A day in the life of Briant McKenzie

Wow, I have a whole new appreciation for what Briant does every day! In the previous post, I wrote about the evening I spent with Briant in Accra, Ghana. But I didn't write about what it took to get there. Below is what his day looked like last Friday. However, the only way you can truly relate to what it's like for Briant is if you take your computer outside, in 106 degree weather, and read this post in the sun, while lifting weights.

6:00 a.m. Sadiola - Bamako
Pre-flight plane. Load luggage. Load passengers. Do passenger briefing. Leave Sadiola, Mali where he had spent the night. Fly passengers back to Bamako. Call the fuelers. Wait a long time in the sun. Communicate in French how much fuel is needed. Check to make sure fuel is clean. Wait. Sign fuelers' paper work. Pay in cash. Turn in flight plan for next trip. Stand around and wait an hour for the next flight. (I met up with Briant at Bamako's airport around 8:00 and accompanied him for the rest of the day.)

8:30 a.m. Bamako - Siguri
Find passengers in airport. Load their heavy luggage. Do passenger briefing. Fly to Siguri, Guinea's somewhat short, bumpy, dirt airstrip. Deliver 2 pieces of mail to the commandant. Have passengers get off the plane and stamp in to the country.

9:30 a.m. Siguri - Lero
Fly to Lero, Guinea. (This airstrip is similar to the one in Siguri but it's on a slope and somewhat shorter.) Wait for new passengers. By this time, it's getting really hot. Someone drives up and asks us to take a water sample on the plane to deliver to someone we don't know in Accra. He puts a large blue cooler on the plane.

11:00 a.m. Lero - Siguri
Load lots of heavy luggage again. Sweat some more. (It's even hotter and more humid now. I always conveniently found a place in the shade to stand or sit but made sure I didn't do any type of strenuous work.) Load passengers. Do passenger briefing. Fly back to Siguri. Wait 20 min.

12:00 a.m. Siguri - Accra
Have new passengers stamp out of the country. Agree to deliver more mail to someone else in Accra. Agree to buy the commandant of the airport his favorite drinks in Accra and bring them back the next day. Load passengers back up. Fly to Accra. While flying, eat cold pizza that was ordered at 5:30 a.m. from Sadiola. Land at 3:00 p.m. Unload luggage. Call the fuelers. Wait. Check to make sure fuel is clean. Wait. Sign fuelers' paperwork. Pay in cash. Get to hotel around 4:00 p.m.

I have no idea how the pilots remember what they are supposed to deliver to who, pay all the right fees, shop for the right people, and do all their flight plans. I think I would loose half of the money, mail, flight plans, passenger manifests, and luggage that was entrusted to me! And this day was uneventful compared to some. Other trips entail paying landing fees, having several people ask you for money, and talking your way through customs.

On Saturday, we did a similar trip in reverse. But with 2 LESS legs: Accra-Siguri-Lero-Bamako.

Ricci landing one of the BE 1900's in Lero.

Accra, Ghana and Ice Cream

I got to go on an overnight trip with Briant to Accra, Ghana on the coast of West Africa. The weather is more tropical in Ghana and the people speak English. I found Accra to be beautiful and realized all of the nice things that I had always taken for granted until this year.

As we approached the capital, I couldn't stop staring out the the plane window. I first noticed the houses. Nice, big, painted houses. And LOTS of them! Then I stared at the roads. Straight, paved, multi-lane roads. Some that actually looked like real highways!

Once we landed and were driving to our hotel, I continued to stare. The roads were smooth.
There were lines painted on them, marking off the different lanes. Drivers usually stopped when expected to stop. And there was grass. Like whole fields of grass! I hadn't seen that since last Summer's rainy season.

AND THEN... we went to a grocery store. It seemed HUGE to me. And was so clean! I didn't feel like I had to buy anything. I just wanted to walk around and stare some more. So, with all the choices we had in this grocery store, what DID we buy? A carton of orange juice, gum, and a magnum ice cream bar which we split. We THOROUGHLY enjoyed all three things.

I never knew how happy a simple ice cream bar could make me!