Soldier of Africa blogging from Darfur, western Sudan

Many thanks for these photos and captions posted to Soldier of Africa blog July-Aug 2006 by Werner, a young South African soldier in Darfur.

In my Tent



I took this picture last night to show how I spend most of my time in my tent. I am either busy with my laptop or reading or watching television.

Base



This is a view from the water tower in our base towards the airfield to give you an idea how close the airfield is to the base.

On Guard



One of the protection force in our base keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding countryside. The civilians are farming right up against the perimeter of our base in order to use every piece of available earth.

Local Activity



The locals are farming right up against our base in this rainy season. This boy is using his donkey to drag a branch somewhere for some reason. Me taking a photo of him was a big moment and after showing him his photo on my camera he soon had a lot of his friends there and I was photographing them too.

River



This is the river next to El Geneina. A few weeks ago it was bone dry.

Insects from Hell



The Nairobi Fly and the Blister Beetle are just two of the insects we have to contend with here. They have acid for blood and crush one on exposed skin at your own peril. There are a number of guys walking around in our base with 3rd degree acid burns to prove it.

Team B Patrol


Yesterday [Aug 8, 2006] Team B going on patrol.

Our Parcels are Here



It is a joyous occasion when this Boeing 707 (Saartjie) lands at El Fashier once a month to deliver our parcels and other needed items. Unfortunately I had to fly with it to Khartoum so I did not get the opportunity to get my parcels. I will get them on my way back.

Food Supplies



In the back of an Mi 8 helicopter these are food supplies. Usually the food is very poor quality. On many occasions the mutton is filled with bone splinters and you have to watch that you do not lose any teeth while chewing. No wonder I have lost so much weight and thank god I have brought with multi-vitamins when I came from South Africa.

Patrol in Ardamata



On yesterday's patrol we had to mark out the positions of the markers for the DMZ (Demilitarised Zones) around Ardamata IDP camps.

Food for Tomorrow



The locals at Ardamata were busy preparing the fields to plant food. This is a good sign and hopefully they are not scared away from this as a lack of food can be disastruous of course for the next season of drought.