South Africa
In June 2017, we flew to South Africa. In Johannesburg, I converted my FAA license to South African PPL license, we rented a great Cessna 182 to fly around in a group of 8 airplanes. The map to the right shows our itinerary - the magenta lines and airports symbols show segments and airports of our self-fly Safari.
After passing the practical test and getting a bit familiar with local flying, we flew first to a private lodge in the Kruger National Park, landing at a dirt strip near the lodge. After few days of safari, we continued to Kruger International and than to Zimbabwe, spending time at Lake Kariba and Victoria Falls. Our next destination was Okawango Delta in Botswana, before returning to Lanseria airport in South Africa.
After spending few days in Cape Town, we flew to Windhoek, Namibia, rented a car and drove to see the famous dunes in Sossusvlei. Although I managed to catch a scenic flight there, I most certainly want to return to Africa and fly all of the Namimbia coast myself, as well as see Mozambique from the air.
If you are interested in reading more about our trip, please check out my Blog
East Africa
Our second trip to Africa in 2019 was even more spectacular. Starting again in Johannesburg, we followed Mozambique coast stopping at Bazaruto Island and at Ilha de Mocambique, before continuing to Zanzibar, Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, and Serengeti. We saw mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Park in Uganda and chimpanzees in Mahale Park in Tanzania, and finished in Mombasa, Kenya.
We were in a group of four aircrafts and had some interesting adventures, including mechanical troubles with starters and magnetos, loosing a fuel cap, engine failure over middle and Tanzania and escaping from Arusha, near Kilimanjaro. Please visit my blog to read about our adventures.
