28 September 2007

White Nile in Southern Sudan


The photo is a passing view of the White Nile, taken over Southern Sudan, between the Kenyan town of Lockichogio, and the Sudanese town of Yei. Both the Blue and White Nile pass through Sudan. The pic was taken a few days ago aboard the DC3 we flew up in from Nairobi. The plane interested me because it had signs inside in English and Afrikaans!
Turns out the South African Airforce in the bad old days of apartheid, etc, developed a turbo-prop improvement on the old turbine engines, in order to extend their aged planes. The idea was passed on to others, including Winela, the company that recruited mine labour for the goldmines in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. These miners were moved around in DC3's and this was one of them. The plane was built in 1945!
The cockpit has much updated equipment of course, but it still takes some creative flying. We landed on two dirt strips on the way up, one was pretty bogged down in mud, so I understood why there were two large shovels strapped to the door at the back of the aircraft.

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