Turbo-Beaver
Ferry Flight Travel
Dialogue Continued
Tamanrasset Algeria: Our First Fuel Stop Destination
We take off early in the morning to avoid the morning traffic departing
Lagos, and only climb up to 8000 feet to try to enjoy the view. We plan to
fly up the River Niger to Niamey. On route I hope to see the Kainji
Reservoir, a man made lake on the River Niger, but the persistent cloud
cover obscures our view. We only see the River Niger when Kano Air Traffic
Control makes us cross from west to east to cross the Nigerian border into
Niger by the crossing of their choosing. I try to argue that making the
severe dog leg to pass east of Sokoto will run us low on fuel reserves,
but to no avail. Having the full 3 hours reserve is important to us as our
first leg is 10 hours. We try to play the game.
We fly north east crossing the River Niger
north of where Scottish explorer Mungo Park met his demise.
After the initial excitement of crossing into Niger and being passed over
to Niamey Control I switch seats with Klaus and decide to take a nap. The
scenery is getting less and less green and more rugged. I don't know how
long I am asleep, but I wake up in a fog. Actually, to be specific, I woke
up in a sand storm. We had flown right into a sand storm at 8,000 feet.
Before we realized what was happening we had lost our HF radio, our VOR,
and later we found out our DME. Without the luxury of a clearance from our
HF contact in Niamey, we issued ourselves a climb up and out of the
blowing sand to 12,000. Somewhere in this storm we are to cross from Niger
into Algeria.
We fly to the west of the Air Mountains.
The movie Dune
was shot somewhere in this area and the sand storm really set the scene.
We fly out and over the sand storm before actually crossing the northern
Niger border. Making the border hop with no radio communications makes us
slightly nervous, but the alternative of turning back is less appealing.
The air to the north of the storm is clear and we can see perfectly for
miles. As the sun heads for the horizon the yellow and red warmth of the
light stretches across the desert floor, making the landscape less
formidable compared to the harshness of the glaring noon day sun earlier.
We finally make radio contact with Tamanrassat, our destination fuel stop,
and they clear us in for a long approach. They make the same mistake they
all do. They assume Learjet speeds and can't figure out why it takes us so
long to get there.
When we
get to our first destination, even though we were scolded severely, we are
pleased to discover that Niamey had radioed ahead and warned them of our
missed check point radio calls. Someone was watching over us. The Algerian
air traffic controller, however, is very friendly and comes out to
practice his English on Klaus and I . Klaus tries to practice his French
on him. After feeling us out he feels safe to let us know he is really a
Christian, but only pretends to be a Muslim to keep from being persecuted.
Ali even tells us his Christian name, but signs his Muslim name in our log
books.
Ali's main
concern was whether or not we had "smokes" and "turbine
oil." The smokes we understood and Klaus offered him a package, but
the "can of oil" had us confused. Finally, he whispered in
Klaus' ear. "Wine, have you got any wine for me?" It's a Muslim
country and we were told not to bring any liquor. Of course, we didn't,
and he was not surprised to hear so, although visibly disappointed. The
customs held our passports and Ali arranged for the local police to give
us a lift to the hotel.
We arrive late in the day, but get up
early
to see the ancient town before our departure.
We were too late for dinner, but much to our delight the hotel restaurant
brought us out a bottle of very fine nationally produced red wine, sold
for the benefit of tourists, together with a tomato salad. The wine and
the rich ripe tomatoes wash away the sand of the desert storm and left us
feeling the warmth and glow of the sunset we had witnessed earlier. We
slept good and woke late. Coffee, fresh bread, cheese, and green grapes
for breakfast.
Klaus and
I split up to save time. I head to the airport to fuel the beaver and
Klaus with his meager smattering of French heads to the bank to exchange
dollars for dinars to pay for the fuel. When he returns too quickly, I get
suspicious. Klaus has found a black market money changer and gotten a much
better exchange rate. The only problem is that customs had made us sign
exchange declarations and since they are in the same building as where we
pay the fuel, they might wonder where we got the dinars when our exchange
cards say we have not changed any money. So I make Klaus go back to the
bank and make a proper exchange so we can pay the fuel bill. The fuel was
cheap so we ended up with a lot of dinars as souvenirs.
As we exchange dollars for dinars to pay
for our fuel,
we watch other travellers get prepared for their desert crossing.
We leave Tamanrasset before the heat of the
day gets too much. Even by 10 am we are looking at near 40C on our outside
air temperature. The air traffic controller gives us our requested 12,000
feet ASL and we climb slowly with a full 13 hours of fuel. We can see 2908
meter Tahat clearly in the distance nestled in the Ahaggar Mountains. It
is considered one of the most desolate areas in the world and we can see
why. Our track takes us almost straight north across the Sahara. Rock and
sand as far as the eye can see. In fact, to my surprise, much more rock
than sand.
Some of the travellers still prefer the
old ways. Tuareg
tribesmen make their way in lines of camel caravans.
Story and Images by John S Goulet
Alicante
Spain and Southampton: North Africa to Spain and across Europe.
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Last modified on April 21th, 2013.
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