Djibouti Call

"Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water."

~ W. C. Fields

Finally got the chance to spice things up a bit: the schedule came out and our mission was to Djibouti, Djibouti! (So nice you have to say it twice!) AFRICA!

For those of us geographically challenged, Djibouti is a small country located just above the Horn of Africa tucked in between Eritrea, Ethiopia and whatever's left of Somalia. The capitol of Djibouti is the town named Djibouti, so when you're saying your going to Djibouti, I guess that could mean different things to different people. For us, it simply meant a breath of fresh air -- someplace different.

An added treat was the inclusion of two of our support personnel getting a chance to ride along on a non-combat mission to see some of the world other than just the base we fly in and out of. Becky Jackanic, who works in Flight Records, and William McDuffie, an Intel analyst, both joined us for the day, and you have never seen such grins of anticipation as we started on our way!

The flight itself was pretty long: 5-1/2 hours each way, but it covered some interesting territory: we flew across Saudi Arabia to Riyadh and then on to Jeddah, then down the middle of the Red Sea until sliding past Yemen and into Djibouti. Saudi is home to some really interesting geological formations, especially in the east, and one of my favorite places to drone over. Sand dunes, dramatic escarpments, ancient lava floes and volcanoes dot the landscape and provide spectacular evidence of the earth's formative processes we don't normally get to see at home.

The city of Djibouti itself lies on a peninsula that divides the Gulf of Aden from the Gulf of Tadjoura. It supposedly supports a population of over 400,000 people, but it doesn't look like it is much bigger than an typical city in the US of 50,000 or so. That being said, flying over it as we approached the airport, you could look down and see how densely packed the houses were, and how antiquated the roads and thoroughfares were that wound through them. It struck me that if you were trying to find the one spot to disappear to, the last place on earth anyone would ever look for you, this would be ideal!

The landing is complicated somewhat by controllers who speak a version of English that is enhanced with French and East African variances... so communication is mostly a series of negotiations for clarification. We touch down and suddenly find ourselves directed onto one of the narrowest taxi ways I've seen: bushes sliding beneath our wings as we creep by, headed for the main ramp.

Our cargo today is one pallet of grenades, and several other pallets of various items ranging from empty O2 tanks to toilet paper, all bound for some Marines stationed nearby. The first thing that strikes you as you get off the plane is how HOT it is... not just hot, but AFRICA hot... hot and humid. The co-pilot described it feeling like there's a magnifying glass over your head... It wasn't long before we were soaked; literally wilting in our flight suits.

We downloaded our cargo and uploaded a prop being returned up-range for repair, then headed over to the terminal for both a bathroom break and a photo op. The restrooms, both in the tower and in the terminal were so primitive, McDuff declared afterwards he would never criticize the latrine set-ups we live with again. "Squalid" doesn't quite describe the condition of the facilities we encountered, and I was reminded once again of the difference between the "first" and "third" worlds.

The people we encountered however were exceptionally friendly and helpful, and one offered to take our picture recording our visit. As we posed for the picture, a group of people, many dressed in bright colored robes and other traditional garb, walked out of the terminal behind us and headed for their plane. It was a nice accent on a fun day.

With our picture taken, we loaded up and headed back north. We flew up the Red Sea just as the sun set in the west, bands of clouds reflecting golds and reds against the heavens. After that, just a clear black sky blanketed by a million stars and a long, quiet, reflective flight into the night.