Back From Kisangani
Just returned from a week in Kisangani; a colorful place, but not a desirable vacation destination. A number of little things that interested me happened there and I will relate them.
Another AN-12 crashed after departing Kisangani. He was parked next to us one morning and flew to Aru carrying some troops that afternoon. A tire blew on landing and the airplane went out of control; 3 killed and 11 injured. That airplane won't fly again.
We phoned the NGO people we were flying for and asked for the weather report in Isiro.
"The sky is blue."
"The clouds are white."
"We can see the sun through a hole in the clouds."
"I think the visibility is good."
That was an unconventional weather report, but, believe it or not, quite usefull. The white clouds indicated that there was a lot of sunlight to illuminate them meaning what clouds there were weren't very high. The blue sky told me that there wasn't a lot of mist of haze obscuring things. The hole told me the clouds were probably broken or maybe even scattered. And so it all proved to be when we arrived.
The guy I was flying with told me he and another pilot had had an unscheduled overnight in Bafwasende the week before. Bafwa is a grass field a long way from anywhere and they had to hire 2 guards to watch the airplane overnight. After the pilots spent the night listening to rats scurry in the rafters and under the beds, they returned to the airport.
The guards asked for $100 for the nights labors, about $80 over the going rate. When asked about the rate, the guards replied they deserved it because:
1st They had to fight off a witch that approached.
2nd After fending off the witch, they had to deal with the Devil when he showed up to help the
witch.
These greats combats involved hand to hand fighting and fires in the night and other marvelous things. The pilots ended up giving the 2 guys $30, $10 dollars for the witch and $20 for the Devil.
All those T-shirts and hats you donate to whomever eventually end up in the heart of the Congo. Here is a list of things I saw in Kisangani over 1.5 days:
Armijo Swimming, Logan Bobcats, Speedo, Tommy Hilfiger, Wacky's (don't ask), numerous numbered jerseys, a Cleveland Browns jersey with the name "Crouch" on it, a U.S. Air Force winter parka, a U.S. Coast Guard uniform shirt, N.Y. Mets cap, K.C. Royals cap and one NAPA auto parts hat.
The following conversation didn't happen in Kisangani. It happened in Kinshasa when I was talking to a Congolese girl in a bar. She asks me
"No marriage?" (pronounced "mary-ahgge")
"Nope"
"No family back in Chicago?"
"Nope"
"No baby?" (pronounced bay-bay)
"Nope"
"No divorce?" (pronounced "dee-vor-say")
"Nope"
There followed a moment of thoughtful silence, so I asked
"Is that good or bad?"
She replied
"Well, it's good for me!"
That is all for now. Somebody comment on these things or e-mail me. I'm getting lonesome.
Another AN-12 crashed after departing Kisangani. He was parked next to us one morning and flew to Aru carrying some troops that afternoon. A tire blew on landing and the airplane went out of control; 3 killed and 11 injured. That airplane won't fly again.
We phoned the NGO people we were flying for and asked for the weather report in Isiro.
"The sky is blue."
"The clouds are white."
"We can see the sun through a hole in the clouds."
"I think the visibility is good."
That was an unconventional weather report, but, believe it or not, quite usefull. The white clouds indicated that there was a lot of sunlight to illuminate them meaning what clouds there were weren't very high. The blue sky told me that there wasn't a lot of mist of haze obscuring things. The hole told me the clouds were probably broken or maybe even scattered. And so it all proved to be when we arrived.
The guy I was flying with told me he and another pilot had had an unscheduled overnight in Bafwasende the week before. Bafwa is a grass field a long way from anywhere and they had to hire 2 guards to watch the airplane overnight. After the pilots spent the night listening to rats scurry in the rafters and under the beds, they returned to the airport.
The guards asked for $100 for the nights labors, about $80 over the going rate. When asked about the rate, the guards replied they deserved it because:
1st They had to fight off a witch that approached.
2nd After fending off the witch, they had to deal with the Devil when he showed up to help the
witch.
These greats combats involved hand to hand fighting and fires in the night and other marvelous things. The pilots ended up giving the 2 guys $30, $10 dollars for the witch and $20 for the Devil.
All those T-shirts and hats you donate to whomever eventually end up in the heart of the Congo. Here is a list of things I saw in Kisangani over 1.5 days:
Armijo Swimming, Logan Bobcats, Speedo, Tommy Hilfiger, Wacky's (don't ask), numerous numbered jerseys, a Cleveland Browns jersey with the name "Crouch" on it, a U.S. Air Force winter parka, a U.S. Coast Guard uniform shirt, N.Y. Mets cap, K.C. Royals cap and one NAPA auto parts hat.
The following conversation didn't happen in Kisangani. It happened in Kinshasa when I was talking to a Congolese girl in a bar. She asks me
"No marriage?" (pronounced "mary-ahgge")
"Nope"
"No family back in Chicago?"
"Nope"
"No baby?" (pronounced bay-bay)
"Nope"
"No divorce?" (pronounced "dee-vor-say")
"Nope"
There followed a moment of thoughtful silence, so I asked
"Is that good or bad?"
She replied
"Well, it's good for me!"
That is all for now. Somebody comment on these things or e-mail me. I'm getting lonesome.
posted by Carl at 7:00 AM
1 Comments:
"The pilots ended up giving the 2 guys $30, $10 dollars for the witch and $20 for the Devil."
I am owed a stack of $10s and $20s for all the witches and devils I have dealt with at work! Probably a couple of poisoners, too. Since when are witches only worth $10? I have met some pernicious witches.
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