A rather long day; we decided at breakfast that with the forecast headwinds, we needed a little more fuel so ordered 100 litres on arrival at the airport. This took ages to arrive so instead of a 9 am departure, we were not airborne until well after 10 am. No problem with delaying the flight plan; once accepted they are valid “all day”!
Our flight to Douala at FL090 was fine in the sunshine above thick dust haze so we could see not anything on the ground until 600 ft above touchdown at Douala. Parts of the journey was quiet while other parts were very busy with controllers asking for position reports every few minutes. At Douala we were asked for our permit number before we were allowed to land.
Phil was flying this leg and we discovered that the DME arc approach was coded into the RNAV approach so this was impeccably flown. [Wish Jeppesen would do this for the Carlisle arc approach.]
On landing we were told that the Total fuel compound had shut for the day so refuelling now takes place early tomorrow morning. Then it took a lengthy time to pass immigration where our passports were looked at for the first time in Africa. Eventually we got a 24 hour transit visa stamped into then.
Then to our overnight hotel around 25 minutes away from the airfield by a large lake just inland from the sea. My room is reminiscent of what I think a middle east harem may look like but Phil’s looks more conventional. Afterwards the delightful proprietor and his wife produced an excellent dinner.
We are off to a little island tomorrow on a short flight so not sure how good the internet will be from there.
Accra to Douala: 655 nm in 4hr 50 min
