I'l be moving back to Houston/Katy when i get back, but finishing out the standing mortr is my #1 project...so i can get it on a trailer for transport and have it look cool going down the road.
I had to go to a workshop area today since one of our crates is *STILL* impounded in Johannesburg. They had a graveyard of old mining equipment. In it were som old hydraulic cylinders 8.5" ID x 4.5" walls, about 6-8' long. Came frome huge rock crushers. Now those would make for some cool bowling ball cannons. I gave up trying to explain the concept to my Swahili driver, though. I think the French security guy understood, but he's Foreign Legion "alumni".
I love Africa. Seriously, I love it here. DD, I'm going stowaway in your luggage next time you come here. Hah! The amount of scrap here and scale of things you find laying around is incredible. Dom, you would love it. Half square km areas of plate steel items. You could make dictator mounts forever!!!
One of our teams got forceably removed at gunpoint from an area, but I've had no problems, even in the "problm areas". Een the Brits commented they've never seen anyone "make friends" with a whole village and still be smiling after getting lost in true jungle/brush land and swarmed by some sort of black flies that came en masse from the butt of a dead goat. Not much worse than some places in TX. It's just cool being here.
Rumor has it, there's some artillery around being used by locals for counter weights at checkpoints for booms. Leftover from Leopold days. There's alot lost in translation though. My Swahili is actually better than my French!