African Sky and Dust on your Wheels! 

Everyone who took a Self-Fly Safari^Ò had a different experience. No one would have traded theirs for anything! It was Africa at its best!  It was a good year! To wit… 

The Ferbers came as a foursome and flew to the centerline of a solar eclipse! The Siegfrieds came as a group of six including three generations : parents, children, and grandchildren. Lyn Freeman, found out what can happen when you relieve yourself on a shrub with a snake in it!  Wolf-Gunter & Bettina Steinmetz rerouted when Zimbabwe wouldn’t give them overflight permission.   Alan Rothman flew the route as a personal challenge and fulfillment of a dream.   The Bradhaws celebrated both their Birthdays and Wedding anniversary.   Bill and Chris Ransom had some good quality time together as father and son. Mel Burner, age 81, is the oldest pilot ever to take a Self-Fly Safari^Ò and wisely took a safety pilot.  Mary Miller did more in a month in Africa than most people do in a life time! Alex Miroschnichenko went in for “rough and camping”. Rick Streng and Kate Bell spent a month exploring southern Africa in a C-182!  

Everybody saw plenty of animals, found themselves pampered at luxury lodges, and returned to Lanseria with smiles on their faces.  We had our own adventures flying.  More about that later.  

It was early summer (December in the  southern hemisphere) and thunderstorms had been developing all day.  A passing cell had drenched Lanseria Airport 20 minutes earlier leaving the air cool and buttery.  The Ferbers had circumvented a couple of cells along the way but now touched down smoothly on Runway 6L at the end  of a Self-Fly Safari^Ò to a solar eclipse.   

Bob Ferber, a Technical Manager for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), flew with his wife, Eileen, along with their son Rob and his companion Yani Copas. Bob and Rob are both pilots and they took two C-182’s. The sun and moon met as expected but their African safari produced a few surprises.    

LOOK LIKE A PILOT, GET TREATED LIKE A… 

We advise crews to wear epaulettes when transiting main airports along the route.  These airports often serve commercial carriers and personnel are trained to keep passengers moving between the lines.  Epaulettes (three-bars for the PIC and two for the first officer) help them distinguish at-a-glance between bonafide crew and passengers.  The sight of a few bars on your shoulder can smooth the way into the tower, airport Control and Briefing offices, and onto the ramp when you return to your aircraft. This time it backfired. 

Bob and Rob followed our brief and dressed the part – dark blue slacks, necktie, crisp white shirts, and epaulettes. They landed at Kasane, Botswana, to refuel and process out through Botswana Customs and Immigration (C&I) on their way into Namibia.  Eileen and Yani went into the  terminal building while Bob and Rob went to the Control Office to pay fees and file their onward flight plan.   

How it got started is not clear but the guy on duty at the Control Office decided these two dapper looking foreign pilots could not possibly be on a private flight but must, instead, be flying a commercial charter!  All well and good except that charter flights need Temporary Air Service Permits (expensive paperwork).  Private flights just need to file a flight plan.  Despite the official’s assertion they were crewing an illegal charter flight, Bob and Rob assured them they were, in fact, private pilots on a private flight.  

KEEP YOUR HEAD… 

“Why are you are dressed like this if you are private pilots?” the officer asked. “You are in big trouble!” he proclaimed.  This is not what you want to hear in remote Africa.  

Bob and Rob took deep breaths and began to explain. “Hanks told us that it would ease the way through airport terminals”, they said. (Derisive laughter from the official who didn’t believe a word of it.)  “You have two passengers in the terminal building,” he asserted.   “We have no passengers. It’s my wife and Rob’s girlfriend. We’re in two airplanes” Bob replied.  Where did the aircraft come from? he wanted to know.  “The one belongs to the Hanks’ and the other belongs to Mr. Delima.  We rented them,” Rob said. 

 “Let me see your licenses”, the official demanded.  They pulled out their South African tickets validated for ‘private’ use. “See? We’re just private pilots,” Rob pointed out.  “No. You are flying an illegal charter in Botswana”, he concluded. “You’ll have to see the Airport Manager.”  

Bob and Rob were ushered into the Manager’s office, who proceeded to “read them the riot act” for flying without a commercial clearance.  Rob asked to see the regulations.  The Manager pointed to the rules applying to commercial operations that they had not complied with.  Rob pointed to the rules for private flying that they HAD complied with.  “We’ve been in the Okavango Delta and we’re going up to the Caprivi Strip to see the eclipse,” Rob patiently explained once again.   

Well, the Airport Manager finally concluded that Bob and Rob were not commercial pilots on an illegal charter flight.  He waived them out of his office and told them to go. No harm done.  

Later, when we asked Kasane about the episode, Tower dismissed it as a simple “misunderstanding”.  In these circumstances be patient, keep your cool, and know the rules.  Hanks Aero briefings emphasize the importance of asserting that you are tourists on a “private flight for vacation.”  Usually the officials understand that but… you never know.  Expect the unexpected! 

The Ferber safari was rooted in plans to view the solar eclipse on December 4. They flew into Susuwe Island Lodge in the Caprivi Strip two days in advance equipped with GPS’s, charts, a good telescope, solar filters, cameras, and enough eclipse viewing glasses to hand out to scores of people along the way. They were welcome wherever they stopped.  

The entire camp was awake well-before dawn on the morning of December 4 loading equipment and picnic baskets for the morning’s event.  First light revealed an overcast covering the entire area – one of the frustrating imponderables well known to VFR pilots and eclipse viewers.  Undaunted, the party set out and drove 35 – 40 kilometers to a clearing in the savanna woodland that covers the area.  As the sun climbed higher and warmed the area tantalizing breaks in the overcast appeared raising hopes for a good viewing.  But, as the clock ticked towards eclipse time, another band of clouds moved in to block the sky.  

The Ferbers and the rangers made a quick decision to move to a potentially better location.  In minutes they reloaded the vehicle and dashed to an alternate site arriving just 10 minutes ahead of time.   There were still clouds but the decision to move proved correct.  As the eclipse developed they saw the whole thing.  Their mission was a success! 

Capt. Mary Miller, age 25, is a bundle of energy – a charming, irresistible force who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin.  Mary is now in the Army, stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she captains medevac missions in a Blackhawk helicopter. She had 30 days leave and decided to take a Self-Fly Safari^Ò.   

We can just imagine stunned looks of incredulity in the Ops Room when she announced she was going to Africa to fly airplanes for 14 days.  But if her fellow pilots were amazed when Mary left, we imagine they were awe-struck when she returned! 

Mary has thousands of hours turbine rotor time but very low fixed wing time.   Judgment is everything.  Mary flew left seat in a C-172 accompanied by Henry Fitchett, a local pilot who knows southern Africa. “What a trip that was!” the weary Henry marveled at its conclusion. “I need some sleep.” 

Mary packed more things into her Self-Fly Safari^® than anyone else has – ever.  Not content simply to fly in Africa, she rode horses in Johannesburg’s Magaliesberg hills past a herd of rhinoceros; she tracked elephants on a mountain bike; she camped for a couple of nights in Botswana’s Okavango Delta; she completed a cave diving course (scuba) in record time and did several dives in an abandoned asbestos mine; she did a 10,000-feet free-fall skydive on the desert coast at Swakopmund, Namibia; she swam with a humpback whale and several sharks during a day of Indian Ocean diving. And, to top it off, Mary went to Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro – the highest mountain in Africa!

Mary’s itinerary was fixed (and paid for) well before she arrived in South Africa but within a few days of take-off a big chunk of it changed. Mary wanted more time flying and less time in lodges.   

Her Self-Fly Safari^Ò began with a 2-hour flight to Khoka Moya Camp in the South African Lowveld (giraffe-kill by a pride of nine lions); on to Mashatu (track elephants on a mountain bike); and two nights fly camping at Gunn’s Camp (“hard and rough around the edges!”).  

That’s where she decided to fly all the way across the width of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean – a detour of more than 1800nm and an extra 18 hours of flying – all to be accomplished in three days in a 105-knot Cessna 172!  Hanks Aero got busy right away applying for her new flight clearances and forwarding information about places to stay along the new route.  Mary did her own flight planning.   

At the coast, in Swakopmund, she linked up with the Sky Diving Club and spent a day jumping out of the Club’s C-206. In the course of the next two days she flew low-level along Namibia’s coastal dunes and then 1000nm to a little-used dirt strip at Badplaas in the South African Lowveld for cave diving. 

She met the sharks and the whale a few days later while diving in the Indian Ocean.  After one night back in Johannesburg she flew (commercially) to Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.    

Mary never stopped.  She returned to Hawaii a few hours before her leave was up and reported for duty at 6:00AM. What did you do on your 30-day leave?  

Bill Ransom, age 77, learned to fly at age 65. He flew the Botswana Wilderness route in a C-172XP with extra nights at Chitwa Safari Lodge, a private reserve in South Africa’s Kruger Park area. Bill invited his son Chris for the safari and it went well. Chris runs a wilderness leadership school in Ft. Mills, Wisconsin.   He is not a pilot but learned to work the GPS and handled cockpit chores.  

ROUGH VALIDATION… 

The validation was tough for Bill. First, jetlag and fatigue from the longhaul flight from the USA took a toll. “I was nervous, I wasn’t sleeping, I had too many things zinging through my head,” Bill said.   

The 172XP has a constant speed propeller, which he’d never used before.  A different cockpit layout, a modified fuel selector valve, different radios, static, ATC accents and other “small distractions”.  We offered a regular Skyhawk (less power) but Bill took charge and mastered the XP.  Key to success was the “Introductory Flight” and more dual after the checkride.  Bill worked hard and launched on schedule.  

“Every camp was a little different from the one before,” Bill noted at the end of his safari. “We ate well wherever we were. “These guys are not ‘cooks’ warming beans in a can. These people are Chefs!”  

A highlight was their one-night visit at the Tuli Safari Lodge. Tuli maintains a remote game viewing hide where guests can spend the night – on their own. They give you a candle, an electric spotlight, water, snacks, a radio, and a potty in what is otherwise just a basic wooden enclosure. Sort of a stockade. The ranger dropped them off after dinner with a final admonition ‘Don’t go out walking around!’ and drove away.  Bill and Chris found themselves alone in the dark in the Botswana bush listening for everything that’s out there.  The cool fresh night air, the clear sky, southern stars, and night sounds of the African bush lulled them towards an easy sleep.

Suddenly they heard “sounds” emerging from the distance.  No longer background, it was in the foreground of the night.   It was a “big noise” --  crunching and cracking -- and getting closer. Wide-awake, they peered over the edge of their viewing deck finally to see a herd of elephants emerge from the shadows.  

“Thirty elephants came in at a trot. They made a lot of noise drinking and splashing in the waterhole. They must have known we were there but they didn’t bother us. Finally they moved off.  It was silent again.  After a while we finally got to sleep.”   

Capt. Alan Rothman, age 66, living in Boca Raton, FL likes to ”live the dreams”. As a young boy he dreamed of flying an airplane. He soloed a J-3 Cub in 1955.  He’d dreamed of going to Africa from an early age, too. When he discovered Hanks Aero he realized he could realize another dream – “flying an airplane through Africa!” Alan said. He quickly settled on a route (Botswana Wilderness) and invited companion Carolyn Castaldi to join him in the flight. 

 “An adventure by its very definition must include some degree of risk and challenge,” Alan observed.  “It was a true adventure. Carolyn and I did things and saw things that very few Americans get to experience!” 

In his own words…

‘… I had some deep anxiety about the trip.  I was scared. What the hell was I thinking about?  Here I was, a 66-year-old retired advertising agency president, taking off in a C-172 for the African interior.  Good grief!!! But on Friday Morning May 17 we departed on one of the most exciting and fulfilling adventures of my life… 

‘I don’t know what thrilled me most.  The close encounters with animals… or the challenge of flying into unknown environments.  Some of the airports were as modern and up-to-date as any in the US.  And some of them were bush strips of packed sand.  

Xudum Camp, Okavango Delta: ‘the first morning when we awoke we were told that there had been three lions in the in the camp that night.  There was a lion footprint right beside our tent.  I kept thinking about that Michael Douglas movie about lions and tents…”  

‘The next morning on our game drive we encountered a solitary male elephant. We had seen many elephants in Tuli Bloc and they pretty much ignored us.   This guy didn’t. “KD” (our guide) said this elephant was looking for a mate and was in no mood to put up with tourists. The elephant started shaking his head and then took out after us! KD put the Toyota Land Cruiser in gear and we got out of there.  There are two memorable quotes from the videotape.  First I said, “KD, don’t kill the engine!” and then ‘KD lets get the hell out of here!’…

Back in Johannesburg: ‘Was I apprehensive about flying in Africa? Absolutely! Was I relieved that I made it back without incident? You bet!  Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!’  

CHILDREN… 

Not all bush lodges allow visits with infants and children under 12.  They cite the safety issue (young children and predators) and ambiance at the lodge (no screaming kids). However, some lodges welcome families and have extra staff and facilities for children.  An African safari during a child’s formative years will stay with them for the rest of their lives.  

The Siegfrieds are a close-knit flying family.  They live in California and fly as a family in their Beech-18.  Andy Siegfried planned to attend a week-long Young President’s Club International conference at Sun City, near Johannesburg beginning in July .  Her husband, Rand, and their two children Mickey and Cormy, came along.   Andy, who is also a pilot, elected not to validate her license. Rand’s father Capt. Bob Siegfried and his wife Thelma, from Chicago, Illinois, needed little persuasion to come along, too. So, it was a safari for six.    

Rand and Capt. Bob each took a C-182 with their wives and one child in each plane. Cormy and Mickey, seasoned fliers to begin with, made new discoveries at every stop and went home with a great experience under their belts.  

Mashatu Lodge offers adjoining rooms that are ideal for families.  They also provide supervision for children.  At the camp’s “Learning Center” children see exhibits; learn about local plants, animals, and early inhabitants of the area, geology, and the ecosystem. There is also a swimming pool.  Game drives are conducted separately from other guests at the lodge.  

Another stop children will enjoy is Deception Valley Lodge situated in the Central Kalahari Desert – a traditional home of the Bushmen (San and Khoi people). Unique to Deception Valley is a nature walk guided by two Bushmen and an armed ranger.  You’ll hear them conversing in the bushman’s famous “click” language. Guests learn how bushmen use native plants, build shelter, set snares, start fires, track animals, make bows and arrows, and more. A sofa in your luxury chalet can be made up to sleep one accompanying child. The Central Kalahari is not a “big game” area although antelope and predators are sometimes seen. There is prolific bird life. 

In the Okavango Delta, CCAfrica’s Nxabega Lodge has nannies on staff to look after and entertain children while parents are otherwise occupied.   The Delta is one of the finest game viewing areas in the world.  Here you’ll find hippos, Cape buffalo, zebra and antelope, birds, lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe and many others.  Families take game drives in open landrovers and waterborn excursions in mokoros (dugout canoes) through the Delta’s reeds and waterways. 

GOING FOR BROKE… 

Most people fly one route on their first Self-Fly Safari ^Ò and return another year to explore other parts of Africa. Rick Streng and Kate Bell spent some quality time together and combined TWO routes in a marathon 30-day flying expedition: South African Round About AND Botswana Wilderness.  

Rick & Kate did what many wish to do. They gave themselves plenty of time for the trip.  Time to see South Africa itself. It wasn’t a whirlwind tour.  They made the time to enjoy its landscapes, visit towns, meet people, and do a lot of flying.

Beginning in Johannesburg, Rick and Kate flew a C-182 more than 3600 nm in a great circular route with their first stop in the Kruger Park Area at a lodge called Chitwa Chitwa. 

Kate writes… “Within the first 24 hours from our deck and shower alfresco we observed and filmed migrating herds of cape buffalo, a lonely bull elephant, a troop of baboons, a pride of lions, bushbucks, not to mention giraffes, and the other “Big Five” we saw on our game drives.” 

At Phinda Lodge they found the rare nyala antelope and spotted the colorful malachite kingfisher and the tall gawky secretary bird.  At Penwarn Lodge on a small tranquil lake they walked the hills under the snow-capped peaks of the Drakensburg Mountains. 

The next leg took them to the historic town of Graaf Reinet.  The town’s airfield had been closed for renovations and they landed at the Loock Farm, a private airstrip.  

“It was Rick’s most challenging landing… A South African Airways pilot has a hangar and an airstrip on a sheep farm that we had permission to use.  He used it to commute to Cape Town and Jo’burg. We just had to find it! Rick had to calculate wind speed and direction, grade and surface of the strip and, most importantly, the elevation of the strip… A strong crosswind, a short runway, and a very scrubby surface… Rick was up to it!” 

Local guide David McNaughten met them and drove them to the Drostdy Hotel, a classic Cape Dutch-style building that originally housed the government. 

During the months  of June – October  strong winter cold fronts can blow in from the Atlantic Ocean as often as every three or four days.   They are at their fiercest along the coast and can bring 60-knot winds, rain, icing, and chill across the land. Rick and Kate had days when storms made flying impossible. Luckily, most of those days fell on scheduled non-flying days, so the flow of the itinerary was not interrupted and no time was lost. Once they diverted enroute and were forced to skip a planned stop at the town of Oudtshoorn. Another day, the plan to round the southern tip of Africa (Cape Agulas) was cancelled in favor of a more protected route.

“We flew through a narrow pass just under the clouds to refuel at Worcester, close to South Africa’s wine country, enroute to Kagga Kamma, a bushman enclave. Rick made another spectacular landing along side the rim of a 1000’ deep canyon despite a brisk crosswind and a sloping airstrip, and a curious, fearless ostrich on it”  Kate wrote. 

Most cold fronts diminish and lose strength as they push inland and their weather problems evaporated as they turned northeast into South Africa’s Highveld plateau and Botswana.  

They overflew the Great Karoo and overnighted in Upington at Le Must a B&B sitting on the edge of the Orange river known for its cuisine.  (“Dinner was great but the service was slow. One waitress for 14 tables!”) A day’s flying east brought them to Jaci’s Camp in the Madikwe Reserve.  The Reserve, most recently a farming area on the Botswana border, has been returned to the “Big Five” animals who once roamed there freely.  

ONWARDS TO THE INTERIOR… 

Rann’s Camp: “fabulous and wonderful!”  They flew a low pass to clear the runway of zebra, warthog, and other animals grazing in the vicinity.  No one was on hand to greet them when they parked but, soon enough, “George”, who would be their field guide, arrived in a landrover and loaded their gear for the trip to camp. Water levels in the Okavango vary through the season and, with the road now flooded, they switched along the way to a motor boat to complete the journey. 

By good luck they had the entire camp to themselves. “We felt ‘at one’ with the wildlife and wilderness there.”   Their tent opened to the northeast and they could watch the rising sun from bed while overlooking a lagoon blossoming with lilies and cavorting hippos. 

On their first game drive George got the 4x4 stuck in mud.  Though crocodiles are a hazard George dutifully got out and did what he could to free the vehicle by jacking it up and putting branches and rocks under the wheels.  Nothing worked.   Now the sun was low on the horizon and the prospect of spending an evening in the Delta in an open landrover began to occur to them.   But, luck had not deserted them.   

Just then another landrover, from another camp in the vicinity, appeared in the distance bristling with video cameras and telephoto lenses – a vehicle full of Japanese tourists. They flagged it down. The two drivers got busy with the jacks while the others rolled tape for viewing back home.  

Deception Valley: spitting cobra and a rock python.  

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: The grand old colonial-era Victoria Falls Hotel was surrounded by uniformed military guards when they arrived.  The check-in clerk told them that a regional summit meeting was in progress with Zimbabwean President Mugabe, Kabila of Congo, and others. Their room, they were told, had been commandeered by a Zimbabwe official.  They were installed in a different room that happened to be better than the original. “This one had a  terrace!”  

Dr. Wolf-Gunter Steinmetz and his wife Dr. Bettina Steinmetz, both plastic surgeons, took three weeks from Germany to fly an expanded version of the Botswana Wilderness route.  They made an additional stop at the small rustic Selinda Lodge, north of the Okavango Delta and they finished it at Chitwa Chitwa Safari Camp in the Kruger Park area.  Game was plentiful.  

Mashatu Tented Camp: “No room to do flight planning in the tent, but that was no problem, since there was plenty of room in the common area.” “very interesting archaeology site”. The airfield: “Flintstone International – very picturesque!”  

Vumbura: “Our favorite. From the air (above the Okavango) the lush green vegetation is dotted with pans and areas looked like ‘God’s golf course’ in contrast to the Devil’s golf course in Death Valley (California).”  

CLEARANCES AND FLIGHT PLANS…  

Zimbabwe’s political shenanigans in 2002 have impacted flying in southern Africa – at least flying in Zimbabwe. While Rick Streng was able to overfly Zimbabwe without any bureaucratic interference, the Steinmetz’ were informed they needed “overflight clearance” to use Zimbabwean airspace.   

Upon arrival at Livingstone, Zambia, they stopped at the Briefing Office to file their onward flight plan. The leg (Livingstone to Pietersburg, South Africa) tracked over Zimbabwe with no landing planned. The Zambian ATC guy was helpful and courteous and told them they needed special permission to overfly Zimbabwe.  

“Application needs to be made at least 24 hours in advance.  Most of the time Zimbabwe denies them.” They had a couple of days in Livingstone and management at River Club helped fax an application but it was denied two days later with no reason given.  

The episode was an unexpected surprise but the solution was simple enough. Instead of flying direct to Pietersburg they routed  via Kasane – a 38nm diversion to the west that kept them out of Zimbabwean airspace.  Over Kasane they turned southeast and flew along the Botswana/Zimbabwe border to Pietersburg.   

TRANSIT HELP AT MAUN…  

Wilderness Safaris operates camps and lodges throughout southern Africa including many in the Okavango Delta.  Most visitors to these camps do not arrive with their own aircraft.  Usually they arrive in Maun, Botswana, by commercial carrier where they transfer to a light aircraft (often a C-206 or a Cessna Caravan) to get to their Okavango destination.   Sefofane Air, an air charter company, does the transfers under contract to Wilderness.  Both companies go to great length to smooth and speed visitors’ turnaround time in Maun.  

Passengers arriving at Maun are met as the aircraft parks by an employee in a golf cart.  He collects the luggage and drives them to the terminal building for Customs and Immigration (C&I).   With their luggage weighed and inspected the passengers are driven to the departing aircraft.  After start-up the pilot calculates a precise ETA for the destination camp.  Sefofane relays this to the camp to ensure that a vehicle is at the airstrip when the plane lands.  

It’s a great idea… if you’re arriving by commercial carrier.  But this year Wilderness insisted that ALL flights follow this procedure and the system broke down with charter and Self-Fly Safari^Ò pilots.  If it happens to you remember that patience is an asset. 

The Steinmetz’ had been briefed on the procedure and called in on approach to Maun. They needed to refuel, pay fees, file their onward flight plan, and depart.  They did NOT need C&I since they had cleared in-bound C&I several days earlier at Limpopo Valley.  

As expected, a caddie with a golf cart chased after their tail number and greeted them with a smile as they shut down at the gas pumps.  He informed them he would take them and their bags to the terminal for Customs and Immigration.  Wolf-Gunter accepted the ride and politely explained that they didn’t need C&I and they didn’t need to have their luggage unloaded.  

The caddie insisted saying the “pilot” needed to know the weight of the bags for the flight to the camp. “You don’t understand,” Wolf-Gunter rejoined. “I am the pilot. Bettina is the co-pilot. We arrived from Deception Valley Lodge. We have already been through Customs. We are a private flight. There is no charter. We know the weight of the luggage. This is our aircraft. We are flying it to Vumbura“.   

The guy was puzzled and a bit concerned.  He had a job to do, he’d been trained to do it, and the customer was not co-operating. After some discussion he reluctantly left the luggage in the aircraft and ferried Wolf-Gunter and Bettina to the terminal for which they thanked him.

After concluding their business in the terminal they looked for the golf cart ride back to their aircraft.  The driver wasn’t to be found so they asked the lady at the Sefofane counter in the terminal to call him.  When she heard it was a private flight with only two people she lost interest and finally advised them to walk the half mile to their aircraft, which they did.  

After start up they radioed Sefofane, as briefed.  This time the lady got cranky. “You have not cleared customs!”  Wolf-Gunter again explained they’d cleared Customs days previously.  “The camp already received your ETA,” she added. “You should have been there an hour ago.  Why are you still on the ground? The camp will be very unhappy when you arrive,”  

Nonplussed, Wolf-Gunter gave up on the lady.  He switched back to tower frequency, was cleared to take off,  and flew to Vumbura.  The ranger had been waiting in the heat at the airstrip but not because they didn’t follow procedures. Wolf-Gunter and Bettina were cordially greeted at the airstrip and the lodge.  In fact, Vumbura rated as “the best” of their Self-Fly Safari ^Ò destinations: with a well-informed freelance ranger as guide, the most impressive game and scenery, and the most variety of all camps of their itinerary.

Alex Miroshnichenko, an Info Technology specialist from San Francisco, asked for an itinerary that would be “rough with as much camping as possible”. Camping under the wing of an aircraft is not possible but we arranged a trip with either walking, canoeing, rafting or cycling at each stop on a 20-day safari in a C-172.  

Alex, a naturalized American citizen who grew up in Tajikistan in the former Soviet Union, had a good workout along the way of his 2000nm trip.  At Mashatu (tented camp) he cycled over the hilly terrain among elephants and other game.  At Gunn’s Camp, he spent three nights at a fly camp cooking meals for himself (he’s a vegetarian) and the guide who accompanied him. He took the mokoro out on his own in the Okavango Delta’s reeded waterways.  He hiked and camped for two nights in the flood plains surrounding Selinda Camp, north of the Okavango. From his riverside accommodation at Livingston, Zambia’s Nyala Lodge Alex spent a day whitewater rafting below Victoria Falls.  Then he flew 240nm northeast to Mvuu Lodge in the Lower Zambezi Valley (Zambian side) where he had a couple of days canoeing in the river. He refueled at Lusaka and dodged thunderstorms on his way south to Planet Baobab, a rustic camp on the edge of Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans.  He planned to spend two nights in a rustic bushman-style hut and to ride a quad-bike out onto the pans.  However, early rains made trips on the pans impossible.  He cut short his stay and returned to Mashatu for another day of mountain biking at the Tuli Bloc.

Melvin Burner, age 81, is the oldest pilot ever to fly a Self-Fly Safari^Ò. Mel had dreamed for years of going to Africa and he wasn’t going to let a few years stop him.  Though current as a pilot, Mel wisely enlisted the services of a South African co-pilot Henry Fitchett.  He flew the South African Roundabout and completed it only by toughing it out through winter cold, bad weather, and personal illness.  When we consider the adversity he endured, we recall the likes of Burton and Speakes whose explorations of Africa were accomplished only by persevering through great personal discomfort.  

Mel  was fatigued by the longhaul flight from Texas, and a virus he apparently picked up along the way.  At Kirkman’s Kamp in the Kruger Park area, Mel felt he was “coming down with something”.   The camp immediately arranged a visit to a doctor in the nearby town of Skukuza.  The doctor concluded Mel was tired and dehydrated but otherwise OK.  

A couple of days later a cold front brought a serious chill to the air and snow to the Drakensburg mountains. Unheated rooms and an unhelpful staff at The Nest hotel prompted Mel to change plans and leave early for the warmth of Durban on the Indian Ocean.  He again saw a doctor.  This time the diagnosis was a “viral throat infection” that would eventually “clear up”. A couple of nights in Durban’s warm climate, and a lobster dinner had Mel “feeling better and ready to fly” south along the coast.  

When they returned to the airport to depart, however, they discovered the oleo strut on the C-182 had collapsed.  It took a local mechanic an hour to fix it and get Mel on the way.  Enroute, strong headwinds further slowed their progress and Mel stopped short of his days destination at the town of Port Alfred.  Staff at 43 Air School, one of the oldest flight schools in South Africa, steered them to a local  Bed and Breakfast for the night.   

Mel was tired and still fighting the virus but unwilling to abandon his safari.  The next day they battled strong headwinds, rain showers, and ceilings to Bushman’s Kloof about 100nm north of Cape Town.  

The tough weather Mel encountered along the coast moderated as he flew east back towards Johannesburg on an inland routing.  He made a final stop at Jaci’s Camp in the Madikwe Game reserve before returning to Johannesburg. 

It is hard to enjoy a vacation if you are not feeling well.  With a South African pilot along Mel did not have to undergo pilot license validation exercises. He reported that impaired hearing and unfamiliar controller accents made it difficult to understand the radio. His illness would have made the validation exercises still more difficult.   

Wind and winter storms along the coast made flight impossible on some days.   Mel’s pilot was IFR capable but icing and strong wind were beyond the limits of a C-182.  A local pilot’s knowledge of the area is invaluable when diverting from a planned route. 

Judgement and timing is everything in flying and Mel’s decision to opt for a co-pilot was the right one.  “From the start I invited Henry to sit left seat and do all the flying,” Mel said. “All I wanted to do was take pictures of the places we went to.”   

Lyn and Jodi Freeman, and their 11-year-old son Cody, arrived in early August  for a 17-day safari into Botswana, Zimbabwe, and the South African Lowveld. An account from Capt. Lyn… 

‘An hour or so before sunset, our guide from Landella drove us to a wonderful 'pond,' one of a string of oval shaped areas of low land that fill with water during the summer months in the Okavango Delta.  We were there to photograph several hippos who were enjoying the high water, and listened to them snort and cavort among the lilies and reeds while we set up tripods and picked through a spread of drinks and snacks that was laid out beside the vehicle.  

‘After several rolls of film and several drinks, I, as a member of the small bladder club, decided to visit a small knot of tall grass with a single tree sticking out of the center.  I had no sooner gotten myself situated in the grass when suddenly a long black snake slithered across my feet, frantically searching for a new and drier home at the base of the tree.  "Hey, there's a large black snake in here," I called back to our guide. 

‘"Mamba! Mamba!" he shouted.  "Run away!!!"   And I did, my pants still half way to my knees.  Later when I caught my breath and could describe the snake to him, we decided it was most likely a python, and not the Black Mamba.  Still, it was a lesson learned, that wandering on your own in Africa is not always the best way to make vacation memories. 

For a more detailed account of the Freeman trip read Pilot Journal, March 2003 issue. 

Dick & Helen Bradshaw, from Ramona, California flew a Self-Fly Safari^Ò to celebrate! Their 17-day trip coincided with both of their birthdays and their wedding anniversary.  There were so many occasions for festivity that the lodges they visited didn’t keep track of which occasion was when – and feted them with cake, champagne, and some special event at nearly every stop.  Dick had his own close encounter with wildlife at the sunset cocktail hour…  

‘an evening cruise on the Zambezi’: “As usual we stopped for a ‘sundowner’, this time on an island in the middle of the river.  The guide said if we needed to use the 'facilities’ we could have our choice of bushes. So, I went off into the bush and since the center of the small island had some tall trees and little underbrush, I took a different route back.  As I approached the boat I caught some movement in the trees out of the corner of my eye which turned out to be a very large elephant.  By the time I saw it I was going away from it.  I know you don’t run away from a wild animal and this one was starting to chase me; so I stopped, turned around, threw up my hands and yelled, whereupon the elephant stopped. I then started to back up, and the elephant started toward me again, so I did my little act again, and it stopped. We stood looking at each other for a few moments until the guide came and escorted me back to the boat!  We finished the sundowner and later saw the elephant swimming back to the riverbank.  It was an interesting experience.” 

At the start of the trip Dick and Helen spent a few days touring Cape Town and the surrounding winelands to rest from their longhaul flight from San Diego. They flew to Johannesburg on Sunair, which provides Business Class service directly to Lanseria Airport, which is the center for safari preparations. They took a Cessna 182 for 11 nights at various stops in the bush.  

Kings Pool: “…From the lodge you look down on the lagoon that is home to a dozen or more Hippopotamus’.  And elephants roam through the camp day and night.  We had a separate chalet for our room, as we did at all the lodges, and during the afternoon an elephant was eating leaves from a tree next to our patio. If we had gone out we could have touched him from the deck.  In the morning we watched a hippo cross the path from our room to the dining area so close we could have touched him, too.” 

“This was a ‘trip of a lifetime’. Christina and Nick took care of every detail and made certain the trip was a resounding success.”

NICK & CHRIS GO ON A “REKKIE”… 

Looking after clients means increasingly for us less time to fly but we did make the time for a “rekkie”  (exploration) around South Africa in our Helio Courier.  What we set out to do, and what we actually accomplished, were two different things!  But it’s all part of the adventure and good fun for a pilot.   

It was late July.  We were at Margate, South Africa, about 50nm south of Durban on the Indian Ocean coast. On approach we had an airborne conversation with the South African police who were flying an airborne photo shoot of a crime scene in a Pilatus Porter. We met them on the ground and chatted for a good half-hour while we refueled and filed our ongoing flight plan. Johannesburg is usually clear and chilly at this time of year and the air at Margate was warm, balmy and like spring! 

We were planning to fly 200 nm along South Africa’s Wildcoast – an unspoiled, undeveloped lush tropical stretch of green hills, sandy beaches, and forests.  There are very few landing strips along this part of the coast and none of them are sheltered against coastal storms.  If you go inland there are mountains and rugged terrain for 50 or more miles.   

Beautiful as the weather was, the controller at Margate tower warned that there was “weather” off to the south and that we’d be well advised to check with the area Met office.  We did and the report included the words: ‘high wind, rain, low ceiling,” coming from the direction we were going.  

Given the beauty of the day it was hard to believe, but if we had to spend an afternoon on a beach on the Indian Ocean, well, so be it!  We tied the plane down and rented a car, found a place to stay, and spent the rest of the afternoon barefooted in the sand.  You don’t get to do that in Johannesburg.  

Five PM.  Back from the beach at our bed and breakfast.  I’m taking a shower and Chris is sitting on the verandah in a tropical garden overlooking the sea.   I heard an odd hissing noise over the sound of the shower.  Then Chris came in and said “You’ve got to look at this…” and she leads me naked and dripping from the shower to the verandah.  

The sea was white with spray. The trees in the garden were bent over in a gale with the rain coming in sideways. The wind was roaring.  It was a serious storm and very impressive to watch. In five minutes the weather had gone from serene tropical to an ugly howl. 

Back in the shower I considered the force of the wind and the fact that a Helio Courier will fly straight and level at 26 knots.  I got worried about the plane.  We jumped in the car (I was dressed this time but now dripping from the rain) and drove back to the airfield. The car on the road was buffeted by the wind.   

The airfield was deserted except for a security guy who was busy trying to secure the furniture on the restaurant deck. A table had already blown into the parking lot. The canvass awnings we’d sat under having coffee were now just flapping tatters.   The Helio was still tied down but straining at its tethers.  We fished out extra lengths of rope from our survival kit and doubled up the ties. We found rocks to chock the wheels and tied a line to secure the tail. The Helio’s leading edge slats were banging in and out so we tied them in with rope around the wings. The plane really wanted to fly – probably thought it was flying! – and wondered why we were making such a fuss.  It was the best we could do.  We dried off back at the room and went out for dinner at a cozy tavern. 

The plane was fine the next day. One of the ropes we’d used to secure the slats was cut and blown away but there was no damage.  The storm had passed and we pressed on. 

But, once again, the Met office warned of strong winds along the coast.   After what we’d seen the day before we weren’t going to second guess him.  But we did want to fly.   

There was another route – inland – a circuitous, long, counter clockwise route north and then west around the mountainous Kingdom of Lesotho.  Coastal storms generally don’t get inland very far and the Met Office forecast clear but blowing pretty strong.  The  12,000’ Drakensburg Mountains seem to block a lot of the moisture but the wind just blows over them.    

We got going and found our ground speed down to a depressing 75 knots more or less all the way.   We had to refuel at Bloemfontein and once we were on the ground we decided we’d had enough for the day. Once again, Chris sniffed out an excellent B&B and we spent a pleasant evening around cozy fireplace visiting with the owner, a farmer, and a Justice of the South African Supreme Court who happened to be in town for a hearing.   

Now, pressed because two nights were gone from our “rekkie” time,  we decided to skip Graaf Reinet.  We’d been there once before and the priority was to the town of Oudtshoorn where we’d never before visited. The weather cooperated. We overflew Graaf Reinet and spanned the dry, desolate “badlands” known as the Karoo, flew through a gap in the Swartberg mountains that ring the town to a height of 9,000 feet, and landed in a lovely green valley 50 miles inland from the seaside town of George.  

Oudtshoorn bills itself as the “Ostrich Capital of the World.” The farming families have been there for centuries.  In Oudtshoorn you can see how the ostrich industry works, eat an ostrich fillet, have an ostrich egg omelet or, what Chris did, buy an ostrich feather boa!  

South African hospitality: Our arrival was delayed two days and the working ostrich farm where we’d made arrangements  to stay was full when we arrived.  Nonetheless, the proprietors met us at the airport and overruled our plan to rent a car.  They drove us to alternate accommodation that they themselves had arranged, and then gave us their own personal car (a fairly new doublecab 4x4) to drive around for the duration of our stay. They simply asked us to leave the car at the airfield on our way out and to leave the keys on the dashboard.  So, instead  of staying at the cozy chalets of the working farm we stayed at a newly renovated plantation manor down the road.  We spent the evening around a fireplace talking flying with the establishment’s German owner.  We recommend both places. 

Next day,  it was time to go.   Our intent was to fly southwest from Oudtshoorn around Cape Agulas – the southern tip of Africa – and then turn north to a lodge called Kagga Kamma, 100nm north of Cape Town.   There’s something neat about flying around the southern tip of Africa – “Cape to Cairo” kind of thing – even though only a lighthouse on an unremarkable coastline marks the point.  

What is unfortunate is the amount of  special use airspace (SUA’s) in the Cape area. For example, Cape Agulas itself sits in the middle of a military missile test range.  Providing the area isn’t “hot” the military controllers at Overberg Airforce base will accommodate you but there are procedures to follow.  Prior to entering the SUA you are given a transponder squawk code.   When your blip shows up on their radar screen, they know who you are.  (They know you are not the “bogey” target the airforce war games people are always trying to slip into the area to test the radar side’s state of alert. Ever been intercepted?) The sky was clear and the Military area was not in use this day but, once again, strong winds were reported along the coast.   

On the ground at Oudtshoorn, sheltered by the ring of mountains, it was sunny and clear with no hint of the reported wind.  I took off from Oudtshoorn and promptly handed over control to Chris. By the time we reached pattern altitude we’d been sharply jolted a few times and knew that the reported strong winds were a reality.  Chris set a northwesterly course for Kagga Kamma and began our climb to get over the mountains.  At 7,000 feet I noticed our vertical speed was zero and a car below was outpacing us. 

“What are you doing?” I asked Chris.  “Flying the airplane,” she replied. “Keep it climbing.   We need at least a 2000-foot clearance over these hills”.  “It wont go any higher,” she said.  “You try it”.   

I took the controls and boosted the RPM.  No climb. I altered the course a bit to the north.  Still no climb but we were now moving sideways at a pretty good clip.   Suddenly the vertical speed indicator showed a good 1000-feet-per minute climb.  Below us was a minor ridge in the valley.  We maneuvered to stay in the updraft and, very quickly, we were at 12,000 feet – and well within airspace controlled by the tower at George. Chris took the controls and resumed our northwesterly course while I got on the radio.   

George Tower was not happy with us.  Not only had we busted their airspace but we’d also taken off from Oudtshoorn without filing a flight plan.  I told them we’d taken off from an uncontrolled airfield and that a flight plan was, therefore, not required.  Tower confirmed the rule but advised that departures from Oudtshoorn were different because they controlled all the overlying airspace. OK. I apologized, they accepted my  airborne file and immediately handed us over to “Cape Town Information” – an ATC advisory service, akin to “Sector Control” in the USA.  

We had eight-hours of fuel on board and Kagga Kamma was 143 miles away – perhaps an hour and a quarter flying time.  But a look at the GPS revealed that our ground speed was only 35 knots. A Helio Courier is not a fast airplane to begin with and in still air we’d be doing 110 knots. We were bucking a 75 knot wind and destination was now four hours away. Kagga Kamma sits on the lee side of the Cederberg Mountains.  The winds were coming straight off the Atlantic.  The more I thought about mountain waves, flying close to ridges into an unfamiliar dirt strip, rotors, and sitting in the cockpit of a bouncing airplane for four hours – the less I liked it.   

Chris and I decided to divert.  But where?  Cape Town itself , and anything along the coast  to the west would hold the same problems. The answer had to be inland and something more northerly or easterly from our 315-degree course to Kagga Kamma. 

Cape Town Information had us on radar and were not terribly surprised when we called in to say we were diverting “to Upington.”  The new course heading was 015 degrees, 315nm.  It was more than twice the distance but, we thought, not right into the wind.  Cape Town Information asked for our new “estimates”.  Chris reset our course only to find we were now getting about 50 knots ground speed.  Six hours of this didn’t seem like much fun, either.  

“Cape Town Information, N222LT is canceling Upington.” “What are your intentions?”  “Stand by, please, we’ll let you know”.  It was time to go to the charts to see what else was out there.  If we fell off our course still farther to the east the next big town was…Kimberly: heading 049 degrees, 317nm.   

“Cape Town Information? N222LT.”  “Triple Two Lima Tango, Cape Town.  How are you doing?”  “We’re doing fine, sir.  We’re going to try for Kimberly.”  “Copy, Kimberley.  Your estimates when ready.”   Chris turned to course.  Now we were making 60 knots ground speed and looking at five hours and a quarter enroute.  We held it for a while but we really didn’t want to go to Kimberley, either.  We sneaked in a course change for Bloemfontein.  On a heading of 065 degree the ground speed picked up to about 90 knots!  Whoa! Speed! Zip Along!  If the wind held we’d be there in less than four hours.  “Hello Cape Information: cancel  Kimberley, we’re going back to Bloem!”  Cape Town Information dutifully accepted our 3^rd diversion of the day and soon handed us over to the next sector, Johannesburg Central.  “Good luck!” he said. But we weren’t done yet. 

Along the way the wind got further behind us and our ground speed picked up. Before we got to Bloemfontein we were making 120 knots.  The miles seemed to melt away.  We had no reason to spend another night at Bloemfontein.  Our final decision came when Johannesburg Central handed us off to Bloemfontein Approach for our descent and landing. Now we were doing 130 knots.  

“Bloemfontein Approach N222LT would like to cancel New Tempe (the General Aviation airfield) and divert to Lanseria.” Bloemfontein seemed to know the course of our day’s erratic journey. By this time we’d been aloft over four hours. “N222LT, have you enough fuel?” the controller asked, trying to make a warning sound casual.  We thanked him for his interest and let him know that we’d taken off with eight hours worth of fuel. At our current speed it would take us another hour and 40 minutes to reach Johannesburg.  

We landed at Lanseria a half hour before sunset, glad to get out of the plane, stretch our legs, and take a leak.  We had been airborne six hours.   

Our “rekkie” reminded us that, even in Africa, sometimes the weather calls the shots.  We had tried to reach far western South Africa and, instead,  ended up back home at the eastern end of the country.  On days like that stay on the ground or pick up a tail wind and fly!