Observations: Entebbe to Beni via Bunia

The inn driver takes me to the Entebbe airport 3 hours before departure, as instructed by Mr. Charles of TMK (the Congo airline). A line of Bangladeshi UN soldiers is checking in perhaps heading home after their tour of duty?

There are three security checks, an immigration booth and final passport and ticket check before the plane. We are a group of 16 civilian passengers on a small prop. Luggage is stowed in the cabin, and takes up two rows of seats at the back. We passengers fill the remaining seats. The pilot and co-pilot are completely accessible. The cockpit is open, and the pilot turns around to greet and give instructions He is gregarious, and even speaks directly to the passenger sitting behind him during the flight. Occasionally he leans his arm against the windowsill. I want him to take this flying job more seriously.

I sit beside a handsome, older (he's probably younger than me) gentleman with a dignified yet gracious bearing. He had provided me assistance navigating the check-in procedure. I hope he might guide me through maneuvers in Bunia (our first landing in Congo).

We wait on the plane for perhaps 10 minutes before taking off. The heat builds inside the cabin. The air vents are unwilling or unable to provide relief. Our pilot rests his arm out his window. What relief (physically and emotionally) when air begins to pour out once we're airborne.

For the first 15-20 minutes of the flight I pay attention to the landscape below: first broad Lake Victoria, then the plains and hills, green and lush, sprinkled here and there with a thread of red road.

Bunia is our point of entry in Congo. I struggle to find words to describe the scene. (finish later)