Chad has the open rolling countryside I pictured. Large hills dotted around and high mountain ridges stretch towards the border, writes LIEUT SEÁN BYRNE.
FINALLY, OUR first long-range patrol arrived. We pulled out the gates of Camp Ciara at 6am. The patrol is a four-day one to Daguessa, a town 120km to the southeast, not that far by our standards, but long when one considers the condition of the roads - if you could even call them that.
On these tracks, our average progress is only approximately 15km per hour, so you can imagine the timeframe it takes. Our route is loaded into our GPS (Global Positioning System) units by Lieut Ruarigh McDermott, our resident mapping guru.
Navigation with GPS here is a new challenge for me. At home it's a fallback method, but out here, it's essential. The maps here don't show much detail because everywhere in a desert looks the same. Rivers and routes are seasonal and the maps don't account for this. The GPS is very useful, we have alternative routes, helicopter landing zones, RVs and the list goes on.
We patrol the countryside in our armoured personnel carriers (APCs), trying to combat the heat, which we are used to by now (sort of). I appreciate the quality of our vehicles, but I do curse the engineer who designed it and placed the exhaust outlet right in front of the commander's hatch. Any chance of a slight breeze that might cool us down slightly is ruled out by the hot air being blown out from the exhaust.
The Chadian countryside is what I pictured Africa would be like. Although the jungles of Liberia are impressive when viewed from a helicopter, like giant fields of broccoli, but when you're patrolling through it surrounded by a wall of vegetation it's not that scenic.
Chad, however, has the open rolling countryside I pictured. Large hills dotted around and high mountain ridges stretch towards the Sudanese border. All I'm missing is the odd giraffe or elephant roaming around to complete the picture.
We pass through towns, past internally displaced people and refugee camps. Although hard to fathom, you get a glimpse of the scale of suffering in this troubled area.
The camps we patrol around contain over 30,000 people. It's difficult to comprehend as we only see a small part of them that run parallel to the road. Given that it takes us 30 minutes to pass through these areas, it does give an indication of the size of these camps.
The children come running out to investigate the noise, followed closely by the adults. " Donne moi cadeaux" ("give me presents") the children shout.
It can be heartbreaking, as much as we might like to give a spare ration pack to them, or at least a bar of chocolate, we don't. I know from my experience in Liberia that this would only cause more harm than good; both children and adults would swarm around the vehicles in anticipation. This would lead to safety and security issues and generate disputes among the locals about who deserves what.
We know that if we want to give something to the locals it's best to go through the non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
When we reach pre-determined areas, we dismount and secure the locality. Our boss will then, through our interpreter, seek a meeting with the local sous préfet, or chef de village, to inform them of our presence in the area and inquire about the security situation in his area. These meetings give us the opportunity to inform people of our mission and role in their country.
Of course, it's also a chance for us to gather some information. Our headquarters issues requests for information prior to each patrol.
Meetings like these allow us to ask about the issues that concern Eufor, the European Union peacekeeping mission of which I and my Defence Forces colleagues are a part.
By the close of the second day, we've reached Daguessa. Light is starting to fade, so we harbour overnight. After the area is secured and routine is established, someone spots a snake near the tents. After a few opinions are offered on how to deal with it, the company commander leads by example and dispatches it out of the harbour in his own way.
The next morning I'm tasked to patrol Daguessa while a meeting is conducted with the local leaders. My two vehicles enter the village; I order the troops to dismount so we can conduct a foot patrol. The APCs are too big for some of the narrow tracks.
As we walk through the maze of winding tracks, I scribble furiously to try to note it all down so I can produce some sort of sketch map of the village for my report. It is quite a big village, but it's obvious that it's not full to capacity.
It's not that surprising given its proximity to Sudan - it is one of the first villages that any rebels would meet as they cross into Chad to conduct raids.
Recce company will be tasked with patrolling this area frequently. This will allow our knowledge of it to expand and our presence here to improve the security situations for the locals and NGOs in the region.
I have a feeling I'm going to get quite familiar with this place. The settling in period is certainly over, now we're doing what we came here for.
• Lieut Seán Byrne remains on duty with the Defence Forces in Chad