CTO #3 - Heading out for a Safari

I must admit it was nice to be leaving the team site again. It was a steady week and I am starting once again to feel the pressure of working with the international staff of UNMO’s. The last minute confirmations for the trip caused me a little stress, but as I have mentioned before you MUST have a sense of humour here and learn that everything should fall into place.

We have a system here for the UN for booking our movements throughout the UN. It’s called an MOP and it is like a passport and reservation system all on one piece of paper. I booked all my details on 15 Feb for this trip. They post the flight manifests the day before your flight. I started looking and sure enough I was NOT on either of the two flights that I needed to get me to Khartoum for my vacation. The worst part was that the manifest for the 2nd flight was full and there was a standby list of 6 people. This would put me at the bottom! I started making phone calls and sending emails. One of my friends who works in the movements area told me to call a certain person in the headquarters and let them know what is going on. He did this because he is fed up with all the mistakes a certain area was making on a regular basis. So I called and sent copies of all of my documentation. I guess I got a hold of the right guy as I was manifested as number two person on the flight and at each leg there were people meeting me to ensure my bags were being moved properly and that I was being taken care of. Oh… I forgot to mention I did happen to let the person up at the HQ know that I was scheduled to have a meeting that afternoon with the Force Commander (head of the UN military)….. hehe.. What I meant to say is that I was going to meet MY Force Commander (Canadian in command of me in Sudan).. A little different BUT it got me the attention I needed to ensure my travel plans!

Mine Field Day!!!

Before my 1100 flight I had arranged a meeting for my fellow team mates to meet the head of the local Demining Company. He was going to give my guys a briefing on the demining operation in Kurmuk and also show us how they use dogs and machines to find and destroy the mines. It was incredibly interesting especially watching the dogs find the mines and UXO’s. The dogs are trained to search an area in lines and when they find something they sit down and don’t move until told. From there the area is marked and the deminer has to come in a clear it manually. This system is used in the areas that the machines cannot reach. The dogs work from about 0700am – 1100am At this point they are tired and it’s just too hot. I have taken some photos and video of this. I will post it as soon as I can.

The mine destroyer machine - It eats them up and destroys them! Can't be used in rocky areas. Anti-personal mines will still sometimes go off but with no damage to the machine. Anti-tank mines get destroyed in place with no explosion. This thing digs down 13 inches and destroys everything.



The mine finding dogs. They can find anything with a hint of explosive. Even old used bullets.



This is a sample of a destroyed anti-personal mine.



The rock system is used in every mine clearing operation. just have to remember that RED is BAD!!!




Oh, this is a military check point that I was set to investigate. Can you tell who is who? There are UNMO's, North and south army monitors and then there is the Check Point military personal who I am investigating.

KHARTOUM

In Khartoum I ran around trying to get things ready for the trip. The most important was trying to use the bank machine for the first time and not knowing how much money I could withdraw. I had tried our system of sending a check by helicopter to Damazin where one of our fellow officers picks it up and cashes it at the bank in Damazin and then sends the envelope of money back to you with the next helicopter. There was only one problem, the bank in Damazin had NO money and wasn’t going to get any until the following week.

My trip was going to be booked with a company in Tanzania who were friends of my work mates from the same area. I was offering to pay by credit card but the company was waiting for the credit card machine to arrive and it may take about 2 more weeks (African time). The other option was a wire transfer however that takes about 2 weeks and costs me another $40 USD. This all occurred within one week of me leaving for my trip. My Tanzanian work mates spoke to the agent that they knew and worked out a very risky deal. The agent would book everything including my flights on the word of my friends that I was a good guy and would pay in cash upon arrival. I was amazed; once again everything was working out. I had to pay $2,221.00 upon arrival.

Well I could not get the money I needed from Damazin so I would have to try in Khartoum however the banks are closed on Fridays…. I was going to have to try the Bank machine and hope that it has money and hope that I can take out enough. When I arrived at the machine it was being repaired and restocked. I asked the guy about the maximum withdrawal and he said you can take out 2,000 per day in 500 dollar increments. I was very happy and was able to remove the money on that day and then I came back 24 hours later and withdrew the remainder.

All things worked out well.

FLIGHTS

I arrive at the Khartoum airport at 0400am. The flight that was supposed to leave at 630 didn’t board till then. I did not know the whole flight plan and I was sleeping as we flew. I ended up flying from Sudan to Ethiopia then to Kenya and then to Tanzania. On the final leg of the trip there were about 40 Brits who had shirts that said “HOPE FOR HEROS” which is a fund raising organization that helps raise public funds for wounded war vets from the UK. They were all heading to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It is always interesting at the Khartoum airport as I was in a light pair of pants and a t-shirt and I was sweating other were wearing winter jackets and toques!!

I was nice to see Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, as it was green and looked well developed (compared to Khartoum). When we flew into Mombasa, Kenya we were flying along the Indian Ocean coast line. It was beautiful. Mombasa was my second choice for a place to visit.
I do believe the pilot was either new or just very bad! Both landings were very rough including bouncing the aircraft and not having great control once it was on the ground. Both mistakes made by new or inexperienced pilots.

When I arrived in Tanzania at the Kilimanjaro airport we had to go through the usual procedures of getting the Visa ($100 USD!!) and completing the health questionnaire. When I turned in my Green Canadian passport the officer was a little confused. He was stumped by the fact that it is a “Special Passport”. I showed him my UN ID and explained that I am with the UN. He stamped my book and said have a great day. There was NO charge!! I am starting to enjoy this UN ID.

I was met at the airport by a guy holding a sign with my name on it. I have always wanted to be “someone” who looks important with someone holding up my name. LOL. Turns out he wasn’t the guy that I was supposed to meet. My guy’s car had broken down. So this was his friend and I was supposed to go with him….Hmmmmm. But as we walked to the car he called the guy that I was supposed to meet and he said that everything is alright and that he would meet me at the Hotel.

The hotel was nice and was located in the city of MOSHI which is the launching point for anyone who is going to climb Kilimanjaro or going on Safari. That night I enjoyed a good meal and watched some TV as I went to bed early. I think, once again, that I was one of the only guests in the hotel.

I am looking forward to the Safari tomorrow. Hopefully I will be with some good people, as I am sharing the vehicle with another tour group.