Alright, for an update: I am now slated to leave for Entebbe, Uganda tomorrow morning. I will be met there by an Air Serv pilot who will take me to Goma, DRC on Sunday. Things are a bit more stable there. And the best part of it is, I get to hang out with Mr. Bontrager again. Whahoo!

Hopefully the next post will find me in the DRC.

Still in the RSA

Yeah, I am still not exactly sure what is going on. I got to Joburg International bright and early this morning, ready to make my voyage to Kinshasa, but got nowhere.

About 10 minutes before my flight was about to board the peolpe at the gate made an announcement saying that our flight had been delayed. "That is fine, I have all the time in the world," I told myself. But the strange thing was that everybody was starting to get quite upset. I tried to figure out what was going on but no one wanted to speak English. The man at the gate could tell I was confused and asked if I was going to Kinshasa. After I confirmed with him that I was indeed, he told me to follow him along with a large mass of upset people. I was cool with that. Maybe we were changing gates. The only problem was that the parade of people was too long and the group of people too confused for me to figure out where we were going. At every turn we lost another group of people until it was just me and some Japeneesse couple. Luckily we got ourselves straightened out when, by sheer coincidence, I recognized another fellow passenger who knew what was going on. He informed me that the flight had actually been canceled and we where to head back through customs to get our luggage.

To make a long story short, I had trouble getting ahold of anyone who: a. was actualy awake; b. could actually do anything to help me out; and c. I had their number. I finally figured it all out and got back to the flight school. Apperently there has been a lot of unrest in Kinshasa for that past 24 hours and all the roads into the airport are shut down. I am guessing that I will be stuck here for a little while until things settle down.

South African Training Complete!

I officially have my South African commercial validation in hand. Tuesday a week ago I took my CAA written test on Air Law and Operations and on Monday of this week I took the commercial instrument checkride. Both went well, but the written test was by far the harder of the two. Who really cares what the VMC minima are in class A airspace? I suppose the FAA has many stupid questions as well.

I believe this checkride was the easiest I have ever taken. Because I had never flown a Seneca, the examiner told me exactly what airspeeds and power settings to use. All he wanted to see was that I know how to fly an airplane to commercial standards and that I know the correct procedures. After all was done, we took a aerial, scenic tour of Joburg at night. How cool is that! It is a beautiful city from the air - not so much from the ground.

As things stand right now, I am slated to leave for Kinshasa, DRC, Friday morning. I am really looking forward to getting out in the field and seeing what Africa is really like. According to Steve, this isn't Africa. "It is too much like the States." I concur. Other than driving through Joburg at night, by myself and giving up all my cash, I have yet to really feel out of my comfort zone.

In other news, I have officially got the driving down-pat. Not so bad if you follow what everybody else is doing. Just don't run the red lights like the guy in front of you. One odd thing that I have noticed is that tow trucks are strategically positioned at dangerous intersections waiting for accidents (kinda like vultures). It appears that the strategy is much more reactionary than precautionary. Not all that comforting....

Training in South Africa

Greetings from South Africa! Currently the weather is 80 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze out of the west. Actually, it has been like this for most of the week. Needless to say, I am thoroughly enjoying my stay down here.

Friday afternoon I departed Dulles on a 15-hour, direct flight to Johannesburg, SA. I was worried that the ride would be a bit long but thanks to the in-flight entertainment system and several three-hour naps, I kept myself quite occupied.

Sunday morning a good friend of mine, Steve Bontrager, arrived to join in the training. I sure am glad it worked out this way because it has been a blast hanging out with my good ole Hesston buddy for the first time in several years. Plus, he knows much more about the area than I do.

On Monday we drove 45 minutes out to Cranfield Aviation where we have been taking CRM, Dangerous Goods and SEPT classes. So far everything has been very laid back. Classes start at 9 and are generally over by 2. That may be why this adventure feels more like vacation than a job. I have a feeling things will change here in the next few days when I start the Caravan training and SA validation.

I have been very intrigued by SA culture because it is not what I had expected. The best way to describe it would be: European lifestyle in an African setting. The two most notable things that I have noticed so far:

I am now the one with the accent. Personally, I think everyone else sounds British, but they would have nothing of it.

Everybody drives on the wrong side of the road. I am convinced that when Steve leaves I am going to have an accident. Not to mention that I am not excited about driving a stick shift from the right side of the car.

Other than that things have been very uneventful. There is very little about this country that makes my life different than it is in the states. That may be a broad statement, but that is my initial conclusion after the first 120 hours in SA. By they way, this is the appartment where I am staying. It is really nice!