Well that went by fast..
Time flies when your in the sun. After a month and a half here in west Africa, I'm getting the boot and its off to Europe for who knows whats in store.
It's probably no secret I've had some pretty wild and unique experiences here, and I couldn't have asked for anything more (Well, except maybe some meat in my airline flight over).
During the last week here we tried to stuff in as many extra curricular activities as we could. I made a Philipino buddy here who goes "pishing" here almost every night so I bugged him to let us tag a long on Thursday. Boy, do they ever know how to fish. Tony, went 3 for 4 casts right away. Bing, Bang, Boom, 3 fish. Whats the secret?
CONDOMS.
Believeit or not most of the Filipinos tie cut up pieces of green condom to the fishing fly as the makeshift bait. I guess they just like to practice safe fishing.
Instead of being satisfied with the fish he caught the first 4 tries, they use these reasonably sized fish as bait for bigger fish. The result: A medicore sized baracuda that was a disappointment compared to his 5ft long cuda he caught a week or two ago.
With some excellent timing, we ended up finishing here with our last night as a Christmas Under the Palms party at the management clubhouse. Food, charity auction, local children singing group etc..
I should post more on Africa later, but in the meantime it's best not to miss my flight off this continent in an hour or two to Paris for some much needed time off, and maybe a little cooler weather....
"According to court documents, Mr. Obiang's cars included a US$2-million Maserati, and two Bugatti Veyrons worth US$2-million and US$1.3-million. He also owned eight Ferraris, seven Rolls Royces, five Bentleys, four Mercedes, two Lamborghinis and an Aston Martin. In June, 2005, he bought two high-performance 15.2-metre speedboats worth US$2-million and had one shipped to Hawaii so he could use it on a visit there. It capsized and had to be salvaged at a cost of US$400,000. In what would have been his most lavish expense, he commissioned a German company in 2008 to design a "mega yacht" worth US$380-million, nearly three times what Equatorial Guinea spends on health and education in a year."
It's a bit frustrating that this goes on while little Aboobua down at the market has to suck on a chicken bone for one of his only meals of the day, but hey, I guess the way things happen in some countries.
"If youre not greedy you will go far, you will live in happiness too... like the oompa.... loompa.... doompity do."
Probably top 3 unique experiences of my life, but glad to be back on shore.
After an early morning boat ride at the beginning of the week I awoke to the Captain of the boat announcing it was time to hop on the "Billy Pugh" basket and get lifted on to the platform, 150+ feet up. Nice little adrenaline rush to start your morning. I'll take that over a large double double any morning. Wasn't allowed to take video, so this one from Youtube will suffice.
Billy Pugh basket being lowered between Alba B1 and B2
This is where the magic happens so to say, the offshore platform. Everything on land exists because of these offshore platforms which extract the natural gas condensate from the ocean floor 200ft below. The valuable product is pumped up at some seriously high pressures (5000psig), the ocean water is removed, glycol is added and it is sent to shore. Cha-Ching.
Our job; Install the new radio communication system on both platforms which, after spending a week out there are proven to be an integral part of this operation. If stuff goes wrong out there, things go BOOM!
Ever see big red buttons and have the urge to push them? These were everywhere around the platform in case "shit hits the fan" and a shutdown is required. I was told that one press of a button would easily be a million dollar button push.
Living quarters were as you might expect, tight! I shared a room with 3 Rope Access Electricians from Scotland. Seemed like such an interesting trade. In a nutshell, they are licensed electricians that are qualified to do there job while suspended by rope and rigging, while hanging in awkward areas, like underneath the gas platform. Nice guys to hang out with.
The view at night was a surreal sight to see as mentioned in the previous post along with a picture. One clear night I counted about 25 other offshore platforms towards Nigeria. I was told that most of those companies don't make full use of the extracted product, hence the massive flames coming from the top of many platforms.
As north American media outlets frequently let you know, pirates are a problem in oil abundant areas like this. True, however not in our case. Let's just say, this companies hired guns are a bit bigger, so the pirates tend to stay in Nigerian water and not these parts. With the lack of entertainment and change of scenery, a few operators on the platform said they would welcome the excitement of a pirate attack haha. I'll pass for now. Most guys are on a 28 day rotating schedule, 28 days straight work, 28 days off. You really get the vibe that any more than 28 days out there and you might start going a bit looney.
All in all, couldn't be happier. Met friendly people from all over the world and got to pretend I was on the set of Waterworld for a week.
Back to shore for steak and beer.
Figured I at least write SOMETHING here, while in such a unique location....
Who knew I'd have internet access 25+ miles out in the ocean? Technology is great.
Will go into detail in a few days, but here's the Coles Notes version:
Out here in the Gulf of Guinea on an oil/gas platform for the week. Quite a surreal sight to see, especially at night. Looking north towards Nigeria I can see at least 6 other platforms lit up probably at least 50km away, with the burning flames comming from flare stacks ligthing up in the sky, intense.
More to follow..
View out the window. Electonics not allowed in process areas in case of explosion.
So here I am, giving in to yet another form of social media in this digital age.
Likely only to be used as a travel blog for the next few months while on my greatest adventure yet. But here it goes, I'll give it a shot now and then as a personal memory and way for friends and family to check in.
