The Book is Published!

I finally published the book version of this blog (with a lot more information and editing) on Amazon!

The book is available as both a paperback and a kindle version.  Its also in the Kindle Lending Library program if you want to read it for free.

The whole process took six years with editing, rewriting, work, getting permission from AFRICOM and the Pentagon to publish, as well as the process of searching for a publisher with all the submissions and waiting for responses.

A big thank you to my good friend Rick for editing every chapter in the book and providing invaluable feedback.  Please let me know what you think!

Missing Saharan Sunsets

African Holiday Crisis of 2016?

It seems that every year there is some kind of holiday crisis (Cote d'Ivoire 2011, Mali 2012, South Sudan 2013, Ebola 2014, Burundi 2015) and this year there are three main contenders: the Gambia, Ghana, and the DRC.  All three contenders held recent elections or were supposed to hold election.  

In the Gambia on 1 December 2016 incumbent Yahya Jammeh lost to opposition candidate Adama Barrow.  Although he originally conceded the election, Jammeh has refused to accept the loss and is attempting to have the results thrown out and schedule another election.  The Gambian supreme court is scheduled to hear the case on 10 Jan 2017 but Adama Barrow plans on holding his inauguration regardless of the court hearing.

The 7 Dec 2016 election in Ghana passed peacefully with Nana Akuffo-Addo of the opposition winning the presidency in the first round and defeating incumbent President John Mahama.  Mahama has promised to hand over power peacefully and accept the election results, averting a crisis in this stable oasis inWest Africa.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was scheduled to hold elections on 19 Dec 2016 but the President unilaterally postponed elections until April 2018 in order to allow for "voter registration."  Opposition groups have protested but a heavy police and military presence across the country have arrested opposition leaders and detained, beaten, and killed protesters.

The winner for the African Holiday Crisis for 2016 is likely to DRC as protests continue to escalate.  The Gambia would be a contender as well if demonstrations escalated or if Jammeh was to arrest or kill the newly elected president.  However, the Gambia usually receives little international attention and few countries outside of ECOWAS are likely to get involved.

Djibouti Trip

Seven weeks after leaving Chad I was back in Africa again, spending a week in Djibouti.  Last time I visited Djibouti was in 2011 and the highlight of the trip was snorkeling with whale sharks in northern Djibouti.  This time in Djibouti it was all work.

I noticed a number of positive changes in the city such as the addition of solar powered traffic lights and more paved roads.  For the most part the people seemed to obey the traffic lights and police and/or gendarmes were around to enforce the rules.

Some things haven't changed, like getting haircuts by the canal or khat stands throughout the city and in every village in the countryside.

I spent some time visiting projects in the hills outside Djibouti where huge hills and ravines were covered with black volcanic rocks the size of bowling balls.

The port facilities continue to improve, I just wish I had more time to spend at the beach (or with whale sharks!).

 I was glad I had an interpreter with me for this trip as very few of the Djiboutians that I met with spoke in pure French.  Most spoke in Somali or in a Somali-French hybrid.  However, the people that spoke English only wanted to practice their English.

I'm looking forward to visiting again soon!

Book Review: The Pirates of Somalia

The Pirates of Somalia: Inside their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur (2011)

To write this book about the inside world of the Puntland pirates Jay Bahadur traveled to Somalia and with great luck managed to make friends with former pirates and succeeded in returning alive to tell his story.*  Patience and a lot of khat, the tree leaves chewed in the region for its narcotic properties, allowed Jay to get pirates to tell their stories.  Surprisingly the pirates personal stories don't match the tales in the media of pirate mansions and freely flowing money.

In seeking to verify the media reports Jay Bahadur interviewed several pirates, victims, pirate associates, and villagers in the pirate areas.  In the end, Jay discovered that the pirate haven of Eyl was poor and there were no pirate mansions.  The people also claimed to be anti-pirate and wanted them to leave the area.  The former pirates all seemed to be broke and an accounting of ransom payments and the expenses of a hijacking verified that piracy didn't pay any better than a minimum wage job in the region.  However, the pirate sponsors made a lot of money.

Jay also described the three waves of piracy in Somali waters, where the first group were legitimate fisherman fighting against foreign fishing vessels which had destroyed local fisheries.  The second group of pirates started when the original fisherman weren't able to fight the foreign fishing boats (due to up arming of the foreign boats) but they found the cargo vessels transiting Somali waters to be easy targets.  The third wave transpired when Somali inlanders heard about the record ransoms for the hijacked boats and decided to get into the piracy business.  This third wave began to turn piracy into a business enterprise with motherships and speed boats that ventured hundreds of miles from Somali territorial waters to prey on big boats in the commercial shipping lanes.

An interesting point in the book is that many pirates were former members of various defunct coast guard operations designed to fight foreign fishing boats or pirates.  These coast guards learned advanced maritime operations, how to navigate at sea at distances far from shore, marksmanship, and how to coordinate attacks.  When the government of Puntland stopped paying the coast guards they turned to piracy themselves.

At the end of the book the author made several recommendations to combat the Somali piracy issue:
1. Finance an effective and well-paid Puntland Police Task Force
2. Fund an expansion of the Puntland prison system (to hold captured pirates)
3. Foster intelligence coordination between Puntland and international naval forces
4. Clamp down on illegal fishing
5. Encourage or require passive security measures abroad

The author correctly concludes by stating that the problem of piracy or land-based kidnapping for ransom in the region won't stop until the underlying issues of scarce resources is addressed. The above recommendations will help with resolving the immediate problem of piracy but addressing conflict and competition for scarce resources may never be resolved given the cultural and physical environment in Somalia.



*American journalist Michael Scott Moore wasn't as lucky as Jay Bahadur as he was kidnapped by Somali pirates while conducting research for a book on piracy in January 2012.

Ebola Issues

The Ebola epidemic in Africa is about to get a lot worse thanks to the assault on a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia on 16 August 2014 where 17 Ebola patients were liberated along with their bedsheets and other Ebola contaminated items.  These patients were hand carried from the hospital and out in the general community for a couple days coming into contact with many others as their "liberators" didn't believe in Ebola.  As most people get around Liberia on mototaxi or crowded minibuses, many may have come into physical contact with the infected patients.  This close contact with others will allow the virus to spread rapidly and people may not know they were exposed.

Ebola is a virus that is spread through contact with fluids of an infected person and has an incubation period of 2 to 21 days.  Ebola kills 90% of people infected with the virus and does not currently have a vaccine.  An experimental drug has been used successfully in some cases but the supply is limited and knowledge of the side effects and associated complications are not fully known.

In the Liberian case the Ebola patients were moved around the densely populated city of Monrovia (estimated population of 750,000 in 2011) and possibly into the countryside as the liberators sought out traditional healers to cure the sick.  So far more than 400 deaths have been attributed to Ebola in Liberia but many may be unreported in the interior away from modern medical treatment centers.

Its possible that the Ebola patients may have also been moved away from the city along traditional trafficking routes towards Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, or Sierra Leone.  The borders throughout the region are extremely porous with people moving freely into Sierra Leone on many routes that avoid official checkpoints.  Given the incubation period of 2 to 21 days its possible that people are already enroute to areas that haven't been warned about Ebola and are currently reporting no issues.

Countries may also be underreporting Ebola incidents after the example of the treatment of Liberia and Sierra Leone by the international community.  Major airlines have cut off service to the affected countries and tourism has come to a stop.  As neighboring countries have sealed their borders trade has also halted and scarce supplies and food are becoming impossible to find.

The next phase of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia will explode around 6 September (21 days after the hospital escape) and may linger longer if the government claims of having recaptured all the infected patients isn't true.  The current Ebola outbreak is the deadliest in history with over 1200 killed since December 2013 and an estimated 2,200 infected.

Zakouma National Park

A couple months ago I drove 11 hours to Zakouma National Park in southern Chad and spent a couple days driving around the park and looking for elephants.  The scenery was great traveling to the park but it is so remote that there are no local cell towers and your phones won't work.  Ten years ago there were around 4000 elephants in the park but now there are less than 400 due to poaching.

Tinga Lodge for dining or relaxing

Tinga Huts

We stayed at the Tinga lodge in cloverleaf huts and had great lunches and dinners and decent breakfasts.  The rooms had private baths and screened windows, mosquito nets, and ceiling fans.  Even though I was there during the hot season in March it wasn't uncomfortable to sleep, even when the generator failed for a couple hours one night.

 There seemed to be more water buffalos than anything else in else.  During an evening game drive we ran across a huge herd of hundreds of water buffalos on a grassy plain.  Considered one of the more dangerous animals in the park, the water buffalos seemed ready to charge every time we stopped to take a picture.

We spent hours driving around the park looking for elephants checking out spots where they are usually found along the river but all we found there were crocodiles enjoying the sun.

We found a variety of other animals including groups of giraffes, baboons, and vultures.  The vultures reminded me of the ones from the old animated Jungle Book movie, even though that movie was set in Asia.

Even though we didn't find any elephants after days scouring the park we did run into a couple groups of lions.  Monkeys were normally everywhere in the park and accompanied by the loud sounds from other animals but where we found these lions enjoying the sun it was quiet and calm.  We got within 10 meters of these lions and the guide explained that the lions weren't interested in us because they were full from eating all the former monkey residents of the area.

As we left the park early on our last day at dawn we ran into another group of lions looking for breakfast near Tinga lodge.  Some monkeys were walking along with the lions about 100meters away making lots of noise to let all the other monkeys know that lions were coming.

If you are in Chad and you notice any poaching or people hassling elephants please call the numbers on this sign to alert the authorities.  The elephants aren't confined to the park and there are no real fences around the park to keep the animals in or poachers out.  Elephants can range all over southern Chad and there are several groups outside of the relatively safe borders of the park.

Le Braconage= Poaching

In April and May 2014 the US did provide training to 100 rangers from the Chadian Anti-Poaching Brigade at Zakouma National Park.  The US trained rangers will support the Zakouma park rangers and Nomadic Guard when they run into heavily armed poachers.  In 2012 heavily armed Sudanese poachers used truck-mounted heavy machine guns and RPGs to slaughter elephants in Zakouma.  Later they attacked and killed several park rangers.  Poachers remain a serious threat to elephants and other animals in the park and the high value of ivory is motivating criminal and insurgent groups to kill animals for the money to support their other activities.  At the rate elephants are being massacred, if more isn't done none will be left in Chad.

Elephant Rock

Two hours north N'Djamena is a cool rock formation known as "Elephant Rock."  The road to the rock formations is paved to the quarry but at that point you have to drop into 4-LOW for the deep sand to the base of the rock formations.  The rock shapes and fractures remind me of volcanic rocks in the US like Devil's Tower in Wyoming or other places in Idaho.

I camped out at the rock three years ago on my first trip to Chad and it was great to finally get back to the rock.  The only difference that I could see was that the quarry located next to the rock formations had expanded and had started to extract rock closer to the Elephant.  If I end up staying in Chad much longer I may have to bring my ropes and climbing gear to get on top of the elephant!

All the kids and eventually many of the adults from a local village came to check out the Americans climbing up to the rock.  A group of kids that spoke decent French adopted us and one became my guide and helped me climb up and down the rock by pointing out the best route and routes to avoid.  Turns out that the wide cracks that I would usually ascend are used by many of the locals at toilets as (of course) none of the locals had toilets or running water.

Our guides coming from their village

As we were climbing into our vehicles for the ride back to N'Djamena giant herd of cattle passed by the base of the rocks.  They went straight to the shade of the thorn trees for some relief from the warm 40*C day.  The cattle were herded by nomads on camelback who at noon were also in the shade of nearby trees.  Not much happens in the heat of day during the hot season in Chad.

Return of Bozize? A Question of Sovereignty

Self-proclaimed President Djotodia has now left office leaving the world to wonder who should take over until elections can be held later in 2014.  One answer is the deposed former President François Bozize.  Although Bozize came to power through a coup in 2003, he won elections in 2005 and 2011 and was the presiding over the country until he fled rebels in March of 2013.  Seeing that the job is vacant again and he was the last one elected and recognized as the leader of the Central African Republic, shouldn’t he be restored to his position?

The selection of the next leader of CAR is a decision that will upset some group or another in a country that has been destroyed by violence.  Former Seleka rebels may increase attacks on peacekeeping troops as their former Chief is no longer in charge, but they were already fighting peacekeepers.  There are more security forces in CAR now than any other time in recent history and more are preparing to enter the fray so they should be able to handle rebel fighters.  The bottom line is that even if some other person was selected to be the transitional leader there will be opposition. 

Is the international community enforcing the idea that the quality of a sovereign leader should determine if they stay in power?  In that case leaders from many different countries should be deposed and new leaders selected.  Bozize may not have been the most capable or effective leader for his country but he was internationally recognized as the sovereign.

Where have all the trees gone?

In many African capitals the ancient trees that once shaded colonial boulevards are being cut down, often for stated "safety" reasons, but usually the easy answer is not the true answer.  As recent conflicts in Africa demonstrate, the national government doesn't have to control the entire country to be the internationally recognized head of state, just the capital.  In many places the national government doesn't really try to govern border regions.  However, the capital is sacred and must be protected at all costs in order to preserve the head of state.  In the Central African Republic a "red-line" was drawn to keep the Seleka rebel coalition out of the capital, but the rest of the country was left at the mercy of the rebels.

Often roads are intentionally left in poor condition to slow the advance of rebels towards the capital so the military would have more time to react.  Checkpoints line the roads to the capital and slow movement.  In the cities, trees are cut down that could potentially hide snipers or provide protection from rebel troops.  Trees along the road also can limit the maneuverability of tanks and other armored vehicles.  The leafy green foliage that keeps the dust and temperatures down in the concrete jungle also obscures people on the ground from hovering attack helicopters.

With advances in air conditioning in vehicles and buildings its less essential for the more fortunate to have trees.  The more fortunate also have generators to power the climatized spaces so electricity isn't a problem.  Unfortunately, in the places where the trees are cut down the general population usually don't have access to affordable reliable electricity.  But if the leader only sees his people from behind bulletproof glass does he care?

Kiliss: Chadian Street Food

Kiliss: A Chadian Specialty

Today while we were running errands around town my co-worker spent 4,000 CFA (roughly $8 USD) and bought us a couple handfuls of what he called a traditional Chadian food: Kiliss.  What we got handed to us wrapped up in a folded up rough brown paper (like a paper grocery bag back in the US) was a red coated meat and a couple slices of onion.  My coworker said it was some kind of meat that was dried in the sun and covered in ground red peppers.  The strolling vendor broke our meat off rigid long sheets of meat that he carried in a bucket on his head.  My coworker said it was good to eat Kiliss this time of year as the peppers and onions helped protect against the cold/flu that has been going around.  The expat community has been hit pretty hard lately with 15-20% unable to come to work.

The meat didn't have much flavor or if it did I couldn't taste it over the raw onion or the red peppers.  It was kinda chewy, like a beef jerky, and I couldn't stop eating it.  I kept coming back to it over and over again and by the end of the day I had eaten most of it (I also shared with my coworkers but most Americans were too afraid to try it).  I enjoy most Chadian foods, especially la boule (millet ball with a sauce) and usually eat my bowl of Chadian soup for breakfast each morning- today was beef in a tomato sauce with lots of peppers, veggies, and bit of extra piment.  We'll have to see how I feel in the morning to see if all the Kiliss I ate was a shock to my system!

Not found in Chad but a fond memory from my last trip to Germany

Germany Bound!

After 7 months straight in Chad I got to go on a trip to Germany for a conference!  Getting to Germany wasn't easy at all as my reservations for the direct flight from N'Djamena to Paris were deleted and I had to take the CamAir flight down to Douala to get a flight to Paris. Due to computer problems we had open seating all the way to Paris on completely full flights, so it was a free for all in getting onto the planes.

Unfortunately our CamAir arrived in Douala the same time as the Air France and Brussels flight and only one baggage carousel was working.  Naturally CamAir was the last to be circulated after an hour of watching other peoples baggage fall off the carousel in a packed hot humid room.  By the time by bag arrived I was completely sweat soaked and dehydrated.

Thankfully once I got past the vendors selling Eto'o jerseys there was an open breezeway where I could cool off.  As I was waiting for my flight to board I met a couple American doctors who had just wrapped up six-weeks volunteering in northern Cameroon.  They had fun stories of hanging out in the villages and the amazing diseases and problems they had only heard about in medical school or seen on the TV show "House."

Once aboard the flight to Paris and every seat was filled it was announced that there would be some minor delays, that ended up lasting two hours.  This delay in departure resulted in arriving in Paris two hours late and missing my connecting flight.  Once I got through another 45 min line to talk to the Air France representative about a new flight they informed me that they had no record of my next flight in the system, even though I had a copy of my tickets.

An hour later they finally straightened out my ticket and told me "we got you onto the next flight, but they have already started boarding.  If you can hurry, you can make it.  Don't worry about your checked bag, we will make sure it gets to Germany with you.  Your gate is just up the stairs and down the hallway." Down the hallway ended up being a 15 min scramble through the airport, up and down numerous stairs, and through two customs points.  I was almost the last one on the plane, but my bag didn't make it.

Upon arrival in Germany Air France called my name over the loudspeaker in baggage claim saying i needed to report to the representative.  The representative informed me that my bag didn't make the flight and they would forward it to me.  Again.  The last time I took Air France out of Germany my bag was lost between Paris and Germany and it took three days for them to deliver it to me.

The cool next part of my trip was taking the ICE train from the airport to Stuttgart and zipping along through the Germany countryside at 200km per hour.  The train was packed by Germans with suitcases and at every stop more got on.  It seems that the Germans were all going to Munich to celebrate the holiday weekend.

I really enjoyed the train ride through the countryside with the cool mist, green fields, and light breezes.  I am always amazed at how clean and organized Germany is, especially after extended periods on the continent.  I am so looking forward to the german food...

Back to Faya

Last night my friends flew into town again and offered me a quick trip to Faya since they had to deliver some equipment and had space for an extra passenger on their plane.  Of course I jumped at the chance to return to Faya and was on the ground for a couple hours this morning.

In the few weeks since my last visit the N'Djamena area appeared significantly less green from the air but Faya was still exactly the same- an oasis in the middle of orange sand dunes and baked mud plateaus.

While in Faya I was told of the gold rush in the nearby hills which had brought hundreds of people to the region and have rented all the locally available SUVs.  A lot of provisions were in short supply and needed to be brought in from N'Djamena by air. Near the center of town at a large spring 30-40 men were resupplying with water and washing clothes before heading back into the desert.  

 In the low dunes right outside of town we also saw herds of camels being loaded into trucks to be carried into Libya where they will be sold.  The trucks would back up to a sand dune and drop the tailgate so the camels could walk directly onto the truck avoiding the need for loading docks or ramps. Its interesting how camels are still traversing the centuries old caravan routes across the desert but now in the back of a truck.

 Some of the locals were also telling me stories of the nearby (250km away) lakes with hot springs or another 350km away with Nile crocodiles but nowhere near the Nile river.  They said if I had two weeks and would pay for the fuel they would take me to both lakes.  I wish I had the time and the money!

Anti-Poaching & the CGI

Its great that the Clinton Global Initiative wants to stop poaching in Africa.  I want it to stop too but it takes a lot of money, time, and effort especially as the poachers are often more motivated than the government troops sent to stop them.  For example, some of the poachers in Southern Chad/Central African Republic have been Sudanese military troops on leave who took their gun trucks with heavy machine guns and RPGs to hunt some elephants.  The also had radios and GPS units that allowed them to spread out and avoid the park police and local military units.  In some cases they killed the elephants with an RPG or chopped them up with their heavy guns.  

So will the Clinton plan train and equip troops and put them into battle with heavily armed poachers?  Will it provide air intelligence as in small-UAVs as despite being a dedicated and important asset in the fight against poaching, the Africa Parks Network of aircraft is a small force with limited assets and coverage? Perhaps they have deep pockets like the Clooney network and can provide satellite surveillance but once the poachers are detected can they action troops in a timely manner to catch the poachers in the act?  The areas where poachers operate are vast and the road networks are very poor.  In many places even on the roads you can only travel 30 miles per hour, cross country is much slower.  It will also be hard to distinguish from the air (or space) what is a poacher, rich farmer, local politician, NGO vehicle, or military truck.  Also in some areas the forest canopy is nearly impenetrable except by sophisticated sensors.

Many African military troops don’t get a lot of time on the range practicing their marksmanship.  Ammunition is expensive and a luxury that most regular army troops can’t afford.  Plus in many places ammunition is strictly controlled so the troops don’t run amok and try to seize power in a military coup d’etat.  Some militaries have GPS and high-tech radios but most units don’t have these expensive items, and again it is often in the best interest of the ruling powers to keep the military poorly equipped and untrained so they don’t become a threat to the state.  The units that get all the toys and funding are usually the ones most loyal to the head of state or assigned to protect the government.  

Some of the resources that will be needed will require new export licenses for the sharing of technology that is currently banned due to fears of abuses by the regimes.  For example certain weapons, aircraft, and night vision goggles are prohibited by Congress for export to many African nations.  If new toys are authorized for export or acquired from other sources it is not likely that the toys will end up in the hands of the anti-poaching forces but more likely in the hands of the elite presidential guard units.  Training up other units will upset the delicate political balance in the country where the power is centralized in order to protect the head of state.  If an outside power were to suddenly develop high tech capabilities, advanced marksmanship, and be able to maneuver they would become a legitimate threat to the state as they may be the most capable military unit in the country.

The actual troops that get committed to the fight will likely not be well trained, well armed, nor able to maneuver to engage the poachers.  In which case they will likely be slaughtered if they can find the poachers.  Many elite African military units don’t even have detailed maps of their country where they operate.  

Developing a military force in Africa is a very complex proposition especially in dealing with regional military forces that have basic capabilities.  Social, economic, and domestic as well as international political considerations need to be taken into account.  Everybody hates poaching and wants to do something about it and its easy to take a pledge or make a commitment and throw money at the problem.  There are plenty of people out there who are willing to take money and develop training programs.  However, many of these programs may only absorb cash and leave an ineffective program behind or immature forces that aren’t really prepared for the intended fight.  

The process of finding poachers in the act, relaying the message to troops on the ground, maneuvering them to engage and defeat the poachers is a highly complex challenge.  Given that these poachers operate in forested areas that cover thousands of square miles this mission to defeat poaching can be more difficult than tracking extremist fighters across the deserts of northern Africa.  The US, France, and other western powers have dedicated hundreds of millions in dollars and immense task forces to this mission and have achieved limited success even with using their sophisticated resources and highly trained forces.  

The CGI says it is taking a three-pronged approach to fighting poaching: stop the killing, stop the trafficking, and stopping the demand but I think stopping the killing may be the hardest thing to do.  The easier places to impact poaching is in the international transport/trafficking of the items as they leave the continent and when they arrive at their destination.  But then again, the global war on drugs isn't going so well either.  

Faya trip

I had a great 24-hour trip to Faya this past week and I wish I could have stayed longer.  Some friends that were going up there to check out the clinic invited me along as they had room on their private plane and I was lucky enough to be able to escape the office.

The first thing I noticed when we took off from N'Djamena was how green the region was.  The river was full and the neighborhoods were flooded, but it was so green- a huge change from when I arrived here in March.  Its hard to believe this is part of the Sahel desert.  Once we got out of the city we flew above a rain storm and the clouds extended until about 15 mins before we landed and the harsh Sahara desert landscape was revealed.  

The orange sand dunes looked soft but between the dunes was the crusty brown and white hard-pan ridges.  Faya, however was an oasis in the the desert.

My friends had arranged for some rental cars that drove us out into the desert and then around to an oasis that makes life possible in Faya.  

The groundwater in the city is only a meter-deep in most places and in some places it bubbles to the surface.  

The locals built small canals to channel the water to their date farms and gardens and a wide variety of local produce was available.  

After our tour of the desert we settled into a nice vila for the night and enjoyed stable electricity and the quiet of the desert (no generator noise!).  Our hosts slaughtered a goat for us and we stayed up late eating from the large platter side by side with our Chadian friends.  The next morning we had the rest of the goat for breakfast and I think it tasted better on the second day!

After breakfast we packed up our bug nets and sleeping pads and headed out for the obligatory courtesy call with the provincial governor before starting to talk to the local officials.  The governor was a nice guy and he said he had came back during the night to meet with us and insisted we come back to see him after we visited the clinic.

 The clinic was nice building with lots of people, a couple ambulances, a pharmacy, and a local doctor. The doctor from the French base also was reported to come by from time to time to help out.  The said they needed more equipment and trained staff, but those shortages are not unique to oasis's in the desert.

Our last stop was to check-in with the governor again and he invited us to lunch before we left for the flight back to N'Djamena (ground meat in a red sauce, roasted chicken, and flat bread).  It was a great trip, but much too short.  I sincerely hope I can return to Faya again in the future for a longer trip!

Wifi antenna issues

The rainy season in N'Djamena takes it toll on everything.  I am one of the lucky ones in the city that have a solid house and a roof that doesn't leak.  I can't complain much because most of my neighbors have dirt floors and many of their compounds have been under a foot or more of water for the past month.  

I haven't been able to blog much because my wifi antenna was destroyed by the rain.  It was supposed to be all-weather and had a warranty (in the USA)  but it wasn't Africa-Proof.  The first time it died (in July) I assumed water dripped onto the powersupply that was indoors and shorted it out.  Fortunately I had a second powersupply that I was able to use and this time I had it covered and off the ground to prevent another short-out.  

It worked fine for a couple weeks but then quit working again in a torrential rain storm.  When I went to check it out the next morning I found the powersupply box again was full of water.  The only thing that made sense (since the box was elevated 3 feet off the ground and the CAT-V cable to the box made an upward sweep from the ground to the box is that somehow the cable was penetrated at the top and the cable had been acting like a straw.

To test my theory I disconnected the cable (after getting a shock because it was still plugged into the wall outlet) and water started pouring out.  I nicked the cable at the low point and more water streamed out.  

Since I had already used my backup powersupply (i thought i was planning ahead with one spare) it took me a while to find another one of the same voltage, but I vented the wire and the low point & so far its been working!