First Look at Doro

We've finally made it to Sudan!  

Last Thursday was our flight.  We and 7 others arrived at Wilson Airport at 6:30 AM for our AIM-AIR flight.  The planned route was a short hop to Eldoret (about an hour from where Ginny used to live) to pick up another passenger and refuel, a bit longer flight to Lokichogio (on the Kenya-Sudan border) to drop off the passenger, exchange some money, and refuel again, followed by a flight to Bor, Sudan to drop off a passenger, on to Yabus to drop off 6 passengers, then finally to Doro, where the pilot would overnight.  Life being unpredictable, it didn't quite happen that way.  To start, the load was 200 kilos overweight, so we had to sort out on the runway in Nairobi which of our cargo could stay, and which needed to come.  As it turned out, we left almost all of our stuff except a few essentials.  The two hours to load the plane left the pilot a little nervous about whether we would be able to make it all the way to Doro, what with his flight-day length requirements.  By the time we arrived in Eldoret, we got word that it was raining both in Yabus and Doro, so we may have to overnight in Lokichogio.  Once we got to Loki, word was that it had quit raining, and the runways were both looking usable again, so we took off to Yabus, skipping the Bor stop (that passenger was willing to be dropped off the next day).  After testing the runway by touching the wheels on it and lifting off again, the pilot decided the runway was in good enough condition, circled around, and landed the plane, much to the delight of the Yabus passengers.  They unloaded, and we continued on to Doro to test the runway there!  After a brief 12 minute flight, the pilot tested the runway, approved its condition, and landed us.  We had quite the welcoming party waiting to meet us!  

The runway is right next to the SIM compound, so we were taken to our new home, which is a tukul for the time being.  There was a team from Scotland leaving on the plane the next morning, so our first meal was their farewell - a nice team pot-luck.  That night, we were welcomed with a very loud thunderstorm, complete with rain blowing in our windows.  Our blanket hasn't yet arrived, and extras were in short supply with all of the people on the compound that night, so we shivered a little through the rainstorm.  As soon as it let up, the shivering ceased.  

We are, as I mentioned, living in a tukul for the time being.  It's a mud and straw type of building, and the one we are currently in is usually occupied by an Ethiopian couple who will be returning in August.  There will be a little shuffling around once they return, at which point we may be moving into either another tukul or a new tent.  There are pit latrines - three for the whole compound.  One has a seat, but the other two are squatting types.  There are two bucket showers which are quite nice - there's a regular shower head on the bottom of the bucket, and it's raised on a pulley system.  A third shower area can be used for a sponge bath.  And we have high speed wireless satellite internet.  There is a monthly bandwidth limit, so we do have to be careful about our time, file sizes, etc, but it works quite well.  

Since we basically arrived in time for the weekend, we've been spending our time getting acquainted with the area and the way of life around here.  Here's a few picture highlights: 

Here is the Doro Airport, i.e. the murram airstrip as we were getting ready to land...  It's very lush right now, since it's during the rainy season.  So far, it hasn't been hot yet.  We've had a couple of rains and some cloudy weather since arriving.

In front of the AIM-AIR plane (a Caravan) shortly after landing in Doro.

Here is the tukul that we are living in for the time being. It's quite nice and cozy inside!  That's a large baobab tree in the foreground.

The plane departing the next morning.  It lifted off the ground just a few meters before some puddles from the night's thunderstorm.

Stephen's first lesson: how to weld! They are building a new fence at the compound and let him give the welder a try. Note the safety precautions - welding goggles and gloves are a must, but flip-flops are all right.  There's a quad bike attached to the front of the trailer that was covered in children during the whole process.

We went to the local market for some basic supplies and got lunch. It was quite yummy!

Cooking dinner in our "kitchen". Most of the cooking takes place outdoors over jiko's, which are basically mini charcoal grills.  There is a charcoal oven on the compound which we'll have to try sometime!