Medicines, beans and a very large dish.

One flight to Doro Maban yesterday for Medair with some additional freight for SIM (Serving In Mission). It's good to see our partners working together and sharing a flight when they have the chance.

The freight (around 700kgs) was mostly made up of medical supplies and food, plus a rather large satellite dish. The dish came in two halves and it was quite a tight squeeze even getting each half through the cargo door of the caravan.

On my return to Juba I parked next to the newest aircraft in our fleet, the diesel engined C182. This little aircraft seats only four and we hope it will enable us to serve organisations for whom the cost of a caravan is just too high. I parked on one side of the C182 and another of our caravans was on the other side. It gave the impression of two bigger brothers standing protectively over their little brother, which I thought was nice.

Kajo and Maridi

Two flights today. First rotation down to Kajo Keji and back for ECS and the second out to Maridi in the west for UNFPA.

The ramp (aircraft parking area at the airport) in Juba was quite a mess this morning, even for Juba standards. Just before I started up there was a crowd of at least 70 people with about 20 cars gathered along the sides of the main taxiway. It seems they were there as part of a funeral party and once 'their' aircraft had left they walked and drove off down the taxiway, while aircraft were using the same taxiway.

Where else in the world can you see large aircraft sharing their taxiway with speeding Toyota Landcruisers and large crowds of pedestrians? Only in Juba, I suspect....

Juba-Kapoeta-Lokichogio-Kapoeta-Lohutok-Juba

Another shuttle today to Loki to swap an aircraft with our colleagues in Kenya.

On the way back from Loki I had the pleasure of flying another South African family who we got to know during our holiday at the coast in Kenya. I took them back to the village of Lohutok where they will continue their work with Persecution Project Foundation.

The late rains continue and it's great to see the countryside so lush and green as we fly between the rain showers. Unfortunately the rains are too late for the subsistence farmers whose crops failed this year and many people will suffer as a result of the poor harvests.

Back 'in the saddle'

It was good to be back to normal flying duties today with a flight to Mabior and Motot for Tearfund. 2 pax from Juba plus another 2 from Mabior. The freight from Juba included 29 sheets of corrugated iron for roofing and a couple of hundred kgs of gravel (!) plus some posters and books (and, of course, a couple of boxes of soap).

The rainy season seems to have come late and for the last couple of weeks there has been some rain most days in Juba, just when the season should be ending. Today was a beautiful day for flying though and I was home before any of the towering cumulus turned into thurnderstorms.

Back to reality

Well, we had a wonderful 2 week break in Kenya, including 5 nights at the coast, but now it's back to the realities of living in Juba.

Our Caravans are being upgraded with new avionics (Instruments, GPS, radios etc) and the first aircraft to be completed is now operational here in South Sudan. I have not had a flight of my own yet this week but I have flown with 2 of our other pilots as we familiarize ourselves with the new equipment. It's great to have more modern instrumentation, particularly a traffic warning system, and I look forward to having the aircraft to myself for a few hours tomorrow :)

Sadly yesterday there was a bad aircraft accident close to Juba airport. A heavily loaded Antonov crashed immediately after takeoff into the banks of the Nile and about 40 people died in the crash. Lets pray for the friends and families of those who lost their lives.