7th of May
Finally the big day is here and take-off is at 09.30h from Grenchen as planned. It is cold, grey and rainy. Climbing through clouds, the route takes us over the Gotthard to Milano, Genova, over Corsica to Olbia. The new terminal building on this tourist destination is quite impressive and the light lunch delicious. Less impressive is the 2 hours wait for the fuel! Finally we take off towards Africa 14.50h – two hours later then planned.
The Mediterranean was covered with thick clouds that cleared only when we approached Constantine. Fuel supply proved to be another problem and after a long wait we decided to clear immigration and fill up tomorrow. Traffic jam in Constantine is like in every city with 1.3 mio people. It is amazing how many people are in the streets – but mostly men! On the way in we pass the university and the mosque – obviously the largest one in Africa. The hotel is 3 star but it is clean and dinner is fine. Pilot‘s de-briefing over a local beer and the web-master has no web-access! Well – c‘est la vie! At 10 o‘clock everybody is tired and in bed.
The first day of Transafrica 2010 went smoothly. The pilots did a good job and: Africa – here we are!!!
8th of May – Ghardaia
Breakfast at 06.45h and take-off at 09.00h exactly as planned. Today we fly low, first over la nouvelle ville and then over the desert. The change of landscape is just amazing; from the green mountains in the north to the desert. Before landing in Ghardaia, we request permission for a sightseeing flight over the city. Handling on the ground is very efficient this time; fuel filled up, immigration cleared within 30 minutes.
Residence des deux Tours in Beni-Isguen turns out to be a small boutique hotel built in local style with swimming pool, great restaurant and Internet access. Life is wonderful! After lunch in the grand salle which is decorated in local style, our driver/guide picks us up and we visit the old,walled town of Beni-Isguen. The town is over 1‘000 years old and a world heritage site. The most stunning sight are the women with their white veils. This dress let‘s them see only with one eye!! We are told it is the local tradition; but to us it looks really strange. Taking pictures of people within the old city is strictly prohibited and we stick to it. The first level of the town serves for the commerce; market place, shops, etc. The allies are about 2 meters wide so in the old days two camels could cross. The second level is residential and much narrower. On top is the tower where we have a great panoramic view over the neighboring towns.
The only place to get a beer after all this sightseeing is in the big socialist style government hotel. What an ugly building! Dinner we have in town in a nice small restaurant; food is very good but the Algerian wine could improve.
What an eventful day with so many impressions. We are now two days into our journey but it feels like a week. With the flying, everything went much smoother today; from getting fuel, clearing immigration, etc. But the smoothest thing was Rainer‘s landing in Ghardaia; really top!
