Flying for Kosovo

Short flight from Guinea-Bissau to Guinea compared to some long ones in the past.  Thank you to the Civil Aviation of Guinea and the airport personnel who helped me get my clearance to their country much faster than the normal procedure of 3-5 days in advance.  The help of our friend from the Guinea-Bissau tower was also a positive contributing factor. Landing and parking the aircraft here in Guinea gave me a better sense of security overall than previous two countries.  One thing that I quickly... more

I am happy to report that I am in Guinea-Bissau today.  I am also thankful that I did not have to go back to Dakar, Senegal again, especially after my struggles of dealing with all of the border crossings and checkpoints lately. So far on my African tour, I can see that Guinea-Bissau is a country that is struggling the most.  This makes sense if you know that this country’s gross domestic product is one of the lowest in the world and it has also struggled with ongoing military and political... more

After taking off from Dakar, my goal was to take a quick flight into Gambia.  However, as with most of my plans, there was a unforeseen situation that changed my direction.  Upon reaching Gambian airspace, I was alerted that I would not be able to continue on.  Though I tried every angle possible to get them to let me land, they would not budge.  After more than 20 minutes of arguing, I was forced to change my course.  The Gambian air traffic controllers kept trying to get me to turn back and... more

Well, I must tell you my friends that it was quite refreshing to visit this awesome island country.  It does indeed appear to be a vacation destination.  Since it is an island country, I decided to leave my baby plane in Dakar, Senegal for a few days so that I would not have to be another four hours flying over water in a single engine plane. The national carrier of Cape Verde is seven hours late today picking us up from Dakar, so I had lots of time to kill at the airport.  As I was waiting, a... more

What a nice short flight from Nouakchott to Dakar, Senegal today.  Continuing along my African journey, I am starting to see minor cultural shifts in each country. Its beginning to feel like I am finally making progress! My original flight goal was to leave Mauritania early enough to avoid darkness upon arrival in Senegal.  As usual, the pre-flight nonsense set me back a few hours and quite a few Euros – the fuel people in Nouakchott dragged their feet for three hours and ended up costing me... more

My dearest people, I have visited over half of the countries on the planet during my lifetime. But I have never once experienced such a shocking and chilling event as I have here in Mauritania. Did you know that during the hardest times of our life, during our darkest hours, through the war, the killing and loss of loved ones at home that we were not alone? Did you know that there were actually people in other parts of our planet who were praying all along and who were feeling the sorrow and the... more

After our last post, James had an unexpected delay caused by a missing fuel cap.  With the help from a great mechanic, Baali, another cap was obtained in a town one hour away (though it took over a day to transport it back to Laayoune). This morning, James finally arrived in Nouakchott, Mauritania after an 8 hour flight (over 5 of which were in the dark).  The current goal is to stay two days before flying to the next country, which is Senegal. Le Quotidien de Nouakchott Le Quotidien de Nouakchott Newspaper   [View... more

I hope you all are doing well. Flight went well 06h 30 minutes flight. I took lots of picture while approaching this place, though once on the ground, the environment prevented me from taking many more.  It looks very nice from above surrounded by sand everywhere (most of the landscape here is desert).  I plan on leaving the Western Sahara for the capital of Mauritania the day after tomorrow. Seeing the vastness of the Sahara Desert is something that I have been dreaming of for a long time. ... more

I arrived yesterday in Rabat, Morocco. It was a long day and everyday is getting harder for me.  I am flying a single engine airplane that is not made for this kinds of work.  Being alone and having to deal with everything is not an easy task at all.  As a pilot, I am also dealing with many things such as bad weather, an old airplane (which increases the chances of mechanical issues), permits to fly in and out of the countries (and their timing), dealing with the media, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,... more

Friends: Once again, I have been pleasantly surprised upon arrival to a new part of the world.  Getting here was tough because we had to order the Visa from Geneva,Switzerland, who made sure to tell us that it was a process that would take at least 2 wks.  My visit to Agleria actually turned out to be a pleasant experience and I received much better treatment than what I had initially expected Seeing this country from above seemed very nice and the fuel here was quite cheap compared to places... more

Videos Jeta ne Kosove 2011 Jeta ne Kosove 2010 Alsat-M CANAL 3 – Burkina Faso _________________________________________________________________ Radio Interviews Guinea-Bissau Ghana Mali Sao Tome and Principe _________________________________________________________________ Malta Times of Malta IT-Torca _________________________________________________________________ Tunisia Le Quotidien PDF Ansa Media Tunis Hebdo _________________________________________________________________ Algeria La... more

Here you can see some photos of James Berisha by his plane Cessna 172 in Prishtina International Airport. [View with PicLens] ... more