HAVING ARRIVED IN KHARTOUM, the American delegates were whisked off to their peace conference the next morning and the three of us pilots were left to our own devices.
There were many power cuts during the day at the Hilton and Heather advised that we should consider what we ate very carefully as the cold chain would be sorely affected in this heat.
I took her advice on board and had Carlsberg for breakfast lunch and dinner. I stuck to eating simple food such as Moukhbaza - mashed ripe bananas smothered with chillies, and Tamayya- broad bean balls with pita and tomato salad - both typical Sudanese dishes.
I had a wonderful view from my room where I could see the confluence of the White Nile,, flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing west from Lake Tana.
It was a great opportunity for me to explore Khartoum and I headed out along ancient, cobbled roads amongst the souks. The sun beat down mercilessly, and I could understand why the local men wore loose-fitting kaftans and ghutras (kufiyahs) to cover their heads. Scrawny goats and dogs took shelter under the meagre shade of the date palms that lined the streets.
The air was filled with the cloying smell of spices, incense, cheap aftershave, and metallic tang of fresh blood. A camel's head on a spike stared at me sightlessly, its eyes swarming with bloated flies, an advert for a 'butchery'. The calls of the muezzin competed with the loud caw of crows which seemed to be everywhere.
As I rounded the corner I spotted a large plastic cone, the once pink plastic soft serve on top bleached white by the relentless sun.
Ah, just what I felt like.
I was about to enter the shop when something caught my eye. There was a big pile of rubbish right next to the shop and on top was.... the small black body of a dead child.
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av SA Flyer Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av SA Flyer Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Iris - her early years: IRIS FLIES ACROSS SUDAN
Laura McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum's early years in East Africa and the Sudan. In part 1 of this story she recounts how she had to fly a bunch of Belgian Missionaries to Aweil, a city in northwestern South Sudan, from Wilson in Nairobi in her old mate 'ARN', the Piper Aztec 5Y-ARN.
UGLY IS PRETTY: LEAR 25 VS PILATUS PC-6
When you go to a party where you don't know anybody, you should always go for the 'Ugly' girl, because she will be happy that you chose to spend time with her.
CIRRUS G7 LAUNCHED IN AFRICA
What makes one aircraft better than another? Range, Speed, or carrying capacity, short field performance, operating costs, high wing, low wing, side stick, traditional control yoke?
PRESIDENT'S TROPHY AIR RACE 2024
The annual Presidents Trophy Air Race (PTAR) is the highlight of the year for many competitive general aviation pilots.
THE ABSA LOWVELD AIRSHOW 2024
This year marked the thirtieth edition of the Lowveld airshow – and it was widely acclaimed as the best ever.
PREVIEW: AFRICAN AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE EXPO(AAD)
Guy Leitch finds out from AAD Exhibition Director, Ms Nakedi Phasha, how the buildup to this year's biennial expo is going, and what visitors and exhibitors can expect.
APRIL 2023
April has been a very quiet month on the local aviation marketplace with only nine new registration allocations and three deletions, according to the officially-supplied register review.
PIPISTREL PANTHERA FINALLY HERE
One of the world's most eagerly awaited piston single engine aircraft designs has finally arrived in South Africa. ZU-KTR is a long awaited Panthera, proudly owned by Bertus Kritzinger, a Free State trucker, and based at New Tempe in Bloemfontein, where the well-known Ferriera Aviation has assembled it.
STAGGERWING - ALREADY OLD WHEN NEW
The Staggerwing was the climax, and the end, of an era.
The Aim of Bombing
In modern warfare it's not the soldiers who die - it's the civilians. One of the best examples of this is carpet bombing.