Malambo pictures

Just before Christmas I was in the Malambo area again for our monthly evangelistic 'safari'. I was with another pilot so took the oportunity to get some photographs:

Sunrise at Malambo with the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai in the background:

Ground crew preparing the aircraft at Malambo International Airport :)


On the ground at Engaresero waiting for our passengers, temp 39'C:

Still on the ground Engaresero, still 39'C, looking towards Oldoinyo Lengai:


Short final approach Lemugur:

Rain showers to the south of Loliondo:

The Gospel message in Kisandawe

A month ago I flew the 'Northern Shuttle' to Arusha with a stop in Magambua, a village about 120km to the north west of Dodoma. I had on board a large speaker which was to be delivered to Magambua and was also to collect 2 passengers from there, bound for Arusha.

I had completed my final checks before start up and looked over to the marshaller expecting the usual signal that it was clear to start the aircraft engine. Instead he signalled that I should not start and was pointing to something beyond my left wing tip. Looking over I saw that there was an unfamiliar man coming over to the aircraft to see me. A little annoyed that we were being delayed, I opened the door and enquired how I could help. The man presented me with 2 packages, one a data projector and the other a large envelope which appeared to contain some post. Not knowing about these items I was a little suspicious, but having checked with the Ops department who confirmed that this had been arranged to go to Magambua, I accepted the 2 items and we were once more on our way. In Magambua the speaker, projector and envelope were gratefully received and I didn't give them much more thought at the time...

A week later I was in Magambua again to collect the medical team for their monthly clinic in Birise (see the blog entry below). One member of the team happened to mention to me that the SIL (Wycliffe Bible Translators) family in Magambua were very excited because, after many months of hard work, they now had the Jesus film in the local Sandawe language. Using a generator and a data projector they had already given 3 showings of the film in the previous week in Magambua and nearby villages and it had been seen by more than 1000 people! By now I'm sure it's been seen by many more and I'm glad that I was able to play a small part in helping it on its way, even though I didn't even realise it at the time.

The rains have arrived!

Last Sunday was an uncomfortably hot day, even by Dodoma standards! It seemed as though the heat had been building up for some time and on Sunday it reached a peak. Well, on Monday morning, to our relief, we were greeted by grey cloudy skies and by afternoon we were enjoying cool refreshing rain.

Apart from a shower about 3 weeks ago, this was the first rain since March and it signals the start of this year's rainy season. It is wonderful to have the relief from the heat and to see the countryside gradually changing from a scorched dusty brown to green again, but it also brings new challenges for the pilots.

This will be my first rainy season of flying here in Tanzania and on Tuesday I had a good introduction to it. Being the first Tuesday of the month I was due to fly a medical team from AIC in Magambua to a village called Birise, where they carry out a mums and babies clinic for the day. After Monday's rain, Tuesday started with grey skies and it looked like some weather may build up later in the day, but as I flew out towards Magambua the sky brightened a bit and our flight to Birise was uneventful. During the morning it was very humid as the moisture from the previous day's rain evapourated in the heat, and by midday some serious clouds were building up in the area. I kept a close eye on the sky and in the early afternoon I suggested to the team that they should start to pack up as the weather looked like it would be closing in soon (a difficult call to make as there were still a lot of mothers and babies waiting to be seen).

The team packed up and I readied the aeroplane, but by the time the first of the team came out to the airstrip with their bags the first drops of rain were beginning to fall. Within minutes the rain had turned into a downpour and we stood sheltering (already very wet!) under the wing of the plane for about 45 minutes while the rain poured down and small rivulets formed and ran down the slope of the airstrip. When the rain eventually eased off I asked one of the villagers for a jembe (hoe) which I used to redirect some of the streams of water which were creating little gullies in the airstrip, and after a while the strip was suitable for take-off. We set off before the weather had a chance to change for the worse again and after returning the medical team to a Magambua I flew back to Dodoma, passing many more rain showers along the way.

It is great that the rains have come and people will now be able to plant their crops, and it has already cooled the weather a little and settled the dust, but it definitely also brings with it a new set of challenges for flying.