[All] ORACLES São Tomé Update

[Warren Gore]

Bernie, Dan, Susan, Sommer, Adam,

Appreciate the hard work amid all the difficulties. Lenny and I are in 
Lisbon. No problem going through here so far. See you guys tomorrow.

Thanks,

Warren



On 7/28/17 3:17 AM, Luna, Bernadette (ARC-SGG) wrote:
>
> Dear ESPO,
>
> Dan, Susan, Bernie and Sommer are all in the hotel Pestana São Tomé. 
> Adam Nelson arrived yesterday to help unload containers. He arrived ~5 
> pm, stood in the long immigration line, checked in at the hotel and 
> slept. We (Dan, Bernie and Sommer) woke him at 1:30 a.m. to go meet 
> the charter air shipment. Baptism by fire. See Sommer driving the 
> forklift at 3 a.m. in attached pic.
>
> The two sea containers from Namibia were brought to the airport (~6 km 
> distance) on July 25, after difficult negotiations and delays. Turns 
> out it takes extra effort to get 40’ containers offloaded at the 
> airport – ask us to describe it in person. Dan set up wireless in the 
> hotel conference room, which we can occupy starting tomorrow, the 
> 29^th . We pre-paid for the visas (at least the initial 30 days) for 
> ORACLES team members (and made more payments) -- not so easy to do 
> when credit cards and ATMs are not useful here.
>
> We have two outstanding in-country supporters/translators, and the 
> hotel sales manager has been extremely accommodating. Airport staff 
> are friendly and enthused, and we found a diligent freight forwarder 
> to support us.
>
> Susan established the airport badging procedure, training for airport 
> security, check-in documentation and so, so much more.
>
> On the down side, our hangar space bill is still unquantified (and 
> therefore the space is not ready). The Wallops shipment (2 containers 
> and the prop) is further delayed (now Aug 7 at port). Customs fees are 
> hefty even with Embassy exemptions. And the P-3 crew must do an engine 
> change, delaying transit by 2 days. Our gas cylinders are in the 
> delayed container, so Sommer found gas cylinders in Luxembourg to 
> bridge the gap. We’re still searching for the right combination of 
> cylinder adapters.
>
> We’re exhausted, eating the same 1-3 meals repeatedly, and working 
> hard -- but enjoying it all the same.
>
> We’ll see Jhony next week (3^rd ) and say goodbye to Sommer (5^th ), 
> Dan (6^th ) and Adam (10^th ).
>
> Zipped photos attached. Another update in a week.
>
> Bernie
>

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