Getting to Sudan

After two very long flights I arrived in Kampala on Wednesday night June 24. The Henderson family was waiting for me after I bought my visa and collected my bags. As we drove from the airport back to their house, my first thought was of how dark it was. There was hardly any street lighting, and even the headlights of the cars were all very dim. I also got to witness some very questionable driving maneuvers as we made our way along the two-lane highway to the city of Kampala.

When we arrived at the Henderson’s home about 45 minutes later, they had sandwiches and lots of fresh fruit waiting. It was great to get a good meal after 20 plus hours on two airplanes. We talked for a while, and then I headed off to bed. I was pretty tired and I had to get up very early the next morning to meet the plane for my first flight into Sudan.

The next morning after cinnamon roles and hot tea, Kerry drove me to Kajjansy airstrip. I would be flying with a pilot from Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF). The plane was a Cessna 208, better known as a caravan. The caravan is the plane of choice for most transport throughout Africa. It can hold up to 12 people and has the ability to carry a pretty hefty payload. However on this flight it would just be me and the pilot, Akim, a German who has worked with MAF for about 4 years. The plane would drop me off in Nasir and then pick up the short-term team that had been working there for the last week. We took off from the dirt airstrip at about 7:30 and flew first to Entebbe airport about 10 minutes away. We needed to pack the plane full of fuel for our long flight to Nasir.

About a half hour later we took off again. Our flight path would take us due north about 500 miles over Uganda, Sudan, and a tiny piece of Ethiopia. The flight took about 4 hours. I got to sit up front next to the pilot wearing a headset that allowed me to hear all of the communications between Akim and the people on the ground. As we crossed into Sudan we flew over some very high mountains just over 10,000 feet in elevation, but after that the land flattened out quickly. Below was nothing but desolate swamp and plains. From the air there were no signs of human existence- no roads or buildings of any kind could be seen. Finally after an hour or so we began to see the round mud huts called tukuls that are characteristic of the tribal peoples who inhabit this land.

Nasir lies along the banks of the River Sobat about 15 miles from the Ethiopian border. As we approached the village, I could see herds of cattle below and several more tukuls. Finally we approached the airstrip. There were a lot of people and goats milling around and walking across it, so Akim decided to make a low pass to let everyone know we were about to land. We flew over the runway about 50 feet above and the people began to scatter. Then we banked hard to the left and circled around for our landing. It was a smooth one, at least as smooth as landing on dirt can be! We turned around and taxied back to the other end of the airstrip. I unlatched my door, dropped the steps down, and set foot for the first time in the country of Sudan.