Flying in Africa

[jafo20]

Power:

Do the Nigerians keep their electricity running constantly, or are there frequent blackouts, like in other African nations? I just assumed power was intermittent, but they do have a lot of oil to fuel their plants.

 

[dhc8drvr]

ONE YEAR!!!!!!! My 48hr layover in Lagos seems pleasantly short now, thank you..

T-mobile, Cingular, Vodafone all work in Lagos and PHC, but it's like $4.99/min!

Communications (ATC) are terrible, they are more concerned about your registartion mark and souls on board than the 747 thats climbing through your alititude. It's an adventure every day.

Oh, and worst of all, Star beer sucks.........

 

[dhc8drvr]

Frequent blackouts, but usually short lived. According to the local papers it is their top priority to get the the national grid up to speed. It really is a screwed up place.

 

[Piper877]

Well, it looks like Nigeria might be on the upswing:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4926966.stm

Supposedly paying off almost all their debt to the outside world could open the path of investing in infrastructure and perhaps some social programs to help out the extremely poor in that country that live on a dollar a day. The only catch is that the current President's term runs out in the not too distant future.

In short, things may get better, but the country's in, and going to be in at least the near term, in turmoil. Definitely an oil-rich country, but also one of the most corrupt.

 

[b19]

You will be completely on your own. ATC can be downright scary. Do you have one of those medical insurance plans to get your ass out of country ? You had better have all your shots, about $900.00.

Always, always, always, offset to the right on airways, and maybe even cheat the altitude up or down by a little. Read the bottom of the page on the Africa chart and make all position reports (a slightly different format than pta ptp), it is the only thing helping with separation.

I have been there a number of times and would not recomend it, but don't take my word, read what the State Department has to say.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

All great advice. For all practical purposes, you are completely on your own in that area of the world. Unless it is CAVOK, NEVER descend off airway, deviate right of course, report your position on common, etc...

Once on the ground and depending where you go, risk and danger only increase exponentially. What we call "bribery" is an ingrained societal norm and little will occur without it. Get very used to staring at the barrel of an automatic weapon and depending upon the neighborhood (surrounding countries) your business takes you I'd liken it to driving an ice cream truck at 0200 in South Central LA screaming the "n" word ... I don't run for pleasure but the BBB can set a world record pace when being chased by gangs of machete-wielding gentlemen ... as I found out one evening.

Good luck Toto ... you're definitely not in Kansas any more!

BBB

 

[JohnnyP]

....

Yeah. I was reading the reports put out by the State Dept. and the security situation there is a total mess. That's why I want as much info from people who have been over there as I can get.

Your comments have been very helpful and I appreciate them. The trick now is how to figure out which security companies I can trust and what driver is actually going to take me to the airport. Hopefully, company can hook me up with someone friendly on the ground in Abuja to babysit me 'til I know the "lay of the land".

Again, thanks for the help.

Is your company not going to assist you with housing, drivers, house staff, etc? Id feel pretty lonely if I had to go to Nigeria, then on top of that locate my own housing and staff, etc. Hopefully they will provide this for you.

 

[Huck]

I'd liken it to driving an ice cream truck at 0200 in South Central LA screaming the "n" word ....

Thanks for that laugh, man.

Offset always, don't accept vectors, slow down early. The Lagos airport is not safe at night - friend of mine was held up at gunpoint one night on the cargo ramp. By a security guard.

I heard a folktale about a Springbok 747 that was taxiing out in Lagos one night. They came up on a telephone pole lying across the taxiway. As they pulled to a stop, they saw the cargo door lights pop on....

 

[b19]

He is absolutely right about slow down early, it is fairly common to wait 50-60 miles or longer to get someone ( control or approach) to answer the friggin radio to allow for a descent, in other words include incompetence in your descent plan. Also absolutely never ever trust ground guidance and wing walkers they will marshall you into other planes etc. And in some places it is much safer to sleep on board, waiting for maintenance to fix the problem, than to risk the drive to the hotel and back. And when you get to Lagos you will see an old 747 missing an engine and a gear truck.... approach forget to tell them the runway was closed for construction after clearing them to land on it.

 

[Publishers]

I took six pilots over for a one year contract. Within the third month, I was spending my time trying to help thm escape the country. Again, without any real phones.
Now you can take your fancy sat phone or other hi tech devices, however, your chances of keeping them on from the time you get there to the time you use them is about 80-20 against you.
I found that alcohol consumption was very key to having an enjoyable stay but then again I was not flying anything -- well except for that one commercial flight the captain asked me to try it--- so drinking was not a problem.
Any of you familiar with the game --nuts ro noggins. This is bar betting on whether the next object floating by was a nut or someones noggin. Insiders always bet on the noggin.
It is also easy to get a hold of the police when you are being robbed, they are the ones robbing you.
The really good thing about someone pointing a gun at you is that most of the people who would do that cannot afford the bullets to go in the gun.
As in most countries, you can find some really good Chinese food here. I would suggest that as your chances of living through your stay increase proportionately.
Have a great stay -- and the beer is not that bad-- it has an alcohol content of like 10%.