Kuifje in Afrika part II
Because this website is full (only 20Mb on it) I have created a second website, and I think I'll have to create a 3rd one so i'll have one for tanzania, one for chad, and one for burkina.

There's a link in hte menu to the right, you can also click here:
http://kuifjechad.tripod.com/chad
See you!

Back home
OK, we're done here- almost. Ed and guy stay for the weekend, Meriam, Nick and I fly back home. At the airport, after some discussion and a small fee we can wait in the businessclass lounge, even though we don't fly businessclass. Nice snacks. I'm hungry, because at dinner I had accidentally ordered seafood. On the flight there are a lot of angry people: because of some change in schedule, the crew had to rest in order not to violate regulations, so they had to reserve business class seats for themselves. Due to some misunderstanding this resulted in two glasses of champaign for me, which is probably the reason I slept like a baby. Arrival on saturdaymorning at schiphol. It's cold!

   
Dar, the flight back

Also: this blog is full: follow the second part at this address:
kuifje in afrika part II: chad

Don't forget to bookmark, and drop a few comments!

so how was your weekend
Well, not bad actually.

Saturday morning we worked at the office, to get us back on schedule. Around 1.30 we left for the hotel, and then off to do some diving, Ed and me that is.

Closeby Zanzibar really is the place for that. What you do is, you take a flight on friday afternoon, just 15 minutes or so, do some diving on the saturday, and return on sunday (you can't fly within 24 hours after diving). But we couldn't do that because we had to work on the saturday. That was ok by me, it was too much hassle for my taste anyway. There was a good alternative, not for the diving connaisseurs maybe, in the white sands hotel, to the north of Dar-es-Salaam.

Since this was my first time, and Ed's second time, we did a pool instruction on the saturday, and actual diving on the sunday. In the pool they teach you the signals, how to use your gear, clear your mask, practise some emergencies, and how you can go up and down just by controlling your breath.

After this instruction I stayed at the white sands. How very very cliche: sipping cocktails under a canopy, on a white beach overlooking the ocean with a view on some tropical islands, beneath the palms, some carribean music. I love it! It would have been perfect had the indian ocean not been on the wrong side of africa: no ocean sunset!

Next day: the real thing! With a group of around 8 (including Meriam who is an experienced diver), we pick up and adjust our gear, get in the boat, and off we go! After a sunny and bumpy ride of about 30 min. We stop somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Put on our gear and ... off we go. Air pressure is 200 bar. Depth is around 12m, visibility excellent. On the way down, my ears hurt from time to time, but Joseph, our instructor had warned me about that. It just means you have to go back up a little, blow your nose, and wait a little. Nothing to be afraid of.

Down under, nothing but peace and quiet. Lots and lots of fish: a.o. squid, manray, murene, doctorfish (ATOS!). No sharks, no dolphins, no whales. Breathe in, ... going up, breathe out, ... going down. Careful not to touch the coral. As instructed, when my air pressure was down to 50 bar, I signal the instructor, and we slowly go up again. Of course I was the first to run out of air, because as a novice I did not use my air as efficiently as the others. But apparently I hadn't done too bad. Quickly after surfacing, the zodiac picked us up. While waiting for the other group there was still time for a swim. In the middle of the ocean! Great!

The rest of the day we just lingered on the beach, like the day before. Not very original, but I could get used to it anyway.

                 
diving at the white sands hotel

At the office

             
at the office

Now let me get one thing straight: this is not a holiday. We are here to get the job done, in an unfamiliar environment, and we're on a pretty tight schedule. Because the previous night we arrived late from the airport (and much much later from the bar), we start at 9 o'clock today, but the other days we will start at 8 o'clock and finish at 6,7, or 8.

The first thing we do upon arrivel is set-up shop in the conference room we can permanently use. This is going to be our HQ for the coming two weeks.

First thing we need to do is get online, and connected to the database. All kinds of people walk in with bits and pieces of our shopping list: network cables, beamer, connections, coffee, badges, flip-over, hot water, cold water, instant coffee, cups, printer (well actually we still haven't got the printer). The sheer size of the database makes it a challenge to get it over the network on Guy's laptop. The download takes 4 hours, but 30 minutes before the end, the server fails, and we start all over again. Then I had my "clear all" moment, when I accidentally disconnected the router over which the database was to be sent. This puts us somewhat behind schedule, annd we have so little time to make up for it.

Here's how it works in this first week: from the earlier implementations we know what information we need and from whom. Every day the local team and us have a design meeting, where we discuss this information topic by topic, and how we are going to deal with it. Between those meetings we process the information we received, sometimes massive amount of it, making it suitable for the new system. Between meetings we discuss one-on-one with the information owners how to interpret certain things, or how to deal with unexpectes issues. From that we make a proposal, and discuss it in the next design meeting. At the end of this week we should be ready to implement a test system, and we almost are. But almost isn't good enough, so we put in the odd saturday morning to get us back on schedule.

change of plans
On check-in I had a nasty surprise: the check-in machines didn't accept my reservation. Reason: I was being put on stand-by. Luckily there turned out to be a seat for me after all, and we had a good flight. Also the visa was not problem. You see, everything turns out alright.


We're not staying at the seacliff hotel (see below) which was full, but instead at the coral beach hotel.


                   
the coral beach hotel


It is smaller, and has less amenities such as shops and restaurants, but it has a great view, a lovely pool, a sand beach, and apparently the rooms are much better than the sea cliff. So we stay here for the time being.

We were picked up at the airport by a friendly and charming welcome committee of the hotel, around 00.30. "just a quick dip in the pool, and one small beer". Yeah right. Didn't sleep a wink.

P.S. Keep posting those comments!

et c'est parti! saturday night at Ibis schiphol
Checked into the ibis yesterday, saturday, had a look at schiphol. I hate Schiphol, it has no atmosphere whatsoever. It's like being everywhere and nowhere. And it was snowing too!


     
c'est parti

I slept well, had a good breakfast: the flight will be more than 10 hours, and you never know what you're going to get and when.

I'll meet Ed and Meriam around 9.00 when checking in. Need to get 50USD for my Tanzania visa. I am also supposed to bring two passphotos. I had given two of them, but apparently they have been sent to the wrong guy and are now in Congo, but they say it's not a problem anyway. Well, we will see.

lonely planet links
Here are some interesting links to lonely planet:
tanzania
chad
burkina faso

As for events, apparently we miss the wildebeest migration in Tanzania, which starts in April, there aren't any events in Chad except more-or-less illegal alcohol sales on Sundays. In Burkina Faso, we would have been just in time for La Semaine Nationale de la Culture, if only 2005 would have been an even year.

All according to Lonely Planet of course

Travel details Tanzania are known
We will leave for DAR ES SALAAM from schiphol, feb 13th with KL 567, departure 1050, arrival 2320

returnflight to schiphol on feb 26th with KL 569 departure 0030 arrival 0805

check out the hotel:
Sea cliff hotel

Welcome
Welcome to my blog.
You can read and post comments through the "post comment" hyperlink on this page. I'd really like that! Or you can drop me an e-mail on my regular address.
Say, who's the handsome guy behind the wheel!