Day 5 - Border Tour 2009 - To 'Nam and back - A nostalgic tour of the South West African ('Nam) / Angolan War Zone of the 70's and '80's
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Hurricane AFB - Ruacana Runway ('77) Ruacana Town ('77)
Ok… here we go… after take off, please look to the starboard side , thats the right hand side of the aircraft as we sit and youll see Ruacana Town… on the horizon, 2 o clock to starboard side you can see the Ruacana falls, with the dam more to the north and the hydro-electrical facilities inside the mountain, more to the south… from there the powerlines run in a north-south direction to Windhoek… the pylons are fenced in and protected by mines from sabotage attempts , but still some are blown up / sobotaged , resulting in massive power failures in the southern parts of SWA… these lines are patrolled by soldiers on foot as well as fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.... the Kunene river flows from here in a westerly direction till it reaches the sea at Foz de Kunene on the Atlantic coast. Most of the bases close to the river are more of a temporary nature, tents and a few corrugated iron buildings…
Ruacana Falls ('77) Sodoliet Base ('77) The Missionary ('77)
in this narrow valley a rocky road leads to Swartbooisdrift , the Pupafalls and Sodoliet, the home of the famous 5.0 watercooled Browning MG, called the Missionary. It is a well known fact that this MG "converts" anybody within range, if fired in anger. Sodoliet, named after an unique type of semi-precious stone only found in that area, also has a bar counter built from this blue stone. At Swartbooisdrif is a crossing point for people and cattle… the soldiers stationed here are tasked to keep an eye on the individual crossing the river into S.W.A. To the north of the river, in Angola is Chitado and Davis Hill…
Landing in the desert ('77) Sable Antelope ('77)
Chitado to many is the place where 32 Bn started… a well known Cape Town Honoury Colonel was tasked by Jan Breytenbach to disarm the FNLA soldiers at Chitado and bring them and their families to the Caprvi… the route followed was via Grootfontein to Rundu, but they were only allowed to travel at night and had to "disappear" from sight during the day, quite a task if the distance is taken into consideration….at Rundu they crossed the river by ferry to Calais, but well pick up the story later again when we get to Rundu…..on a clear day even the Brandberge can be seen from the air… this is a very difficult area to patrol on foot… impossible to use vehicles in a great part of the Angolan area… extremely hot, rough, rocky terrain with no shelter from the sun. After landing on a salt pan, we might even see herds of Sable antelope, before we turn south, fly over Opuwo 102 Battalion - and return to Hurricane AFB.
Chitado ('76) FNLA troops at Chitado ('76)
SADF Members with FNLA weapons ('76) Damaged SADF Eland "Noddy-car" ('76)
Opuwo Base ('84) Sandstorm at Opuwo (84)
After touch down and a cup of coffee, we're on our way to the Ruacana Hydro Complex ...just north of Ruacana a pipeline runs in an east west direction… this is the lifeline of most of the towns in the region during periods of drought and a popular target for SWAPO terrorists….it’s patrolled by armored cars and troops on foot on a 24 hour basis with soldiers on the reservoir just outside town also keeping an eye on it. At night these soldiers use night sights to guard both the border and the pipeline… going down the pass towards the pumphouse, one can see the dam in the distance… when entering the main gate to the complex, to the north is the damwall and the low waterbridge can also be seen…
East-west pipe line ('83) Complex entrance ('85)
Tunnel and Hydro Complex ('77) Ruacana Falls ('80)
Low water bridge ('77) Ruacana Dam ('80)
Tomorrow we go on Operation Balpoot with the boys in brown. On this operation well follow the route from Ruacana, to Calueque dam, further north to Tchipelongo and turn east just before Cahama, on our way to Xangongo… final orders will be at 19h00 tonight and after that I suggest a good nights rest… tomorrow will be tough on everybody… hot, "haak en steek" thorn bushes and quite a distance has to be covered over difficult terrain, till we lager just south of Tchipelongo…. enjoy the rest of the evening.
Hippo Tools ('77) Sunset over Ruacana Dam ('83)
Ruacana Falls ('77) SWAPO's damage ('77)