Long Range Patrol

I was the leader of my first Long Range Patrol. This means that the village is far enough, or that the roads are bad enough, that we will have to spend the night along the road somewhere. We got within about 1 hour the village we needed to be at only to find out that the route we were given ends and does not continue any further. So we spoke to that village and then made our way home. En route to the village and one the way home we had to pass through two hills (mountains) on a very rough boulder covered road. This road took us over the middle part of the two mountains. Just prior to driving on this road I had to get out of the car and take a bearing (compass measurement) as we were informed that on both sides of the road there were mines that have been there since the war. Don’t worry we were 100% safe…just as long as we didn’t stop on the road and then decide to take a walk to use the bathroom LOL

We were trying to push back to the team site but dusk quickly fell and I had to make a decision. The regulations say no driving after dark or 6pm. And it was now 630 and very dark already. Many of the people on the patrol wanted to push forward to at least one or two more villages. I decided that my driver would not be able to safely navigate the awful road so I decided that we would stop just outside the next village.

We found a great area. The PAK army began to set up and then they started to make dinner including baking fresh flat bread. It was awesome. We sat around and ate my junk food until the food was ready.

That night we slept under the stars in the Sudan desert/forest. It was really cool and relaxing.. until you start hearing things.. LOL I was sleeping in a mosquito dome tent built for one. I didn’t even put on the outside fly as there was no chance of rain. So while you sleep you are looking up at the stars…

The next morning we got up with the sun, had breakfast and made our way home….Oh this was after we did a quick check of our wonderful (sarcasm) UN vehicles. We found a cap missing off of one of the batteries and there was acid all over the place. And my vehicle (which the driver had said just before we stopped for the night that the brakes felt weird) had no brake fluid! The PAK army brings a mechanic along for these trips so we put him to work…. The battery acid cover was replaced by a water bottle; it screwed in nicely to the same hole. The brakes it turned out had a major leak near the rear axle. The mechanic went under the car and sealed the leak with a plastic bag, string, and duct tape. He did tell us not to use the brakes on the way home and just to use the hand brake….yeh, like that can work on these roads!

Anyways, we made it home and gave a great deal of work to our local mechanics.