Africa MegaFlyover is now well on it’s way having flown most of the pre-determined routes of both South Africa and Namibia. (Please see the maps)
Now in Maun, which they will use as their base, they hope for a few days to catch up on themselves, and who knows, Mike and Peter might actually find the time to send us some info. Their schedule throughout these two countries has been punishing to the extent that even Fay admitted they needed to rest one day in five. But up till now, with the exception of Stellenbosch/Cape Town, which was enforced because of a massive cold front and serious aircraft problems – starter clutch having to be replaced and so on, and the media briefing at Ysterplaat Air Base – they have been on the move every day. Flying off, spending between 3 and 6 hours in the air, and then landing to the incredible hospitality and enthusiastic reception by the owners, managers, and staff of the best wildlife and wilderness lodges in Southern Africa (poor boys!), where they were kept busy explaining their project and discussing the areas they had flown over; taken on drives (and sometimes even flown) and given expert advice and information on the state of the environment and conservation in the area they were in. They were fed and, hopefully, watered but not wined, and put to bed in some of the most exquisitely designed accommodation – but if Mike was as true to form as he was in Johannesburg – he worked till he dropped in the wee hours of the morning and then curled up in his sleeping bag under the stars. Early next morning they were out again, talking, sharing insights, marveling at the landscape and wildlife and learning about the eco-region they were in until take-off. So really, little time for anything but notes, let alone reports.
With serious problems from day one when their camera did not receive power from the aircraft, (these problems continued until Upington when a young auto-mechanic took a look and said he could fix it by just quickly replacing one small part – frustrating when they had paid thousands of Rands to no good news in both Johannesburg and the Cape), Mike and Peter spent days and hours trying to sort out their problems. One episode resulted in something or other blowing up and the entire cabin filling with black smoke. Luckily they were on the ground! But all hats off to them, they kept to their schedule. A worried Paul Dutton said Mike looked “exhausted and drained” when he joined them at Emoyeni to advise on their coastal routing. Even Col. Bill said it was too strenuous. But that was the way they wanted it.
The schedule The Bateleurs put together for them follows, but first The Bateleurs, Mike Fay and Peter Ragg would like to thank everyone mentioned below and also Wilderness Safaris (Malcolm McCullagh, Neil Lumsden &Ailly Lazarus) and Conservation Corporation (Shayne Richardson and Valeri Senekal) for their hospitality and generosity.
SOUTH AFRICA
June 9th - Entabeni Private Game Reserve, Limpopo - Peet Cilliers
June 10th - Entabeni Private Game Reserve, Limpopo - Peet Cilliers
June 11th - Leshebe Wilderness, Limpopo - Peter Strauhghan
June 12th - Ndzalama Wildlife Reserve, Limpopo - David Barron & Faan Kruger
June 13th - Kruger National Park – Punda Maria, Limpopo - Hector Magome & Roelof Botha
June 14th - Kruger National Park – Skukuza, Limpopo - Hector Magome & Roelof Botha
June 15th - Mala Mala, Mpumalanga - Mike Rattray & David Evans
June 16th - White Elephant Lodge, KwaZulu Natal - Heinz Kohrs
June 17th - Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, Monzi Airfield, KwaZulu Natal - Andrew Zaloumis & James Hopwood
June 18th - Emoyeni, KwaZulu Natal - Steve McCurrach
June 19th - Port St Johns, Eastern Cape - John Costello
June 20th - Wavecrest, Eastern Cape - Conrad Winterbach
June 22nd - Kwandwe Game Reserve (Conservation Corporation), Eastern Cape - Angus Sholto Douglas & Andrew Mortimer
June 23rd - Baviaanskloof, Eastern Cape - David Baldie
June 24th - Karoo National Park, Western Cape - Friends
June 29th - Ysterplaat Air Base media briefing, Western Cape - The SAAF
July 1st - Tankwa National Park, Western Cape - Conrad Strauss
July 2nd - Goegap Nature Reserve at Springbok, Giel De Kock
July 2nd - Overflew Namaqua
July 3rd - Upington, Northern Cape
July 4th - Verneuck’s Pan, Northern Cape - At last under the wing at 4 degrees.
July 5th - Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, Kalahari - Gus Van Dyk
July 6th - Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, Northern Cape - Nico Van Der Walt
July 7th - Augrabies National Park, Northern Cape - Steven Smith
NAMIBIA
July 8th - Windhoek
July 10th - Fish River, Canyon Lodge
July 11th - Luderitz, The Nest Hotel
July 12th - Sossusvlei, Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp - Wilderness Safaris
July 13th - Damaraland, Damaraland Camp - Wilderness Safaris
July 15th - Palmwag, Palmwag Rhino Camp - Keith Liggett & Wilderness Safaris
July 19th - Hartmann's Valley, Serra Cafema Camp - Wilderness Safaris
21-Jul-04 - Etosha, Ongava Game Lodge - Wilderness Safaris
22-Jul-04 - Caprivi, Ngepi Camp - Mark Adcock & Margie MacDuff
The names of people given above are those who offered or facilitated the stopovers. I regret that we cannot include here the many, many names of all those people who met Mike and Peter and who contributed so very much by giving so freely of their time and knowledge about the eco-regions being visited. Be assured that without their generosity in sharing their expertise on the ground, this whole exercise simply would not have the depth it has.
Mike told us that by the time they left South Africa they had flown the equivalent of Paris to Bangkok. And, he estimates that by the time they complete MegaFlyover, they will have flown 160,000 kilometers.
One of the most dramatic legs was approaching the Cape in gale force winds. Mike said it was a rollercoaster ride where their speed varied from 50 to 150 knots depending on whether they were flying against or with the wind. It was a seriously scary but exhilarating flight, but once down and safe, a far better option than being stuck at De Hoop with no hope of the weather clearing for days. Thanks to Keith Spencer and the Met, we had advised Mike and Peter of the impending bad whether and suggested they fly out of The Karoo National Park and straight to Stellenbosch. So sadly they missed the Overberg and De Hoop and Cape Agulhas. They wind was so strong when they took off from the Karoo National Park that there was no chance of them doing an overfly of that area either.
Col Bill de Pinho and Geoff Dalglish arranged the wonderful media briefing at Ysterplaat Air Base. We are so pleased that Ysterplaat shared the ‘honours’ of Africa MegaFlyover with us and would like to thank the South African Air Force and Col Kobus Butler and Major Joy Christie for their kind cooperation. Both Bill and Geoff reported on a great question and answer session which was relaxed as there was no time pressure due to the fact that, a) the weather was bad and b) their plane was grounded.
Unfortunately, apart from Mike and Peter not reporting to us, neither with text nor pictures, National Geographic also decided to change the way they were going to cover this whole expedition. They will only be posting details on their website from September. This due to the fact that schools and colleges - young people being their main target - have their long summer vacation now. But when they do get their web page on Africa MegaFlyover going, they will be starting with the launch on June 5 at Swartkop Airfield and following the South African, Namibian Botswana and Zambia routings before getting into sync with them. Hopefully, our website will be linked to the National Geographic webpage so we still have something to look forward to on the Africa MegaFlyover.
Just to end with, part of an email from Peter Ragg which had us rolling in the office:
