Listening to North West Africa on 8903 khz

I have always loved this area of Africa. I remember Michael Palin's "Sahara" series and the vast oceans of sand and the exotic cultures and people that live here. So I've always enjoyed listening for flights crossing
the area.

In recent times, the signals on 8894khz have all but disappeared, I suppose as the VHF infrastructure improves. And when I do occasionally here someone call Algiers, the Algiers controller no longer booms in loud and clear but is weak and unreadable. A similar situation with Tripoli on 11300 years ago being very strong - almost ridiculously slow: I remember cheaper radios would be overloaded by the signal!

Anyway, in recent days I've heard aircraft on 8903 again, after a long gap. Perhaps reception at the new QTH is helping, as I am so close to the sea. Anyway, I have heard aircraft calling Niamey, Kinshasa, and Lubumbashi. Niamey is the main one active and readable for me and here are a few of my recent catches:

22NOV16 8903 khz USB:
1752 Kenyan 534 Nairobi - Lagos and clg Kinshasa
1802 maybe Manila ACC? wkg a Japan air flight?
1804 9H-FLN a Global 5000 clg Lubumbashi
1809 Tunisair 397 Tunis-Ouagadougou wkg Niamey with positions, estimates and ETA
1819 KLM589 Amsterdam-Accra wkg Niamey approaching the Niamey boundary FL380

25NOV16 8903 khz USB:
1859 Air France 860 Paris CDG to Lome wkg Niamey

I may have a listen on 11300 and 5517 for any activity from Tripoli and will report anything on the blog.