Ok, lets get the show on the road!! I’m getting a little antsy and want to get to Africa! The plane rolls, and climbs up to FL370. I see the Alps in all their beauty. I scope out some great looking anchorage's in Croatia ( what a beautiful country from 8 miles up!). Greece, and Italy!! What can I say, the scenery was amazing and it confirms my want to visit those countries someday! We cross the Mediterranean and I spot my first tip of Africa. It is the boarder of Egypt and Libya. The pilots do many course corrections to give a good birth to the Libyan airspace. I see the great sands of the Sahara. The whole country of Egypt looks like a sand box!
I’m over the country of Sudan heading for a quick stop at Rwanda then on to Uganda to get a visa for entry to Southern Sudan! It is 630PM and already pitch black out, a huge contrast from up in Canada where day light extends to 10:00PM this time of year! The lightning is flashing off our right wing in HUGE equatorial thunderstorms that extend 15000 ft above our cruising altitude and well past the tropopause. Im talking with Rebecca, a 24 year old girl from Missouri, who is going to be living in a village for 2 weeks in southern uganda. She and her group is going to be rebuilding a school to help a village out. Her big terror is mosquitoes and malaria. She reminds me to take my anti malaria pill at dinner. Thanks Rebecca!
While on board the plane, waiting to use the lavatory, I meet Robert. Robert is dressed in a full Scout leader uniform and was born and raised in Uganda. He is a scout leader and has 14 young scouts with him onboard who are just getting back from a Washington DC jamboree. To the boys, this has been a chance of a life time. None of them had ever been on a plane before! I meet a couple of the boys, they are polite and still excited after their big trip.
We approach Kigali International Airport. Kigali is in Rwanda, which the plane does a quick stop in before carrying onto Uganda. The one thing I have noticed since dark is Africa is truly dark at night! There are the odd lights in the country side at night which reminds me of northern ontario. I see the airport out my window and we are on a right base. The city looks like the size of Sarnia, the airport, a single runway.
The pilot slams the airbus onto the runway violently. The aircraft in disgust leaps back airborne and we slam the pavement again. After some dancing around trying to get on the centreline, the thrust reversers light off with great thunder. The wheel brakes must also be set on max, because I hear the tires lock up on and off. Airbus pioneered ABS and the pilots can select the extent the auto brakes come on. It is very unusual to hear a tire skid on a large jet like this when the TR’s are thundering! We come to a stop and turn to back track. I see the cause of our noisy arrival. The runway only went 3 more lights down! Thats approx. 600 ft! In a large jet like a A330 it is a little to close for comfort, especially when the airport is built on a large hill and the runoff is right into the town!
We leave Rwanda for the quick 35 min hop to Uganda. I still can't get over KLM’s load factor onboard! Many people deplane, but many more get on. Almost every seat is full on this A330. Air Canada could only be jealous about these load factors!
We land in Entebbe, Uganda uneventfully. I say goodbye to Rebecca and her group and wish them luck.
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