Flying for Kosovo

It is a small relief to finally arrive here in Namibia.  I have been waiting a long time to be able to touch down in the last country on the western side of this continent.  The only western coastline after this belongs to South Africa, which will be the southernmost tip of Africa.  What a joy to reach this point. The only other thing that I knew about Namibia before landing here was that there has traditionally been a strong German influence in this country for many centuries and that a lot of... more

Back when I left Zambia, it was a wetter, tropical climate.  The farther towards Gaberone I have flown it has become more dry.  Even at the slow speed of our turtle plane, I am able to see these huge changes within a 7-8 hour flight.  I am now starting to see land that looks like it could be from the Sahara Desert.  The natural beauty fascinates me.  Many times I have try to memorize the topography as I go along.  I want to remember it all – what the land and geography of each place was... more

After my mechanical stop in Lubumbashi, I was on my way to Zambia and very excited to hear the sound of my airplane working well again.  Thanks again to the team at ITAB in Lubumbashi for everything that they have done for our mission.  Compared to my last flight, the flight to Lusaka, Zambia was a short one.  I arrived around noon to find great weather and beautiful countryside.  As I was flying over, I could see lots of farmland and farmers taking care of their crop.  Later I learned that... more

On my way to Zambia, I had to do a lot of flying across the Democratic Republic of the Congo since it is the third largest country in Africa.  Often times, you don’t think of the realities of life, but once exposed to it, you start realizing that things are much bigger and much more complex than you originally thought them to be.  Sometimes things seem so complex that they seem far beyond your reach.  Congo-Kinshasa for example is about 200 times the size of our tiny Kosovo and it takes a lot... more

You all know by now that one of the hardest things about this mission is the bureaucratic nightmares that I have to encounter in each country.  Things like customs, airport paperwork upon landing and upon leaving, obtaining visas, etc., they all take so much time and often times it feels like I am running in circles all day trying to get things straightened out.  Many times the personnel are not as helpful or as knowledgeable as they would be in airports in say, the United States or Europe, but... more

Landing in Brazzaville felt like heaven compared to the last country (Angola) as far as I am concerned and the first thing that I notice about this place is that the prices are much more reasonable. For one thing, the hotel prices are at least 5-10 times cheaper than they are in Angola, which is good news for our mission. The next thing that I learn is that this country is also known as Congo-Brazzaville, Little Congo, or simply the Congo, which helps to separate it from neighboring Democratic Republic... more

Dear friends and supporters of our mission: In have been to over 100 countries now in my lifetime, and I can honestly say that Angola has been the most expensive place that I have ever visited.  Usually throughout my journeys, I try to learn a few things about each country before I visit – things like local airports, local gas prices, visa information, etc.  However, I have never had to check for the price of a hotel before landing in a country.  This might be something that I add to my pre-flight... more

My dear friends:  It would be absolutely impossible to explain to you in a tiny little blog entry just how beneficial and amazing my trip to Sao Tome Et Principe has been.  Words cannot express my excitement about this visit or my gratitude to our new friend of Kosovo, Mr. Jean-Philippe van Nyen – Ambassador of ‘Ordre Souverain Militaire Et Hospitalier de Saint Jean de Jerusalem, Chevaliers Oecumeniques de Rhodes et de Malte, OSJ (Order of Malta: Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of... more

Gabon is another African country that makes a lot of profit from its natural resources. Already I can see lots of progress here as far as infrastructure. Things look well kept here and cleaner than some of the other places that I’ve been. Socially, people here seem to be well aware of their surroundings and about life in general. Things are not always equal though, about 90% of the income here goes to the richest 20% of the population. Lucky for me, the air conditioning was working at the airport... more

Well folks, I was finally allowed entry into Nigeria.  Despite the problems that I had beforehand relating to my visa, I have absolutely great memories of this country and its people.  Despite my writings and my preconceptions, I have been pleasantly surprised by the people of Nigeria.  Many times, we tend to label people or a country with a red mark before we know about them firsthand.  Once those people receive a red mark, it is often hard to change our minds about them and remove the negative... more

So far, I haven’t had any problems yet on the African portion of our mission, as far as visas and/or immigration issues go.  No country has ever made me turn around with my plane and go back.  Many times, they have been  nice enough to let me enter either at the airport or borders, even though I may not have had the appropriate paperwork from time to time.  But Nigeria is not letting me have this luxury. There was absolutely no way that they were going to let me get around the proper legal... more

After landing in Chad, I already start to notice that the climate is very similar to the past few countries that I’ve visited: Burkina-Faso, Niger and Mali. Since this country is landlocked, is a far distance from the sea and is mostly a desert climate, Chad is sometimes known as the ‘dead heart of Africa’. Religion seems to be a larger focus here too (50% Muslim and 50% Christian) and they also seem to have a big awareness of ‘foreigners’ with outside money. Everywhere... more