Whitehorse

After a day at the airshow, I was up at 4:40 for my latest vacation trip, but this time, I’m taking my parents! I picked them up around 5:20 and we left the car at work, taking a cab to the airport terminal. We flew Air Canada to Vancouver, sat there for about 40 minutes, and then got on a Jazz RJ up to Whitehorse. It was raining in Vancouver and the plane was hot and muggy when we boarded (and smelt a lot like pee …. Eww!), but the pilots turned the AC on high after pushing pack … problem was, the cold air shooting out of the AC vent beside me created a steam of fog! Mom called the flight attendant over and after she checked with the pilots to make sure it wasn’t something to worry about, she got me a blanket to block to cold air.

We arrived in Whitehorse just after 1:30, and tried to catch a cab outside the terminal … but soon figured out that you have to CALL the taxi to come pick you up! First airport I’ve been to that didn’t have cabs waiting outside. Our VERY friendly and chatty drive drove us south to the RV rental place where we picked up our RV. After being shown a few of the features, we headed into town to pick up supplies. With all three of us tired and hungry, we had supper sitting in the Walmart parking lot (along with about 20 other RVs and trailers) before finishing up the shopping and deciding on a campground to stay at. We weren’t going to stay at Walmart along a main road, right under the airport! We ended up almost back at the rental place, staying at Pioneer Campground south of the city. We wanted to be close to town in case we had any issues with the unit or had forgotten to pick some stuff up at the store (which of course we did).

After hooking up the electric and water, we made some tea, looked at the plan for tomorrow, played game of phase 10 (I won!), and then went to bed early … we were all exhausted!

Waterloo Airshow

I got free tickets for the Waterloo Airshow from work, so took my niece H and nephew N to their first airshow. My sister dropped the kids off at 11, then we loaded up my car with snacks, jackets, dry clothes (it was a grey, showering day), put in a Psalty tape, and off we went. It took about an hour to get there and we saw a group of about 60 OPP motorbikes driving down the highway … not sure what that was about!

We parked in a field south of the airport and took the shuttle bus to the airport. There was a sprinkling of rain and the clouds were occasionally low, but most of the planes were able to perform. The first jet of the day was an F-16. I told the kids it would be loud, but I don’t think they realized quite how loud it was going to be! They both jumped a bit as it raced passed us!

We watched the F-16, then went off to explore some of the static displays while the less interesting acts were taking place. The kids got to sit in a cockpit of an old fighter, climb up onto the wing and look in the cockpit of another, and we went inside the C-130 that was also there. It just happened that while we were in the C-130, it started to POUR rain! Luckily, we were dry inside. The last act of the day was the Snowbirds, but because of a storm cell moving towards the airport, it was a shortened show and we were told to leave right away. They had plenty of buses ready to take us back to the parking lot, so we managed to get away before the rain started again. The kids enjoyed the airshow and were excited about it when they got home, but it was hard to tell whether or not I was torturing them while we were out there. H was continually asking “Now what?” N’s resounding theme was: “When are we going home? I want to go home. I’m bored. What do I do?” Of course, it was AFTER I got them back home that my sister told me that that was N’s resounding theme no matter where they were or what they were doing!

Home Again

I tried but couldn't get any sleep in the flight to Amsterdam. I had an 8 hours stopover, so was meeting up with a good friend I hadn't seen in over two years for breakfast, but since I arrived two hours before we planned to meet (she didn't want to come to the airport for 5 am and I don't blame her!), I splurged and payed for a shower at the airport. It wasn't cheap, but felt SOOO good!

When it was finally time for me to meet up with her, I made my way through customs. There was no line and the two customs officers sitting there didn't think it unusual that I was meeting a friend for breakfast and then continuing on my trip home.

I met my friend near the train station escalators, though we decided that next time we need a more specific spot to meet! After breakfast at the airport restaurant, we took the train to Haarlem where we had fun walking around the old town and visiting the church. It was great to be able to catch up with each other and spend a few hours exploring a new place together (well, new for me, at least).

We said our goodbyes at the airport and I made my way back through customs, bought a McKroket for lunch (those things are awesome!), and got on my flight home.

Again, I couldn't fall asleep on the plane no matter what I did - 40 hours without sleep! Surprisingly, I had no problems getting through immigration. I was expecting a few questions based on going to Sudan and then a 4 hour jaunt into Amsterdam. This time when I was asked if I was traveling alone, I gave the whole saga - alone on the flights, and who I was with for each part of the trip. His only response was "Wow, you've been busy!" and off I went. I was equally surprised that my bag made it! I didn't have much hope for it, so it sure was nice to see it sliding down onto the luggage carousel.

My parents were there to pick me up and had even brought supper to my place! The kept me up until 7 pm (I think I was now at over 43 hours without sleep) before heading back home. It was a great trip, but it sure felt good to be able to climb into my own bed again!

To Entebbe and back again

It was nice to be able to sleep in, take a shower, and have a relaxing breakfast, but a bit lonely to sit there all by myself after being with friends for the last 4 weeks. I got the hotel to book me a taxi to the airport, and off I went.

My first flight was one I didn't originally plan have to take - a flight to Entebbe, just so I could catch my flight back to Nairobi. When I bought my flights to Africa, I wasn't sure whether I was going to Uganda before Kenya, or the other way around. The flights to Entebbe and Nairobi were the same price, so I bought return tickets to Entebbe with a stop over in Nairobi. When I tried to cancel the Entebbe to Nairobi portion of the flight, the airline wanted to charge me over $900 to NOT take a flight! The flight from Nairobi to Entebbe was around $250 ... guess which option I took!

When I checked in for the flight, I asked if they could check me and my bags all the way through to Canada, but I guess because of the connection in Nairobi the system got confused and wouldn't allow it, so was told that I had to check in again in Entebbe. I had about a 4 hour stopover in Entebbe, so plenty of time to collect my bags, go through customs (if I had to), and check-in for the rest of my flight.

Getting to Entebbe, I found the transfer office (before customs, so I could avoid the US$50 visa). The guy working there looked at my flight information, grabbed my passport, and asked if I wanted to go back to Nairobi on the plane I just came in on. I told him I'd do whatever was easiest for him, and he decided to send me back on the next flight. Since the flight was already boarding I had my doubts about getting on, but, ok! He took me around all the immigration desks and sat me down at the lost luggage desk while he filled-in some papers. I could see my bag going around and told him, so he took me over there and told me to grab my bag and then stay and wait for him while he ran off with my passport and flight info. He came back with another guy who ripped the old label off my bag and took the bag without attaching a new label (hence the "will my luggage ever be seen again?" feeling). We went back past immigration, up some back stairs, and back into the terminal. He left me sitting in a restaurant and off he went (still with my passport) to go and see if he could get me on the flight. After 10 minutes sitting there, he reappeared, handed me back all my papers, passport, and boarding passes all the way to Toronto! As I went through the gate, I was told that everyone was waiting for me, so I RAN down the stairs and across the ramp and into the plane ... where everyone was still slowly putting bags up and other passengers still got in after me!

So, it was back to Nairobi where I got to spend 6 hours sweating in a hot, stuffy terminal, then on to Amsterdam.

Hot Air Balloon Ride over the Masai Mara

6 of us woke up at 4:30 am (before the electricity or water came on!) for a 5 am pick-up to go ballooning over the Masai Mara! We got to the launch site before sunrise and watched as the balloon slowly filled with air and and elephant followed by a herd of wildebeests marched by. We climbed in the basket while it was still on its side, scooched our butts right down to the seat, then hung on as the balloon lifted us upright so that the older French group could climb in ... they weren't quite as agile as us! We stayed seated for the lift off with our bags on our laps, but as soon as we were airborne, we were standing up leaning over the edge to check out the view. It was an overcast morning so we didn't get to watch the sunrise and it also meant that I didn't get many good pictures (my camera doesn't do well in low light conditions). But it was still amazing to see the expanse of savannah, the giant herds of wildebeests and zebras heading south, and the incredible amount of poop on the ground! Along with all the wildebeests and zebras, we also saw hyenas, warthogs, elephants, giraffes and lions. The first two lions we saw were sleeping and the another group of four lions (one female and three males) was wide awake and wandering around by the stream. One of the males looked right up at us as if to say "what are you doing up there?" We also got to observe two lions "copulating" ... it only took about 3 seconds! We had a soft landing and were able to climb up out of the basket while it was upright, then took a group picture with the basket before walking over to where breakfast was set up. There was champagne, orange juice, croissants, apple pastries, fruit, hard boiled eggs, sausages, quiche, yogurt, cereal, and tea and coffee. It tasted great! After we finished eating, our balloon pilot pointed out the lion on the hill behind us. We quickly used the "bathroom" (a jeep with a tarp strung up so no-one could see our bums when we squatted), then loaded into our open sided SUV for the ride to meet up with the rest of the group. We were expecting just a drive to the meeting spot - we ended up getting a hour and half game drive! Just after leaving the breakfast spot, two male lions walked right past us - it was a bit uncomfortable having a lion less than 8 metres away from me and walking towards me when there was NOTHING between us ... no car door, no window, no fence, etc.! We also saw a lot of cute little baby animals and some vultures tearing apart a wildebeest before meeting up with our group at a fancy lodge in the park. We continued the game drive with everyone else in the truck, stopping for lunch at the Mara River (the border between Kenya and Tanzania, and the Masai Mara and Serengeti parks). It's one of the spots where the wildebeests and zebras cross the river in their migration, so it smelt a bit like rotting, dead animals, and there was a large group of hippos on the opposite bank so we couldn't go near the water's edge. (There were probably crocodiles there too, but we didn't see any.) It was pretty hot, but we couldn't sit under the trees to eat, because that's where the lunch-stealing monkeys hung out! They managed to get one lady from our group's sandwich and from the shrieks some of the people in other groups were making, probably managed to grab a few more lunches! We drove a few more hours, bumping down the road (I managed to bash my head pretty hard on the ceiling after one bump!) and adding a mongoose sighting to my list of animals, we were back at camp for our final supper together. We had traditional Kenyan food again, then all had to stand up and make a speech about our experience on the trip. A group of Croatian guys was having a great time watching the spectacle - even turning their chairs to watch! They also asked if they could video us flapping our dishes (the method we used to dry them) ... of course, we were pretty entertaining since we had made up flapping songs to flap/dance to!

Off to Nairobi

After eating some yummy, freshly baked beer bread, it was off to the airport (for the third time in a week!). There was a crowd outside the terminal and only the passengers were allowed in, so T and I said our good-byes at the door to the airport. Again, the airport in Juba is not your normal airport, and it doesn't help that all the flights depart at the same time, so it is chaos in there! I put my bags through the x-ray machine and walked through the metal detector (which I'm pretty sure wasn't even on), then pushed my way through the mass of people and bags to get my bags as they came through the x-ray machine.

I stood in what I thought was a line for a few minutes, then when it still hadn't moved (and I didn't even know if the "line" was for the right airline), I gave up and climbed over some luggage and shoved my way around the crowd of people weighing and packaging luggage, until I eventually found the Jetlink desk. I should also note that unlike most airports that have big signs behind them displaying the airline name and logo, in Juba, it's just a small name card at waist height - not much use when there's a crowd! I got checked in, handed my bag to them over the desk, then made my way over to the immigration desk.

After shoving myself over to the immigration desk, I showed my passport and travel permit, and both got stamped without me having to say a thing. I made my way over to the not so clean bathroom (T warned me that the one in the lounge area was even worse, so I figured I should probably go while I could) then to the "security" area. I pushed my way through the guys into the women's line, where a female security officer first couldn't find the stamp she was looking for in my passport, then hand searched part of my backpack and gave me a quick pat-down. I found a seat in the lounge (there aren't any gates, just door leading to the ramp) and read for a while waiting for my flight.

Another different thing about Juba is that they don't announce when flights are departing, you just have to KNOW when your flight is boarding! I saw a group of people suddenly stand and walk to the door so followed, but was met by an older lady who asked which flight I was on. Turns out that we were on the same flight and this wasn't it, so we sat down together and chatted for a while. The second time a group surged for the door (there isn't any assigned seating on the plane, so everyone makes a run for it so they can get a good seat) it was our flight, so off we went, pointing to our bags on the tarmac to identify them and get them loaded on the plane.

It was an uneventful flight to Nairobi, but I got a small meal and the plane seemed relatively new! In Nairobi I went to the Kenyan Airways desk to see if I could change my flights home, but they couldn't do anything about it. Getting into Kenya was simple - I already had my visa, so just needed to be fingerprinted and photographed. I took a taxi to the hotel, checked-in, sent an email home, then relaxed and read in the room, waiting for the group meeting. I had planned on taking a nice, relaxing, WARM shower, but there weren't any towels (I eventually got them later that evening, after calling the desk twice and then going downstairs to ask again) and there wasn't any hot water (that eventually got sorted out, too)!

Flying with MAF in South Sudan

I was up and ready early, hoping to get the "go" call for my MAF flight. It took until 8:30 for the call to be made and even then it was "come to the compound and we'll decide then." At the MAF compound, I met the pilot, D, and the rest of the MAF staff before driving to the airport.

MAF doesn't have a building on the airport, so they dropped me off at the terminal while they took the truck around to the plane. So, with my Juba to Juba plane ticket, I had to go through security and sit in the lounge and wait for them to send someone over to pick me up. The flight was supposed to be a cargo run/passenger pick-up flight, so it was only me, the pilot, and a bunch of satellite equipment loaded into the Cessna Caravan.

We finally left Juba around 10:10. The first stop of the day was Pibor - about 90 minutes north east of Juba and FULL of SPLA (Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army) soldiers. We did a low pass over the field (and I do mean low ... about 5 feet off the ground) to inspect the runway and most of it looked alright. So, we landed, avoided the soft spots as we slowed, then got the right wheel stuck in the mud as we turned around. Uh oh! The mud in this place is super sticky and our wheel was about 6 inches down.

Some men from the town quickly dug out the tire, attached some straps to the strut, and about 15 guys worked together to pull the plane out - all while I watched and took pictures. D was able to taxi the plane to the "ramp" using high power while I walked to the "ramp" surrounded by most of the young men from the village ... and I have NO idea what there were saying to me, but apparently some of the things were pretty funny. Hopefully I didn't agree to marry anybody! The runway was really soft in spots and I got pretty muddy boots walking to the plane so I was worried that we wouldn't be able to get out of there that night. After unloading part of the cargo, we got back in the plane, did a fast taxi onto the runway, and D gunned the engine, hoping to get off the ground. I think we were both praying pretty hard as we bumped down the runway and we both breathed a sigh of relief when we finally got off the ground!

Stop number 2 was another 30 minutes northeast at Pochalla, which is right on the boarder with Ethiopia. This runway was a stone-sand surface so had much better drainage that the dirt runway at Pibor so we didn't have any problems landing or taxiing. We finally found someone who wanted to sign for the cargo, then took a short walk down to the river. It was really pretty, but I couldn't take any pictures ... the river was full of villagers swimming naked and I didn't think they would appreciate it if I started snapping pictures of them! But, I was able to see Ethiopia! The river is maybe 30ft wide, so I could have swum over if I really wanted to, but considering that there was a truck of SPLA soldiers following us, I probably wouldn't have made it back into Sudan. We walked back through the village to the plane, sweating all the way, which isn't too surprising ... it was 42 degrees! Up at our cruising altitude of 12,500 ft, it was still 10 degrees!

The third stop was supposed to be Ayod, about an hour west of Pochalla, where we were supposed to drop off more equipment and pick up a few passengers who missed the UN flight on Monday (the plane couldn't land because of the wet runway). We overflew the runway twice and it looked dry and sandy in some places but wet with standing water in others. I got a neat video of all the cows and goats and dogs scattering as we buzzed the field, but D decided not to risk landing there, and off we went to stop number 4.

Duk Padiet was only 15 minutes past Ayod and the runway looked much better. We overflew it twice, noticing where the softer looking spots were and the giant tree branch on the runway about 50 feet from the end. Our first attempt to land became on overshoot when a dog decided to run down the runway ... with the branch and the soft spots to worry about, the dog was too much of an added distraction. On the second attempt we landed, used a LOT of power to taxi to the "ramp" area, then had to do a quick stop when we realized that we weren't going to make it there ... but would get stuck if we tried. We almost stopped in time, but got the left wheel stuck in the soft sand. Again, the villagers helped us get the plane unstuck, then unloaded the cargo. They didn't want Ayod's cargo, so D reloaded the plane.

While he was doing that, I walked a bit away from the plane to get a picture of all the people surrounding it - I think the whole town was out! Of course, after I took one picture, the kids noticed and came RUNNING! The were so excited to be able to see a picture of themselves and probably would have stayed there, jumping up and down all day if some older guy hadn't come and chased them away with a stick.

We ended up loading 2 patients and their husbands from Duk Padiet to take to Juba - the community health worker asked us to take them anywhere with a medical facility. There were only 3 seats in the back of the plane, so one of the patients, a 22 year old, 7 month pregnant lady (though she was so skinny I would have guessed 4 months) laid on the floor of the plane for the flight home. They didn't know what was wrong with her, probably a complication with the pregnancy, but she didn't even have the strength to lift an arm. The other patient was a 40 year old woman who had been sick for 4 months - again, no idea what was wrong with her, and while she had a bit more energy than the pregnant lady, didn't have the strength to walk and looked more like a 70 year old that a 40 year old.

It took a long time to get them organized, and the fact that they didn't speak English didn't help much. It also didn't help that we had to get back to Juba before 5:30, which is the time the airport closes (they are repainting the lines on the runway, and there aren't any lights, so no night-ops!) We got off the ground without problems and made it back to Juba at 5:20.

The organization that we were delivering the satellite equipment for and who we thought we were transporting the patients for, apparently didn't want anything to do with the patients and wouldn't come pick them up at the airport, so after tying down the plane and doing the final paperwork, we loaded everyone into the landcruiser and went of to the Juba Teaching Hospital - probably the best hospital in this part of the country, but a place where, on the first day, I was told I would NOT be taken if I got hurt ... no matter what's wrong with you, you'll be diagnosed as having malaria and typhoid and if the treatment doesn't kill you, you'll probably pick up something else that will. After dropping off the two ladies, D asked the MAF director (who had picked us up) how they would get home considering the other organization didn't want anything to do with them. His answer, "Honestly, they'll be lucky to survive." He then proceeded to tell us about how last week, and 18 year old boy had been brought into the emergency room in severe pain and died 15 hours later, still waiting to see a doctor.

So, that was my day with MAF - T picked me up at their compound and then we went back to the SIL compound to eat supper in the dark - no power! The generator kicked in later that evening, and city power came back about a half and hour later.

Amazon to Lima

This morning we had the long trek out of the jungle and back to civilization. We packed up our duffels before breakfast and after we had eaten, got back into the canoes one last time. We saw some more parakeets and macaws flying over us as we crossed the lake, and a few monkeys as we hiked from the lake to the river. According to the guide, we saw all four species of monkeys in the area (don't ask me what they were!). The hike back was much easier than the hike in - most of the mud was dried up. We could tell that it was going to be a hot and muggy day! The canoe ride back wasn't exciting, the only interesting part was the couple sitting beside and across from me seemed to argue (in Spanish, so I can't tell for sure) most of the way to port.

Our plane was late getting in from Cusco, so while K and I stayed in the airport, V took the rest of the group into town to pay a phone bill. The airport needs to work on their PA system - the echos made them almost impossible to understand (even for native Spanish speakers) and they liked to broadcast two announcements at the same time!

I was looking out the window for most of the flight back to Lima - looking at jungle change to mountain and then to desert. We had a short stop over in Cusco (never left the plane) so got to experience the add feeling of landing at an airport without the cabin pressure changing and the super long take-off roll. Back in Lima, we relaxed at the hotel for a while, then took a couple taxis to V's apartment (except for K who had stomach issues and just went to bed). We just hung out there, eating pizza, and telling her room-mate about the trip. Then V drove us back to the hotel, all of us squishing into her 1970's pink VW beetle!

Nazca

The first trip of the day was to the airport and onboard a small plane for a flight over the Nazca Lines. C didn't go - she had heard too many reports about the lack of safety - but the rest of us were brave enough.

It was an "interesting" flight - definately not the same standards of safety that they have in North America:

• no passenger briefing (i.e. how to get out if there's a crash, where the 1st aid kit and fire extinguisher are)
• during the climb-out, the stall warning was going off almost continuously
• all the turns around the figures are steep turns and again, the stall warning was blaring, all while the pilot was looking down at the figure, never checking his instruments (a recipe for a spiral dive)

I was definately glad to have taken a gravol before the flight. H and L were in the back seat and pretty sick by the end it. The figures were easier to see in real life than in the pictures I took, but some of them worked alright.

After meeting back with V and C, we drove out to an Inca cemetery. There were two mummies in glass cases to look at in the museum, then we went to look at the mummies still sitting in their graves. Many of them had been damaged be grave robbers, as well as by the sun and wind, but they were still very well preserved. The Incas believed that the head was the seed that life came from, so most of the mummies had their heads cut off. They also had long hair (sometimes with hair from others sewn into their own) to signify their position - the longer the hair, the higher their place in society.

The third stop for the day was to learn how gold was removed from rocks and then refined. The visit was free, but the really push you to give them a tip at the end and hopefully buy something from them.

We were dropped of in Nazca to find our own lunch and I went with K, C and D to a fairly fancy hotel with good food. We didn't spend much more time in the town - there isn't much in Nazca. We squished into a cab and went back to the hotel to relax and swim in the pool.

After sunset, we headed out to have a traditional celebration meal. All the food is cooked underground for three to four hours, then there is a bit of a ceremony before it is uncovered and served. It was all very good!

After we had all stuffed ourselves full, we went off to the bus station to catch the night bus to Arequipa. The bus was about 45 minutes late, so the bus company bought us supper (which we were too full to eat). We did try the desert though - a weird jelly type of thing made from purple corn that is flavoured with cloves and cinnamon ... and has the texture of snot. It was hard to get some to stay on the spoon!

The night bus was uneventful - we were on the upper level, and the seats recline about 45 degrees back and there is a bit of a leg rest. I slept for a few hours, but woke up frequently.