November 18: Day 7. Abu Simbel>Dongola>Merowe, Sudan

After returning from the monument, we packed up and loaded the bus to the airport.  While getting our aircraft ready, we were delighted to see the Antonov on final approach! So nice to see it joining our flock after a few days of trying to catch up.  A rumor going around was that a British character named Maurice --a former veterinarian and current weaver of tales and over-the-edge flying adventures with his Piper Super Cub ---was close to arrival here.  His status was "Late Arrival" as he had registered to be a rally participant but was somehow not around when the rally started.  For those on the rally who personally know him well, this behavior is not unusual.  Maurice has a checkered past.

In one of his earlier Super Cubs,

he flew out around the Caribbean and planned an uninvited stopover at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to say "Hi".  He knew this required certain clearances beyond a desire to be sociable, so decided to make his stop appear to be an emergency landing.  His plan was to release just enough oil from his oil reservoir to make it too dangerous to do anything but land at Guantanamo.  Unfortunately, he let too much go and actually had to ditch in the Caribbean.  He floated around for 4 hours until he was rescued by the Navy and taken to the navy base. He had some explaining to do. One of his many skills is that he's quite a talker and can explain his way out of many situations.

Some time later, --not sure if it was months or a few years -- in another Super Cub, he decided to make an unannounced visit to a certain ranch in Crawford, Texas.  He landed at President G.W. Bush's estate and was promptly surrounded by Secret Service who held him in custody.  He claimed he had dropped in to share with the president his appreciation for everything the US Navy had done for him at Guantanamo.  He was incarcerated, tested for drugs, terrorism links etc and found to be clean.  He was supposedly then held in a psychiatric facility and observed for a little over 3 weeks and was found to not be insane, just eccentric.

In earlier exploits, Maurice has flown around the Pacific in his Super Cub to locations I'm not clear about.  I do know that he made an emergency landing on a street in some city in Japan.  Emergency landings are a hobby with him, apparently.

So now there was word that he might be catching up to us as well.  We had been sitting in our aircraft, engines running, waiting for taxi clearance for 22 minutes.  If Maurice actually did show up, he would need gas also.  No definitive word came through that he was actually anywhere near.  We needed to get to Merowe before dark. We finally got our clearance to taxi and so began to roll only to be stopped and told to "hold" for a total of  20 minutes after a couple of starts and stops.  General aviation flying in Africa is not what it is in the States. By 1148, we were on our way to Dongola, Sudan for a refueling stop followed by a second leg to our destination of Merowe - a historic region of north Sudan where Nubian history is rich and varied.

At Dongola, a small airport with a long, single runway, Sudanese airport officials and the mayor of Dongola greeted us warmly.  "Welcome to Sudan!  We are so happy to see you!"  We had been hearing this kind of sentiment since our arrival at Mersa Matrouh.  It made us feel good after a couple of hours bucking head winds and light turbulence.  The mayor wearing a white turban and long white robe was a very dignified elder and loved having his picture taken with us.  Children of some privileged staffers came to greet us also.

After much to do with immigration forms and making copies of all our passports and determining  the types of visas needed for the different nationalities, we decided we had to leave for Merowe without further ado.  The officials said we could go and that the Caravan crew would stay to collect all our passports and return them to us in Merowe.

The flight was spectacular. In Sudan, VFR flying is essentially at any altitude you want so we did some amazing low level flying across an expanse of dunes, rock outcrops, the odd evergreen shrub tree, and a camel caravan. The Stampe, Travel Airs, the Pipistrael. and one of the helicopters made up our group.  The air was calm and we had so much fun diving, climbing, and soaring straight and level a hundred feet above the desert talking to each other on the "chat" radio frequency 123.475.  Dusk was coming and the color of the sky became amazing.

                      The Antonov. The crew: Mike and his wife Colleen, and Martin and his wife Julia. All from the UK.  Martin owns the plane which is Russian made and purchased in Poland.

The mayor of Dongola and an aide greet us after we climbed out of our plane. It was very hot there. I dress in layers as flying in an open cockpit plane at some altitudes can get chilly despite what's happening on Terra Firma.  My "look" is the very latest: (don't need to describe the first layers). Layer 3 is khaki coveralls with loads of zip pockets - very necessary--, neck scarf, lace up boots, and fanny pack purse to keep sunscreen, pens, lip balm, and passport.

Nick inviting some happy siblings to sit in 'Smuggler'.  This is Nick at his happiest.  He truly loves sharing experiences with children.

                   Brothers rate their experience with smiles and thumbs up. Extended
                   family members are appreciative too.

                                                             Routing to Merowe

Low flying over dunes on way to Merowe.

These sands have a living history that has impacted travelers of exploration, exploitation, and expansion.  The desert for millennia has treated them all equally. It has never suffered fools lightly.

The Stampe and  friends Cedric and Alexandra. over the Nubian desert at our 4 O'clock position.