Hanks Aero Adventures' second season began with the arrival in June of Dan and Susie Ephraim, and their 18-year old daughter, Lizzie. Dan runs a business in Chicago manufacturing coffee grinders for industrial size applications. Enroute, asked occasionally by ATC where they were from, Dan would proudly announce "From the Home of the Champion Chicago Bulls!"
Their Self-Fly Safari® began at the Tuli Block of Botswana, continued through Botswana to the northern reaches of the Linyanti River just across from Namibia and onward to Zimbabwe. At all of the Safari lodges and camps in southern Africa, you quickly feel a part of the activities of the camp. However, you do not always know about all the duties of your guide. At times while you are fast asleep in your comfy Safari tents, there are muffled stirrings in the bushes. Often as not it might be your guide protecting you from the curious or the hungry. Lizzie had a wonderful experience when she was invited by one of the rangers, Moira at Lloyds Camp to sleep out in a raised hide. Lloyds Camp has been entertaining guests in the Savuti region of Botswana for years and the elephant population has come to regard Lloyds as a place to visit those guests. While elephants are generally merely curious, they are unaware of their size versus the width of a path and can do considerable damage if they decide to stroll through a camp. Rangers at Lloyds take turns at night guarding the camp by keeping watch. Lizzie got her turn to watch those magnificent pachyderms glide silently past the camp on her watch.
White Water Rafting
The Midwestern contingent showed up in force this year. Our second group to arrive also live along Lake Michigan. Led by Field Morey, founder of the innovative IFR West instrument flying program, the group of six flew two aircraft along a two week route into Zimbabwe and Botswana. Field and wife, Karen set out in a Cessna 206 with their friends the Klipsch's who have been on Safari in East Africa and now were getting the opportunity to see what southern Africa has to offer. Dan and Karen Gallistel took a C-182 on the same route. Dan, a former student of Field's, is an engineer and owns a new C-182 (serial # 20).
They followed a similar route to the Ephraims and had fantastic animal sightings. They also stayed two nights at Victoria Falls to participate in a full day of white water rafting on the Zambezi. Victoria Falls is well known for rafting and a number of companies outfit you in helmets, life jackets and either give you a paddle or tell you to "hang on tight." If you are going to "hang on tight", an oarsman sits in the middle of the rubber raft and guides the raft through the rapids.
If you take a paddle , all the members of your group paddle to the direction of a guide. In any case, it is rare to get through the rapids without at least one spill. Fortunately, the Zambezi has wonderful calm stretches between the rapids where you can recover, rest and anticipate the next rush of adrenalin as you face one more wild ride. The tortuous climb up out of the gorge awaits you at the end of your day, but that part is soon forgotten when in the evening you get to watch a video of the days trip in the company of all who participated that day.
Dust, Smoke and Clouds
In late August, Neal and Edna van Dorsten, along with friends Jim Trevorrow and Amanda Pena set out from Lanseria in a multicolored C-206 on a Self-Fly Safari® that took the foursome in the reverse direction to the Ephraims and Moreys.
The Van Dorsten party was the first to visit the remote Mana Pools (FVMP) strip to stay at Ruchomechi Camp. Ruchomechi, with its private, open-air bath set overlooking a broad expanse of the Zambezi River, got rave reviews. Access to the pristine expanse, a declared "World Heritage Site" requires flying into the sub-tropical lowlands of the Zambezi escarpment. The area is often hazy with dust and smoke from winter bushfires. The escarpment geography also lends itself to occasional cloud cover -- both of which were factors during the Van Dorsten safari.
Mana Pools is an uncontrolled gravel airstrip. There is no radar coverage nor even any controlling radio coverage in the Zambezi Valley. Area traffic operates strictly on a "see-and-avoid" basis. Neil, flying a short hop west from Mana Pools to Kariba for refueling, had to locate an eastbound charter flight that was descending through overcast in uncontrolled airspace. GPS position awareness (there are no ground based navaid signals in the Valley), accurate position reporting, and clear communications between aircraft are the only available means for traffic separation. After determining the two aircraft were in separate areas the incoming charter was able to do his letdown in the valley. Neal was able to climb through the overcast into sunshine and land visually at Kariba airport. "It is not something a novice pilot would be comfortable flying," Neal commented.
Expect the Unexpected
Our last two clients flew their Self-Fly Safaris® in September. Cynthia and Bob Tripp headed north first and then down the coast of South Africa, while Bruce and Brian Orisek flew to Botswana and Zimbabwe. We waved good bye to both of them on September 21and both had unique experiences.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: you don't have to be a rocket scientist to take a Self-Fly Safari®. Just as well, because none have applied. But Captain Robert Tripp came about as close to the real thing as we've found and a good thing because he put to test his experience. Bob Tripp, spent 30 years flying with the airlines including Western and Delta where he accumulated something in excess of 23,000 hours.
In college, Bob trained as an aeronautical engineer and worked, as best we can determine, on the edge and beyond all sorts of aircraft from C-172's, BD-10's, to MD-11's, L1011's, etc. He is one of the very few people ever approved by the FAA to fly "anything". Among his credentials are a "DER" (Designated Engineering Representative) qualifying him as "Test Pilot". Though retired from the airlines Bob still does occasional test flying but does a lot of writing. Watch for his byline in Flying and other magazines and look for a forthcoming novel.
Bob and Cynthia , spent a couple of months researching airline and bush flying operations in Africa concluding their visit with a 10-day Self-Fly Safari®. One of their stops was Barberton Lodge a quaint little hide-away set among giant granite boulders in southern Zimbabwe.
To get to Barberton, the Tripps cleared Zimbabwe Customs & Immigration (C&I) at Beit Bridge (FVBB) -- an unmanned dirt airstrip on the north side of the Limpopo River. This is an unusual experience. Step one -- telephone C&I officials in advance of your arrival. The Zimbabwe telephone system is about as poor as it gets. Step two -- buzz the Customs House to alert them of your actual arrival, and then go land at the field. (Imagine the Federal reaction if you flew a couple of low passes over the Customs House at Juarez or Tijuana!)
The airstrip is between town and an outlying village. Before landing you must make sure the strip is clear of dogs, children, bicycles, donkey carts, broken down automobiles, soccer games and picnicking villagers. A derelict Mooney is tied down on the side of the field, guarded by Mazunda who lives next to it in a ramshackle dwelling. He has been guarding this airplane for over 5 years, waiting for the owner to return. There is no fuel at the field and no telephone. The length of time you wait for C&I services depends on whether the officials noticed as you overflew the Customs house. Bob waited a while and then approached Mazunda for help. Mazunda -- friendly, helpful and used to such snafu's -- escorted him to the adjacent railway yard to use a phone to call Customs. Eventually they were cleared through and Bob and Cynthia hopped back in their C-172RG.
Bob and Cynthias’ patience was tried more than once on their Self-Fly Safari® and we applaud their spirit though out the trip. Their airplane suffered nose wheel damage when the wheel slipped off its rim at the unmanned Sodwana Bay airstrip.(The why is still under investigation, but a forgotten cotter pin may be the reason). With the use of cell phones and helpful South Africans, a mechanic was able to repair the wheel. Sodwana Bay is one of South Africa's pre-eminent diving sites. The Tripps, both certified divers got the opportunity to dive ---but since Murphys Law ruled the day, their full day dive was cut short due to high seas. The next day, with what they hoped was a repaired nose wheel they continued their coastal flying and were delighted to see plenty of sharks in the tropical waters below them. However, the rains came early this year and Bob had to do some fancy flying to reach their destination of Richards Bay along the Indian Ocean.
We kept in touch with the Tripps, helped as we could, and were well aware of their experiences. On the day of their return, we got to the airport early, turned on our hand held and anxiously awaited their arrival because the thunder clouds were in evidence. As per their flight plan, they arrived at Rand Airport on time, having battled headwinds and a particularly slow 172RG. Suspecting more damage to the nosewheel than was first noted, Bob made the decision to not retract the wheels. His instincts were correct. With some trepidation we waited for them to open their doors, but we were rewarded with their smiles! While they had numerous trying times, later that evening over dinner they told us wonderful stories of people they met and animals they saw.
"It was the Best Vacation I’ve Ever Had"
At 1400Z October 4, 1998, the wheels of ZS-NXW smoothly squeaked down on Lanseria's Runway 06 R and rolled out to the taxiway. At the controls, Dr.Bruce Orisek, an orthopedic surgeon from Aptos, California, brought to a successful conclusion Hanks Aero Adventures' second season of African Self-Fly Safaris®. Bruce, looking sunned, emerged from the cockpit with a smile on his face saying "It was the best vacation I've ever had! And you can quote me on that!" Dr. Brian Orisek, a plastic surgeon from Los Gatos, California, concurred. "We saw just about everything there is to see... We even saw a lion kill!". Brian is a student pilot.
The twin brothers, who termed their Safari a "celebration", were the first to have used a Cessna 172 to fly their 14-day, 2000 nm safari. They found the 180-hp SP version fully up to the task though slow (110 knots) and short on range (4 hours). But, as a result, they logged more flying time and landed at more airstrips than others who've used faster, longer-range aircraft.
The Orisek's were the first Safari pilots to visit South Africa's renowned Mala Mala reserve. They spent two nights at the Mashatu Lodge at Botswana's eastern Tuli Block and Nxamaseri Lodge in the Okavango Delta's remote northwest panhandle; they were among the very last visitors to the rustic and legendary Lloyd's Camp which ceased operations at the end of 1998; they peered over the edge of the Zambezi River and overnighted at the luxurious colonial-era Victoria Falls Hotel.
They followed the Zambezi River northeast to the Matusadona Water Lodge and landed at the notorious Tashinga Airstrip -- grazing ground for Rhino. From there they began their journey south to the gracious Makalolo Plains lodge deep inside Zimbabwe's famous Hwange National Park. They spent their final day flying a long series of legs to Bulawayo and Pietersburg on their way back to the Johannesburg area.