Wednesday, March 23, 2016

We went to Africa
 
Went to Africa after having heart surgery the previous year. Obtained my African pilot's license and hired a Cessna 182 with guide from Bushpilot Adventures in Pretoria. We had an amazing time flying out of Wonderboom airport in South Africa, up through Zimbabwe to a resort near Bulawayo and then on to the Zambezi River in the Mana Pools area where we stayed at Chikwenya Lodge and Goliath tented camp on the river.
Low level flying up the Zambezi to Lake Kariba where we stayed at Bumi Hills Resort before spending a night at Victoria Falls. Our final game park destination was Mashatu in Botswana where we were given the room frequently occupied by the President of Botswana.
We flew commercially to Rwanda to trek into the mountains to spend an incredible hour with the gorillas before flying back to the Serengeti in Tanzania where we had the good fortune to witness the crossing of the Mara River by the Wilderbeest and other animals on their annual migration.
From a flying perspective, the commercial flights of Cessna Caravans into the high and remote gravel strips on the Serengeti where they landed and took off within seconds of each other would make our ATC shudder in fear even though our ATC are great at what they do.
When we got back I then had a pacemaker fitted and our flying has been somewhat restricted getting CASA medical certification.
That in turn lessened the enthusiasm for writing about our experiences but one day I might get around to it.