Sahara Sweatin'

The harsh sound of idle and cold rubber forced to immediately spin up to over 200km/ph and absorb  hundreds of tons impacting smoothest, sweet tarmac announced my arrival into the military state of Algeria. Endless views of blue Mediterranean bliss mixed with the invasive Pacific ocean, kept me glued to my window seat out of the B777-300. As always , this LET pilot was too excited for words and incredibly grateful to experience another new theatre of operation. A country troubled by a colonial past and exploited for seemingly endless riches awaited me on the other side of Immigration and a short hop in a local B737-8 to my destination.

The town of Hassi is truly in the middle of nowhere and exist's almost entirely due to the rich Oil and Gas fields that surround it. Flying in you are greeted by an almost surreal experience. The Desert is a beautiful mix of contrasting colors of sand and snaking shadows of the mighty Sahara. Flare towers burning off excess gas during 24hr drilling operations, project flames in excess of 10 meters up into the sky giving the effect of candles dotted periodically, over an endless Arabian carpet. I felt like an adventurer of old as the floppy winged sev-3 positioned itself for landing into so remote a town. It is no secret among my close family that this fly-boy, has always loved the desert. My Dad gifted my brothers and I the unforgettable privilege of 2 trips to the Namib in our youth and from those days of gazing out on a border-less ocean of unforgiving dunescape(I don't care if that is not a word, it is now! ) I quickly realized the attraction of the desert.



These wild place's where very few of our kind can survive or at-least thrive, are truly special because they cut us right back down to size. It is an immediate dose of humility when you find yourself in the center of a vast featureless desert or on a near vertical and jagged mountain pass. You gaze around wide eyed, realizing how futile and pathetic your day to day concerns are when right here in this moment, mother nature could conjure up a heat wave or mountain storm and whip you off this mortal roller coaster in one flick of her fingers. This brings an immediate sense of calm and clarity to your moment, helping you to realize who you really are. That remind's me, I need to get back into my hiking boots and get climbing up some beautiful mountains.



During my time here I have been fortunate enough to fly across majority of the country or at least most of the Western side. I have seen every hue of sand one could hope to see,beautiful desert escarpments with rock riverbeds scything through the sand land's. I also had the notable privilege of a beautiful visual approach through the lower end of the climate altering Atlas mountains into the fiercely military, airport of Bechar. Beware in Bechar ,my crew mates warned me. Don't even lift your cellphone in the direction of those MIG24'S on the ramp or the Suhkoi SU30MKA hiding in the desert bunker across the runway. Military prison awaits those who dare a photo of military hardware in this country. Luckily, the Atlas range and impressive flying weaponry are etched into my memory for all time and no photo was necessary.



Thank you Algeria. It was an incredible opportunity and I have no doubt that I will be back.



Au' Revoir!