Going off grid in Africa.

I'll be gone for a while. Don't worry. I'm not mad or dead. (At least not yet.) But where I'll be in Africa has almost no internet or cell service. And I'll be too busy putting up a radio tower and getting all the equipment working to hang out with you fine folks anyway. I should be back in a little over three weeks if I don't get bit by a fer-de-lance or black mamba.

Headed for the airport in a couple hours. You folks carry on. I know you can do that !! LOL!

 

Thanks! I did take plenty of pictures.

I was in Mango, Togo. Mango is about 300 miles north of Lomé, which is where we flew into. Very remote, rustic, hot, and dry.

Not a climber. After about 20 feet, I start thinking about all the things that can go wrong up there.

It was tough without my Prius and you all, but I survived. The engineer who was installing the solar power system is a Prius owner, so we got to talk about our cars a little. It's remarkable how the system he installed treats the batteries so much like the Prius treats its battery.

Pictures later, after I catch up on some more urgent backlogs here at home. The internet was so slow there that I was only able to upload a few to facebook, and most of those too anywhere from an hour to 36 hours to upload. I was never able to successfully open a web page in a browser.

 

Thanks everyone. It's great to be back.

I was very close to Ghana. Mango is about 6 miles from the border and last Sunday I was even closer than that as we visited a brand new church (3 weeks old) with about 100 people that meets under a tree. Amazing!!!

Sorry, we don't have any activities in Nigeria. But, as I'm sure you know, I was very close to Lagos when I landed in Lomé.

 

Great quote. But I would have LOVED 1200 baud. I think I had well under one baud. When I could connect at all. LOL!

 

Thanks for the heads up!

BTW, it was a little weird driving my car yesterday for the first time in over three weeks. First, I can't get over how smooth the roads are here. Second, it's so much quieter than the diesel pickup I usually rode in.

 

Here are a few pix, as requested. Hope you enjoy them. It was quite a time. I left home on a Friday morning, got to Lomé Saturday night, spent the night in Lomé, and then got to Mango Sunday night. Started Monday morning at 7 AM and worked 12 days straight before taking off a couple days on my 2nd weekend. Left Mango to return home at 6 AM Friday (local time) after almost three weeks there, and got home about 6 PM on Sunday (eastern time, which is 11 PM in Mango). This is Sunday morning, loading up in Lomé at our hotel. The haze is from a weather phenomenon called Harmattan (basically, dust from the Sahara) plus a little smoke from burning fields. It helped to keep the temperature down a little.


This early morning shot on the radio station grounds really says "Africa" to me.


Near the end of the 2nd day of tower construction.


Installing grips on the guy wires. Heavy leather gloves are a must.


We went shopping up in Dapaong on my second Saturday. The market was very colorful, very crowded, and very loud.


Bringing up the last tower section to top it out at 190'.


Fulani huts across from the radio station. They are cattle herders, somewhat nomadic, and could be considered the African version of the European gypsies. During rainy season, the huts are hidden behind very tall grass.


Almost done!!


The Harmattan went away during my 3rd week. Better sunrises, but hotter temperatures. I think there was only one day that didn't go over 100F the whole time I was there. Most days were over 105. But, during the last week, they had finished the solar power installation, so we finally had electricity and air conditioning. I took this picture on Valentine's Day and sent it to my wife. Best I could do given the circumstances. Oh, I also managed to call her.


Finished tower seen from the main "road."


When the workers first heard the radio broadcasting, they acted like they'd won the World Series. After a little celebration dance in the transmitter room, they went flying out the door to tell everyone else. Lump-in-the-throat moment for me!!


View from the top of the tower looking toward Mango. I did not take this picture!!


I spent the last few days in the studios coaching the staff on the automation software. Hopefully, I'll get to go back in July for the grand opening.