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Flying In Lesotho

I was able to fly into the mountains today with MAF pilot, Christiaan Haak. We flew to three airstrips, then returned to Maseru. The second landing was at Bobete, a village where Partners In Health has a clinic. This is also one of the ten clinic locations at which MAF is installing VSAT systems for PIH.

The first landing was at a village called Semananyane (not sure I spelled that correctly), a difficult place to land. The strip is at 7800' elevation, only 1800 feet long, and has a 5% slope. Christiaan made it look easy. You can view the landing and takeoff, but it won't be as good as being there in person. The MAF program here does a not of medical flights, helping PIH and other groups in the fight against AIDS and tuberculosis. Many flights are also medical evacuations.

I spent the other parts of my day helping Traig with a wireless access point in the hangar, and also working on a project for one of the other guys. I was hoping to work with the GATR some this afternoon, but rain rolled in and so I decided to put that off.

I've got two more days at the hangar, and I'll work on the GATR one of those days. This has been a good trip, and I find myself thinking about living and working overseas again.

Posted by David at March 5, 2008 10:21 PM