstop to Johannesburg. I’ll spend a couple of weeks there at Simuflight going over KingAir systems and taking both an insurance check ride and a South African validation check ride. They have a KingAir/1900 simulator so I’m guessing it will be similar to Flight Safety. I’ll also be going over South African air law and will have to take what essentially amounts to an FAA commercial written exam. Can’t wait.

The mission in Afghanistan is a little different than it is in Africa. Although it’s considered humanitarian, it’s not considered emergency humanitarian. It’s a UN contract that takes security personnel to various locations to protect construction workers building (or repairing) one of the main highways running through the country. Between the Russians and the Taliban, it’s seen better days. There are however people who would prefer the highway not be built and to their best to disrupt progress, hence the need for security. The security personnel do carry firearms on board the airplane – time will tell on how I feel about that one.

The UN, at least in Uganda, is not very well received. Entebbe is only a base of operations and the locals I’ve talked to wouldn’t seem to mind if they packed up and left. Mostly it has to do with the in-your-face presence; they drive brand new Toyota Land Cruisers, 4Runners and Rav4’s while the locals drive cars from the 1990’s, if they drive at all. The general impression seems to be that UN employees are on vacation and do as little as possible. I’m not informed enough to make any kind of decision, but I’ve heard similar statements from other ex-pats. I can only imagine what it will be like in Afghanistan…

Other random thoughts:

I’ve been in Entebbe for over two weeks – about 10 days longer then planned. I’m doing my best to stay positive, although I’d give just about anything right now for a couple of mahi tacos from South Beach. I’d probably even settle for McDonald’s at this point. Entebbe is a small town and there aren’t a lot of choices when it comes to food; and because I’m staying in a hotel I end up going out to eat every night.

I’ve trying to keep busy, went to the zoo, the botanical gardens, and Kompala a couple of times. Trying to do as much studying as possible so my time in Joberg will be as painless as possible, but KingAir systems and South African air law are about as exciting as watching paint dry; especially when you’re by yourself and don’t have anybody to study with. On a side note, the botanical garden has an interesting rumor associated with it – supposedly it’s where the original 1918 silent version of Tarzan was filmed. I don’t know if there’s any truth to it – I Google’d it but couldn’t find anything definitive one way or the other.

I went to a “club” last Friday night called Knight Rider’s with one of the other pilots. No apparent relation to the talking car. It was hands down one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen. Imagine going to a karaoke bar, but instead of singing, people got up on stage to lip-sync and dance. They have whole routines worked out that they’ve clearly spent a lot of time working on. Various types of music is played including African, Indian, and American and it’s mostly hip-hop and R&B type ballads. Between performances they change clothes. And if the lip-syncing and dancing performance was good enough, people in the audience will run up and give them tips. Entebbe has about seven local TV channels, two of which are non-stop music videos, which might have something to do with it. I don’t know. It was weird.

There is a security guard/history buff here named Steve at the Air Serv hangar that I’ve gotten to know. He looks about 17 but won’t tell me his real age – he insists he’s much older then that. Originally he’s from Kenya but is very proud of Uganda, knows its history inside and out and generally speaks of it like he’s been here his whole life. We’ve talked quite a bit – he’s very interested in America, American history, the history of African American’s and racism, even Barack Obama has come up a few times. I do my best to explain it but find that my knowledge of US history compared to his knowledge of his Ugandan history is a bit lacking. It’s a bit embarrassing, but like I said before, everything is relative.

My only regret so far is I haven’t taken as many pictures as I’d like. Since I’ve been here, some of the more interesting things I’ve seen include a couch being carried away on the back of a boda-boda, a University of St. Thomas t-shirt (where my dad teaches in MN), an In-N-Out Burger sticker on a car, and a woman balancing a bucket of fish on her head, to name a few. As I’ve become more comfortable in my surroundings I’m getting in the habit of taking my camera everywhere and hopefully will have more/better photos to share.

With that said, I’ve uploaded a few more pictures at flickr – just look for the group titled Uganda.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/djhorton/

More when I get to South Africa.

~dj

12 APR 2007 – The Arrival

12 APR 2007 – The Arrival

Hello from Entebbe, Uganda!

I’m sorry it has taken me so long to write but the past few weeks have been crazy: work, moving, doctor’s appointments, a two-day road trip to Oregon, a two-day non-rev flight trip to Minneapolis via Salt Lake City, speeding tickets and lost luggage, tying up loose ends, visiting family, trying to visit as many friends as possible, telling my “story” again and again. It’s not everyday someone packs up and moves to central Africa so it’s to be expected I suppose.

The trip to Uganda was uneventful and easy – just the way I like ‘em. Northwest nonstop from Minneapolis to Amsterdam, then KLM nonstop from Amsterdam to Entebbe. Two back to back eight hour flights with a three-hour layover in Amsterdam. I was pretty lucky – one of the other new-hires came from Ft. Worth, Texas. His trip included stops in Chicago, Brussels, and Nairobi.

So… first things first. I had started my first blog entry on the flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam and planned on publishing it the first chance I got. It was pretty lengthy, detailing what I’ll be doing in the Congo, what I’d be flying, my thoughts, emotions, that kind of yadda-yadda.

But this is Africa, and things change.

More accurately this is life, and things change.

Long story short: I was originally hired to fly a Cessna Caravan out of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At some point there was a mix-up at the corporate office and my flight-time summary got attached to the wrong resume. When I arrived at work yesterday they realized I was the mystery candidate with 400 hours of KingAir time and asked me how I felt about Afghanistan. Afghanistan???

I had been here less then 24 hours and already I managed to get myself promoted and upgraded to a bigger airplane.

But… like I said, this is life and things change; and so it appears (at least for now) I’ll be heading to Kabul, Afghanistan. My departure date isn’t known just yet, but I will be going to South Africa initially for training and to take a CAA (the South African FAA) check ride so I can fly the South African registered airplanes. I’ll be honest though, I’m a bit bummed. I was very much looking forward to flying the Caravan in Africa, especially the single-pilot aspect of it. It’s been a long time since I’ve flown an airplane by myself and in the KingAir I’ll have a first officer. However, if after a year of employment if I decide to stick around, I have a lot of say on where I’ll be based and Air Serv does their best in accommodating that. It’s hard to say how I’ll feel in a year but Africa is definitely a place I’d like to come back to.

And I know Afghanistan will be it’s own unique adventure and is absolutely something I’m excited about and looking forward to. It’s not everyday an American is offered a job in the Middle East and not asked to pick up a gun and start shooting people. The mission is the same as it is in Africa – flying aid and aid workers in and out of villages and towns to those who need it. I’ve seen photos – they need it. But for now, until I have a class date in South Africa, I’m pretty much on a paid vacation here in Entebbe. Things could definitely be worse!

Speaking of Entebbe, for those of you who have been to Ensenada, Mexico, at first glance they are very similar. Some of the roads are paved, some aren’t. They installed speed bumps but you never drive too fast anyway because of all the potholes. They drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right. Yesterday I was handed the keys and asked if I wanted to give it a shot but declined – 8 hours of jetlag and very little sleep the past three days equals a bad idea. I want to try it before I go though. The time difference by the way if you’re in the Midwest is 8 hours ahead, 10 if you’re on the west coast.

The Air Serv office is located at Entebbe International Airport. If you saw the movie The Last King of Scotland, airport terminal where General Amin kept the hostages is located right next to the Air Serv hangar. The terminal is undergoing renovation right now and the place is gutted but apparently the bullet holes are still visible where the Israeli Special Forces came and shot the place up.

One thing I’ve found interesting is despite the unfinished roads and the unfinished buildings (which remind me of Mexico), is the amount of technology in use. Cell phones work everywhere, and if you go into the corner convenience store they have electronic scanners and registers just like your local 7-Eleven. You go out to lunch and get a nice printed receipt just like the US. Uganda is unique in this regard and is why so many people come here for vacation. The local currency is the schilling and Uganda is one of the only African countries where they don’t accept American dollar.

The climate and scenery is tropical – it is very lush, green, humid and warm. Entebbe is directly on the equator but the temperature is comfortable due to the 4,000′ altitude and the breeze that blows off of Lake Victoria. There is no shortage of bugs and creepy-crawlies, and at night I sleep under a mosquito net. When the lights go out little lizards about the size of a gecko come out and line the walls and ceiling of my hotel room. They’re harmless and eat mosquitoes so I don’t mind having them around. It’s 1:45 am as I write this and I can’t see them but I can hear them running around up there. There are roosters all over and for whatever reason begin their cock-a-doodle-doo’s between 3:30 and 4 even the though the sun doesn’t begin to come up until about 6. This apparently upsets the dogs so they then begin to bark. The hotel doesn’t have any glass on the windows, only screens so it’s kinda like being on a farm I suppose. It doesn’t matter though – my schedule is all screwed up and I haven’t been sleeping at night anyway.

The Ugandan people are very friendly and make you feel welcome. Tourism is a big part of their economy and my guess is that might have a little something to do with it. But then again, they might just be that way. Tourism is a big part of the San Diego economy and I admit I was probably not as friendly to the tourists as I could have been. Everything is relative I guess.

For now that’s it. There is so much scenery and culture here it’s hard to put into words. I have photos and will get them uploaded asap.

~dj