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When we went to Nairobi last time we flew...AIM Air needed the Gatab airplane during the week we were in Nairobi. The DC-3 was going from Nairobi to Sedar (near Kurungu, just south of us at Gatab) empty to pick up folks, so Jim Streit our general manager, offered to put some freight on the DC-3 for us. Seven flats of juice (84 liters) 20 liters of cooking oil, 10 kg canned dog food, 100 kg dry dog food, 20 two liter bottles of soda, and a few other things... Also by the time the DC-3 left Nairobi it had the Middletons and the Maples on board for Kurungu, and the Hamptons, to go to Kalacha, and all of their things. So from empty to 3 1/2 tons of people and cargo. Wow.

Nairobi was EXPENSIVE! We had alot of things to get, and when you're shopping for nearly 3 months, the bills get largish. There were groceries, of course, plus 2 solar panels, and some tools, and some car parts and .... you get the idea.

Then it was time to go. Somehow we had to get all these groceries, plus me, Susan, Alex, Beth, and Samantha into the airplane....

That's one of 3 such carts, that Alex is tugging into the hangar.

Samantha amused herself while we were loading by playing peek-a-book over a pile of groceries and cargo.

Then of course came, 'Will it all fit?' 'Of course it will.' It took some doing, but it did.

Just Stuff

It's quiet here at Gatab just now. The Kenyan schools are on break between terms, so all the children at Haven Home have gone home to their families. The weather has been very dry. We've had no rain since mid-July, and that was a one day event. So...the baboons are back in the garden, plus a porcupine that comes in the night to nibble the vegetables.

The fence around the airfield is nearing completion. We're about 2/3 done. It's already starting to have an effect, too. Lots less critters on the airstrip. This is good. MAF (mission aviation fellowship) just had an incident at Mfangano Island (a Kenyan island in Lake Victoria) due to people and animals on the airstrip. I've been to Mfangano Island. The people there use the runway as a main road, and seem to delight in playing chicken with the airplane...how slow can I go and still get off the runway in time seems to be the game. Not one of my favorite airstrips. Anyway, the MAF pilot was turning the airplane around at the end of the runway, saw some goats run past, said 'oh well, diced goat' then saw the herd boys coming (on the side the plane was turning to) and put the airplane into the ditch next to the runway rather than dice the herdboys. Good decision, but it's probably about $200,000 worth of damage to the C-208. This is why I'm building the fence here at Gatab, since that sort of incident ranks high on my nightmare list.

Alex, Beth and Samantha are in the middle of home-school. It's going well so far. Alex is enjoying the science experiments. All of them enjoy the reading. We're using the Sonlight curriculum which is reading based rather than text book based (though they do have math and science texts). Susan is doing well with it...it hasn't driven her crazy yet, anyway!

No flying this morning...we're fogged in. Gatab looks alot like the popular image of London at the moment...misty and grey and you can see about 100 yards is all. This is good as it means water put into the ground as the fog condenses on the trees and bushes.