Report Africa 2009 (2)
7. Ouagadougaou, DFFD - 31.01.2009 - 235 NM - 1:42
Again we had a flight over the African savannah until Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. 95% of the population is motorized. We were treated like aliens as we walked through the town by a temperature of 48°C to do sightseeing. Yes, quickly people forget what is walking. Overall you will find large signs in front of new erected buildings announcing social programs (foreign aid?). But it is impossible to stop the hunger. Inside of the secured town hall the high society is meeting each other.
8. Bobo, DFOO - 02.02.2009 - 185 NM - 1:20
On this flight we saw again savannah and since Agadez we are sweating very much because ever flight is like a sauna. Bobo consists only from markets where ever you are walking and looking around. There is plenty of food and other stuff donated to the Africans by the European. You won’t find any tourists in Burkina Faso. But you will discover a lot of people of all relief organizations (well dressed and styled ladies). But there is a small difference, maybe even a large one to the above mentioned, that we have to pay for everything by ourselves.
9. Bamako, GABS - 03.02.2009 - 230 NM - 1:46
It is told that Bamako is one of the most striving cities within Africa. If you mean the good import from Asia as well as the extremely growing population, then we have to agree. But the increase doesn’t give more jobs. Wherever we looked we saw a few more hulks and of course there’s a growing pile of rubbish on the streets.
If German would have 5 – 10 children per family you would partly find the same situation like here. Our last visit to Bamako was 5 ½ years ago! We don’t like to think about what will happen in 20 years from now on or even later.
The river Niger looks blue but is lifeless and framed on the banks by excrements. Relief organizations are seen at every place and those people are wearing blank polished shoes. We bet they almost never went to the places by foot like we did it and experienced the reality.
10. Conakry, GUCY - 05.02.2009 - 405 NM - 2:56
This time we had a nice flight over mountains with a landing at the Atlantic. Conakry is a mix of Port au Prince/Haiti, Calcutta/India and Beira/Mozambique and from all before mentioned you will find here the worst. 1 ½ hours we drove through the town which is really a dump. Photos are strictly prohibited what is understandable as what we saw is not any more human being. Corruption is the normal way of life and money demanded. This was in our whole flying career the first time that we paid bribes otherwise we weren’t able to leave as private pilots the airport.
11. Monrovia Spr., GLMR - 07.02.09 -275 NM - 2:10
On this leg we flew directly over Freetown where we intended to land at first and already had for a long time the landing permit in hands. But the ambassador of Sierra Leone refused to grant us visa even after long negotiations. It was an unpleasant fact that we had to pay the agent in Sierra Leone in advance € 300,- as well as € 200,- for the visa. Altogether with other fees we wasted € 700,- for nothing. As we flew over Freetown we felt like to spit over this corrupt country.
Kai, a German who is living in Monrovia with his African family welcomed us. He took us for a drive through the town and in the evening we celebrated as his guests together with other friends the 9. Birthday of his daughter Yanga.
Monrovia’s population is still suffering from the late war. The high society of 1% is living in abundance and without favoritism nothing works. Unbelievable finding here such a magnificent building of the American embassy. Everybody told us if the UN will leave the country the fighting will start again. The greed for power and mineral resources which bring millions of US$ is too high.
