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14 June 2008. Maribor to Geneva, Switzerland (IFR 3:36 hrs). Normally peaceful Maribor Airport, rather like our hotel last night, was also a hive of activity this morning as an air show was due to start at 1 p.m. We were lucky with the weather, as yesterday would have been no good and the forecast for tomorrow was also bad. It was a wonderful trip but, as always, we're glad to be back home again.
13 June 2008. Slovenia. Matevz had a meeting to attend in Slovenia's pretty capital, Ljubljana, so we took a ride there with him and did some sightseeing. It started to rain as we walked up to the castle but we were able to stay in the dry visiting the indoor exhibitions. We lunched with Matevz in a traditional restaurant that he used to frequent in his student days.
12 June 2008. Mitilini to Maribor, Slovenia (IFR 5:10 hrs). Although we were at the airport at 7 a.m. local time, we only got in the air by 8:45. The main reason for the delay was caused by Olympic Airways. They spent 45 minutes trying to print out an invoice for the compulsory EUR 75 handling fee. With visibility of 6 km in light rain, ceiling broken at 2600 feet, scattered clouds below, and unfamiliar terrain with lots of mountains around, we abandoned the idea to cancel IFR at Maribor and fly VFR to Slovenj Gradec.
11 June 2008. Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece. We spent the morning on Eftalou beach, stony but much prettier and wilder than Petra. A delicious lunch at the Panorama restaurant with, as the name might suggest, a superb view over Molyvos and the surrounding coastline and hills.
10 June 2008. Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece. It was a fine, albeit windy day which didn't prevent us from spending a relaxing afternoon at Petra beach. We even went for a dip in the Mediterranean which was rather fresher than the tropical waters we have been used to these past months.
9 June 2008. Istanbul to Mitilini, Lesbos, Greece (IFR 2:24). After arriving at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen airport, I was happy to receive the landing and parking fee bill of 'only' 94 Euros (137 US$) until they produced another bill for handling of 154 Euros (242 US$). Then we filled the wing tanks up with 245 liters @ 2.50 Euros per liter, the most expensive since Reunion. However, Istanbul is a very beautiful city full of magnificent buildings and treasures from its glorious past, so it was worth it.
8 June 2008. Istanbul, Turkey. Visit to Topkapi Palace with all the splendours and treasures of the Ottoman empire. Afternoon cruise on the Bosphorus and visit to Pierreloti hill for a great view of Istanbul.
7 June 2008. Istanbul, Turkey. Visit to Aya Sofya church, 1500 years old but still splendid. Sightseeing and shopping in the Grand Bazaar. In the afternoon, visit to the Blue Mosque and the Turkish and Islamic Arts museum.
Met up with Heribert and Jacques, whom we met in Sanliurfa. After an aperitif at Heriberts house in Beyoglu, they took us to Heribert's local haunt frequented by Turks rather than tourists.
6 June 2008. Nevsehir to Istanbul, Turkey (VFR/IFR 2:13 hrs). Hasan woke us up at 5 am just before sunrise, and 10 minutes later Sultan Balloons picked us up by their car. Soon we were airborne and flew meters above the magnificent canyons and rock formations in Rose Valley.
After an early breakfast, Hasan drove us to the airport, where we paid him cash in US$ for the carpets we had bought. We hope that the value of the Turkish carpets we have bought will rise faster than the value of the US$ is going down!
At the airport the departure formalities went smoothly. We joined IFR from the Ankara TMA boundary and had a somewhat bumpy flight in and out of CB's at FL100 with a 10 knot headwind.
5 June 2008. Göreme, Turkey. Up at 5:30 am for a hot air balloon ride which was cancelled due to wind. After breakfast, Hasan took us to the Göreme open air museum, where we visited numerous Christian churches also carved out of rock. Most of them were from the 11th and 12th centuries.
4 June 2008. Göreme, Turkey. Hasan took us for a walking tour of Göreme, followed by a walk in the Rose Valley, where we visited houses and pigeon houses carved out of the sandstone rock. He then took us to his carpet shop where he offered us tea and lunch and showed us his wares. Unfortunately for our wallets, we liked some of his kilims, carpets and sumaks.
3 June 2008. Sanliurfa to Nevsehir, Turkey (VFR 2:03 hrs). Yussuf drove us to the airport, where Flemming quickly got access to the apron to replace the right magneto gasket, which due to vibration was leaking more and more oil. Access to the magneto nuts is very difficult on a Mooney and special spanners are required. Fortunately the tools we had bought in Sanliurfa worked fine and after 4 hours the magneto was back on and the timing was checked.
Flemming went to the briefing office to file the flight plan and pay landing and parking fees. Half an hour before landing in Nevsehir, we had great views of the majestic Erciyes volcano, the second highest mountain in Turkey after Mt Ararat.
31 May 2008. Tabriz to Sanliurfa, Turkey (VFR 3:31 hrs). Our handling agent Mr. Balalian from Safiran picked us up at our hotel at 7:30 as we were aiming for a 9 am departure. Although we had a handling agent who ought to know the rules for parking, landing and navigation fees by heart, we still finished up arguing for half an hour about whether we should pay international rates or domestic rates which are only 23% of the international rates. When we were already in the aircraft and had received start-up clearance, Mr. Balalian suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to call the immigration people to get our passports stamped and, more important, register our departure in their computers. So back to the terminal where the flight plan was delayed for 45 minutes as the immigration officer had to come from town. We finally took off about an hour later than planned.
30 May 2008. Tabriz, Iran. We considered going to a new intenational airport in Sanliurfa near the Syrian border or to Nevsehir (Cappadocia), but the weather was still not good enough to cross the high mountains between Iran and Turkey. Had a quiet day and visited the El Goli park with another palace built by Shah Abbas in the 17th century.
29 May 2008. Esfahan to Tabriz, Iran (IFR 3:56). Everything worked like clockwork at departure. They had even reduced the steep landing and parking fees to the domestic rates, so we only had to pay US$ 137 for landing, navigation and parking fees for three days. Due to dust haze, the visibility at Esfahan was only 2000 meters. The climb was slow to FL160, the minimum IFR altitude and even up there we were below the top of the haze layer.
28 May 2008. Esfahan, Iran. Back to Chehel Sotun palace and Imam square for more carpet shopping in the Bazaar-e Bozorg and visits to the Ali Qapy palace and Imam Mosque.
27 May 2008. Esfahan, Iran. Visit of Hasht Behest palace and Chehel Sotun (40 columns) palace. Nice lunch at the Traditional Banquet Hall restaurant at the wonderful Imam Square.
26 May 2008. Shiraz to Esfahan, Iran (VFR 1:41). Arrived at Shiraz airport at 8 am for a 9 am departure. Upon arrival the friendly and helpful terminal manager called the briefing office for departure clearance, and I was informed that I had to go back as they had made mistakes with the landing and parking fees. Half an hour later a car took me the 2 kms to the briefing office, and I was informed that I had to pay an additional 280 US$. Then the fuel truck had broken down, and after 45 mins they came with a trailer with two 200 liter barrels of Avgas 100LL, and it took a while to transfer the contents of one of them manually. So when we finally called up tower for start-up two hours after our scheduled departure time, we were informed that our flight plan had expired and we had to go back to the briefing office to file a new one!
25 May 2008. Shiraz, Iran. Flemming took a taxi to the airport to inspect the engine oil leak, which had got worse since Salalah, while Angela worked on the internet. Although the terminal manager in the domestic terminal was very helpful, it took an hour, many phone calls and visits to three different security offices before I got a security badge and permission to enter the apron. Soon the cowling was off, and I discovered that the right magneto was loose and was the cause of the oil leak.
24 May 2008. Shiraz, Iran. A friendly taxi driver (Mahmood Bahmani) whom we had met in the airport the day before, came to our hotel at 7:30 to drive us to Persepolis and Naqsh-e Rostam. Persepolis was a palace complex built between 500 and 300 BC.
23 May 2008. Muscat to Shiraz, Iran (IFR 4:06). Although the landing and parking fees to OAMC (Oman Airports Management Co.) were a reasonable 11 OMR (30 US$), we also had to pay a handling bill from Oman Air of 55.5 OMR (150 US$) for which we did not receive many services apart from a huge passenger bus for our departure. Air traffic control under radar through Oman and UAE went smoothly and we were soon talking to Teheran and making our position reports to them, as they only had partial radar coverage.
19 May 2008. Salalah to Muscat, Oman (IFR 3:59). We planned our departure from Salalah at 3 pm local time so as to reach Muscat just after sunset to reduce the suffering from the heat as daytime temperatures recently has been around 44 degrees. Flew over the desert at 11'000 feet near the top of a dust haze layer, so only visibility straight down. We landed 15 minutes after sunset, but the temperature was still 39 degrees with a dew-point of 5 degrees so very dry.
16 May 2008. Mahé, Seychelles, to Salalah, Oman (IFR 10:11). As we had been warned, landing and handling fees were steep: 457 euros of which 120 was handling fees and the 3 landing fees were 106 euros each. It is all run by Air Seychelles. Five hours after departure as we approached the Somalia FIR boundary, we encountered as expected from the infrared satellite photos our old friend, the intertropical convergence zone, and we then had a 400 nautical mile battle with it.
13 May 2008. La Digue to Praslin (ferry), Praslin to Seychelles International, Mahé Island (VFR 0:15). Filled up the plane with Avgas, including the cabin tank, in preparation for the 9 and a half hour flight on Friday to Salalah, Oman. The price was a reasonable US$ 1.97 per liter, cheap compared with the US$ 4.16 we had to pay in Réunion.
8 May 2008. St. Pierre, Réunion to Seychelles International (VFR/IFR 7:26) to Praslin, Seychelles (VFR 0:15). Usually the Cirques of Réunion are clear of clouds until 9 - 10 am. As we were leaving early anyhow, the plan was to fly VFR through the three Cirques (Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie), and then join IFR at St. Denis Gilot on the north side of the island for the long flight over the Indian Ocean to Seychelles.
28 April 2009. Mauritius International to St. Pierre, Réunion. (IFR 1:23). Early morning internet work on Indra's computer for FSI paperwork for Iran and Yemen clearances. Departure formalities at this big airport went smoothly as the operations office was very helpful.
27 April 2008. Rodrigues to Mauritius International, Mauritius (IFR 2:21). Laval Baptiste went with us for a drive to Gravier, where they are building their new chambre d'hôte at a lovely site near the beach. It is due to open in October 2008. Laval, Françoise and their family came with us to the airport to see us take off.
22 April 2008. Mauritius International to Rodrigues, Mauritius (IFR 2:36). After breakfast, we took the scenic route along the south coast of Mauritius to the airport. As could be expected, it took a while to get through the security checks and immigration, but as soon as we called the airport operations office, they took good care of us and drove us to the plane.
21 April 2008. Mauritius. Drove to Flic en Flac where Flemming went diving on the 'Rempart Serpent' reef, while Angela went snorkelling. We had lunch in Pamplemousse at the Sugar Factory museum, and later searched the village for a view of a church with a mountain behind, which was painted by a Danish sailor, Friedrich von Scholten in about 1825. We found both the church and the 'Pic de Boeuf' mountain behind, but due to construction, and big old trees it was impossible to get the same view as 180 years ago. In the evening entertaining dinner at 'Les Lataniers Bleus' at a long table with the other guests, who were mainly from Grenoble.
20 April 2008. St Pierre, Réunion to Mauritius (IFR 1:22). There were a couple of CB's with rain showers which we had to fly through on the way. Mauritius International was quite busy with airline traffic and, like Réunion, they have no radar. Weather was definitely IFR: wind 090/8, visibility 2 km in rain, clouds few 400, few 1200, bkn 1300, broken 4500, temp 24/23, QNH 1019. So the majority of the flight was in IMC.
18 April 2008 Maroantsetra to Toamasina (IFR 1:16) to St Pierre, Réunion (IFR 2:54). While the landing fees at Maroantsetra were a reasonable 6 EUR, we had promised to pay the guardian 20 EUR for guarding the plane for two nights, as the airport had absolutely no security or fencing with both cows and people walking on the runway. Weather was fine on departure but soon the sky was charged up with numerous rain showers, as could be expected on the wet side of the island. Good HF contact with Tana information. When in contact with Toamasina, we discovered that Toamasina was IFR with few at 300 feet and visibility 5 km in light rain, so we were glad that they had an ILS and that it was working. We added another 200 litres of 100LL Avgas from a barrel as we knew that at US$ 2 per litre it would be half of what we were going to pay in Reunion, so we departed heavy with 13 hours of fuel on board. Weather at FL90 was fine enroute a part from a few scattered rain showers. Welcoming reception at St Pierre airport by Mr. Courtois, manager of the airport. We were soon installed in charming Villa Belle in St Pierre. In the evening Eddy Delaey (ex-president of Aéroclub du Sud) came for a drink and a chat and later we celebrated Flemming's birthday at Villa Belle with a delicious dinner cooked by Antonio.
16 April 2008. Antsiranana to Maroantsetra, Madagascar (IFR 1:36). Landing and parking fees at Antsiranana were a charming 1 Euro. Refuelled from a 200 l barrel for US$ 2.50 per litre. Initially the HF contact with Tana was excellent, but as we got close to Maroantsetra, we arrived in the dead zone again. Had lunch in the Relais de Masoala lodge and then went for a nice late aftenoon river cruise with our guide Seraphin. In the evening another guide, Julien, took us for nocturnal visit to a nearby forest, where he found the elusive aiye aiye lemur in a palm tree.
13 April 2008. Anjajavy to Antsiranana, Madagascar (VFR 1:35). Early morning walk before breakfast to the five criques, then transfer to the airstrip by Nathalie. Pleasant low level flight over Moramba bay and after that up to FL75 for the rest of the way. We flew over Nosy Be Island, which clearly had a very much developed tourist industry. Excellent HF communications with Tana information. Karl Heinz Horner from Domaine de Fontenay received us at the airport and drove us the 25 km to Joffreville, where the temperature due to the 800 m elevation is about 5 degrees lower than at sea level.
10 April 2008. Terres Blanches to Anjajavy, Madagascar. Transfer by boat to Hotel Anjajavy by Patrick Gay's speedboat. After unloading our luggage, we got picked up by Patrick Rochet's speedboat with Jacky and most of the other Terres Blanches guests for a beautiful excursion to Moramba Bay with its numerous tsingy limestone islands and baobab trees. Lunch at Anjajavy with Jean Yves and Kathleen de Vaubernier and Patrick Gay.
9 April 2008. Terres Blanches. Morning boat excursion with Jacky, Richard and Sébastien to beautiful little bays with caves with light tunnels. Jacky also showed us caves with bats and caves which were used as cemeteries about 400 years ago with canoe-like carved coffins and skeletons. Nobody knows this area better than Jacky. In the evening we were invited for drinks at the house of one of Jacky's neighbours, Patrick Gay. Here we also met another interesting neighbour Patrick Rochet, who has his own ultra-light aircraft (ULM) and airstrip.
8 April 2008 Mahajanga to Anjajavy, Madagascar (VFR 0:35). Pleasant transfer by the air-conditioned car of Ankarafantsika. At the airport, we met Jacky Cauvin, who was in town with his Rallye airplane for shopping. He departed half an hour before us, and as we had agreed that the ups and downs of the airstrip of Lodge des Terres Blanches were a bit too much for our dear Honeymooney, we did a high-speed low pass over the Terres Blanches airstrip 12 NM before Anjajavy. Jacky then took off and flew to Anjajavy to pick us up in his Rallye aircraft, which, thanks to its high drag and lower approach speed, is much better suited to the strip at Lodge des Terres Blanches.
5 April 2008. Dzaoudzi, Mayotte to Mahajanga, Madagascar (IFR 1:25). After an early breakfast we left the hotel by 7:15 am (heavy rain shower) and the transfer by car, ferry and car to the airport took about 2 hours. Airport formalities were quick and efficient, landing and parking fees non-existent! After landing in Mahajanga, we were welcomed by a huge committee of various officials from health, customs, passport police etc., and we had to make out 4 general declarations so that they all could have a copy. After that, and after handing out dollar bills like an ATM machine, we were rewarded by the largest number of receipts of various kinds that I had ever seen at any international arrival.
2 April 2008. Quirimba to Pemba, Mozambique (VFR 0:20) to Dzaoudzi, Mayotte (IFR 2:10, FL90). After an early breakfast, Gregg and helpers took us by speedboat to the western side of Quirimba, where Hans Spithmann came in the Quilálea jeep to take us to the Quirimba airstrip. Short flight at 1000 feet to Pemba, where we refuelled with 273 litres at 1.73 US$ per litre. Great view of the coastline and reefs surrounding Mayotte on the approach. Arrival formalities were quick and efficient, and we were met by Mohammed who looked after our transfer to the Jardin Maoré hotel by car, then ferry and then another car.
1 April 2008. Quilaluia island. Morning walk-in dive with Dan on the house reef, Lagosta Alley: turtle, ribbon eel, shrimps. Romantic lunch on turtle beach at the east end of Quilálea. But the after lunch snorkelling was not so good due to shallow water. Afternoon sunset cruise with local dhow, great sailing and sunset. Another romantic dinner on the main beach. Great place for honeymooners, but after all, that is what we are still doing 20 years later!
31 March 2008. Quilaluia island. Walk around the island before breakfast. Morning dive with Dan at the 'Canyon' south of the island. Afternoon dive at 'Sencar Shamba' outside the reef. Saw mating turtles and dolphins on the way. Napoleon fish and turtle under water. Romantic candlelight dinner in a little hut overlooking the main beach. Chat with the South African farmer family Miles and Denise.
30 March 2008. Ibo island to Quirimba island (VFR 0:06). We were greeted after landing by Hans Spithmann, who now operates the coconut plantation there. He is a nephew of coconut plantation owner Joachim Gerstner, who died a few years ago. Boat transfer to Quilálea resort on the Quilaluia island.
29 March 2008. Ibo Island. Morning snorkel trip by boat with a local dhow, which besides sails also had a 55 hp outboard. Excellent visibility. Walking tour of Ibo village in late afternoon with Ali.
28 March 2008. Lumbo to Ibo Island (VFR 1:13). After departure, great aerial views of Ilha de Moçambique. We were received in Ibo Island Lodge by Cassius, Peter and Therin. Great lunch in the garden of Ibo Island Lodge. Late afternoon historical tour of Ibo with Ali. Sundowners and dinner on the rooftop terrace.
27 March 2008. Ilha de Moçambique. Morning visit of the magnificent San Sebastian fort (Fortaleza de São Sebastião) followed by a guided tour of the São Paolo palace. Good lunch at the Relíquias restaurant. Afternoon dhow cruise along the north western shore of Ilha de Moçambique. Dinner again in 'O Escondidinho' restaurant.
26 March 2008. Cóbuè to Nampula (IFR 2:45) and Nampula to Lumbo (VFR 0:40). Boat transfer at 7 a.m. Rough take-off downhill on runway 29. After refuelling in Nampula, we were told that due to the visit of the Portuguese president to Ilha de Moçambique, his plane was blocking the only useable runway in Lumbo until 5 p.m.
25 March 2008. Nkwichi Lodge. Early morning walk to the lookout point and what is claimed to be Africa's second largest baobab tree. Flemming tried to help Emiel and Simon to set up their broadband satellite internet connection. More snorkelling in Lake Niassa.
24 March 2008. Nkwichi Lodge. Visit to the community farm with Silvia in the morning. Snorkelling in crystal clear Niassa (=Malawi) Lake in the afternoon. Lunch and dinner on the platform.
23 March 2008. Bazaruto to Cóbuè (IFR 4:24 FL90/100). Simon at Nkwichi Lodge confirmed that although the ditch carved out near the middle of the runway by a recent rainstorm was filled, we should only touch down after the ditch landing uphill on runway 11.
22 March 2008. Outing by boat to nearby Paradise Island (= Santa Carolina island). Excellent snorkelling with lots of fish and corals.
21 March 2008. The scuba dive outing was cancelled due to waves and wind, so we went on a snorkelling trip in stead in the lagoon on the north east side of the island. Nice sunset walk on the sand spit sticking out on the north west side of the island.
20 March 2008. Vilankulo to Bazaruto Lodge (VFR 0:17 hrs). Robert and Rosemary took us for a tour of Vilankulo before we took off for the short hop to Bazaruto Island. We were welcomed at the airstrip by Louis Erasmus, who has operated the Bazaruto Lodge and lived on the island for 18 years. Portugal's president Anibal Cavaco SILVA and his family was also on a private (but discrete) holiday on this lodge.
19 March 2008. Djuma to Kruger International (VFR/IFR 0:49). Kruger International to Vilankulo, Mozambique (IFR 2:43). Djuma was CAVOK, while Kruger was broken 800 feet and visibility 4k. So with all the rocky outcrops nearby, we decided to to climb up to 8000 feet and do the full ILS 05 procedure. We were welcomed in Vilankulo by Robert Forrester. Robert and his wife Rosemary were friends of Angela in Brazil, and she had not seen them for at least 26 years. They invited us to stay with them.
18 March 2008. Djuma game reserve. Another early morning game drive before breakfast. We saw two male rhinos as well as hippos, impalas, kudus. During the evening game drive we spotted a leopard which had killed an aardvark (antbear).
17 March 2008. Djuma game reserve. Early morning game drive before breakfast. We spotted a leopard, which we followed for about an hour, giraffe with a calf, wildebeest, kudus and impalas. During the evening game drive, we saw a couple of male elephants and a family of 3 female lions with 8 cubs. All of the 'big five' in little over a day.
16 March 2008. Lanseria to Djuma (IFR 1:51). The departure weather was as bad as it was forecast to be: clouds broken 400 feet, visibility 3 km, gusty winds out of the east. Fortunately near Skukuza where we had planned to make our NDB approach to get below the clouds, the ceiling was better: clouds broken 2000 feet and the visibility improved to 4 - 6 km. Our game driver Andrew from Djuma Bush Camp came to pick us up, and we arrived just in time for lunch. Game drive late afternoon. We were lucky to see a couple of rhinos as well as a hippo, kudus, water buffalos, vervet monkeys, impalas and wildebeest.
15 March 2008. Rainy day in Johannesburg. Lunch with Brigitte Cross and dinner with Dave and Lesley Tweedley. Brigitte gave valuable advice on how to proceed IFR/VFR to Djuma (IFR approach into either Hoedspruit or Skukuza) the following day as the weather was forecast to be IFR along most of the route.
14 March 2008. Harrismith to Lanseria (IFR 1:39). Good that Lanseria has an instrument approach, as weather along the whole route was IFR. Put on hold for 15 mins due to traffic. Drove to St. Johns College library in Johannesburg, where we spent several hours with the librarian studying Eustace St Clair Hill's Boer war diary and other letters related to him. Eustace was the headmaster there 1922-30. He was a brother to Angela's great-grandfather.
13 March 2008. Heavy rain all day long! Internet duties...
12 March 2008. Hiking in the Royal Natal National Park.
11 March 2008. Grahamstown to Harrismith (VFR 2:50). Drove to Drakensberg where we stayed in the comfortable Hlalanathi chalets.
10 March 2008. Drove to Kasouga farm where we were welcomed by Angela's 3rd cousin Walter Currie and his wife Jenny. Game drive with Walter's father Jeffery Currie and then dinner with the Curries. Spent the night at Pam and Andrew Bowker's house, also at Kasouga.
9 March 2008. Stellenbosch to Grahamstown (IFR 2:52). Drove to the Bowker Safari game farm called 'Thorn Kloof', where we were welcomed by Angela's 4th cousins Denham and Meyrick Bowker and their wives. Bowkers have occupied this family farm since 1842 or 6 generations. Splendid cemetery with many Bowker generations, including Angela's 3x great-grandparents.
8 March 2008. Lunch hosted by Stellenbosch Flying Club for all the Earthrounders. Reinstalled the extra fuel tank in Honey Mooney in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning. Farewell dinner at the Spier's winery restaurant, the Moyo. Angela's handbag was unfortunately stolen during the dinner. It contained some money, two pairs of prescription glasses, two credit cards, but fortunately her passport was not in there.
7 March. 2008. Boat trip to Robben Island where political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela were incarcerated during the Apartheid era. Visit to Frank's Heaven kindergarten at Kylemore, financed by Frank Hettlich and his family. Wine tasting, followed by dinner at Tokara Restaurant with all the Earthrounders. The flag for organizing the next meeting to be held in 2010 was passed to Margi and Gérard Moss (Brazil).
6 March 2008. Scenic walk on Table Mountain in clear weather, then joined the Earthrounders at the Black Marlin Restaurant near Boulders Beach. A divine dinner at the D'Vine Restaurant.
5 March 2008. Roundtable with the Earthrounders at Erinvale Club House. Excellent presentation by Ricky de Agrela (South African) on his round-the-world flight in a weight-shift microlight. Lunch at Vergelegen Vineyard.
4 March 2008. Dinner at Erinvale Estate Club House with the Earthrounders.
3 March 2008. Lunched with Claude Reymond at Avontuur winery in Stellenbosch and then visited the town and its museums. Drinks at the Hettlich's house with those of the Earthrounders who had already arrived, followed by dinner at the Erinvale Hotel pub.
2 March 2008. Retrieved Honey Mooney from the hangar at Stellenbosch Flying Club and took Claude Reymond and Angela's cousin Laurel and her husband Eduard for a flight over Cape Peninsula. Dinner with Laurel and Eduard in Stellenbosch.
1 March 2008. Arrived back in Cape Town with South African Airlines. Met up with Swiss aviator friend Claude Reymond for dinner at Henry's Restaurant in Somerset West.
13 December 2007. Last day in South Africa. Packing, lunch at Steffanie's and a last little spin with Honey-Mooney over the pretty vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Back to Europe tonight with South African Airlines. The journey continues after the Earthrounder meeting in March 2008.
12 December 2007. Tour of the Cape peninsula: Hout Bay, lunch at Black Marlin near Boulders Beach. Beautiful walk from Cape Point to Cape of Good Hope. Penguins at Boulders Beach.
11 December 2007. Visited the charming small town of Franschhoek. Lunch at Grande Provence winery. Club night at Stellenbosch Flying Club where we met several local aviators.
10 December 2007. Walk in the centre of Capetown. Sunset cruise in Table Bay. Dinner at 'Den Anker' at the Waterfront, where we met up with South African micro-light Earthrounder Ricky De Angrela (RTW 2003/2004).
9 December 2007. After breakfast, Eric drove us to the Montagu airstrip, which is useable for our Mooney should we come back. We then drove back to Somerset West via Robertson, where we bought some excellent Robertson Winery Pinotage. Dinner in Stellenbosch with Alex, Laurel and Eduard.
8 December 2007. Visit to Swellendam. Lunch at charming 'La Belle Alliance' restaurant and back for nice walk and a superb French dinner at 'Les Hauts de Montagu'.
7 December 2007. Drove to Montagu via the beautiful and windy south coast: Gordon's Bay, Cape Hangklip, Betty's Bay, Kleinmond and Hermanus. Then through a hole in the rock (gateway to Klein Karoo) to Montagu, where we stayed for two nights at 'Les Hauts de Montagu', an old Huguenot farm owned and recently renovated by a charming French couple: Eric and Myriam Brilliant.
6 December 2007. Quiet day in Somerset West.
5 December 2007. Plettenberg Bay to Stellenbosch (IFR 1:52 hrs). Transfer by 4WD to Storms River mouth, from where we drove our rental car to Plettenberg Bay airport. We had the usual 20 knots on the nose at FL100, where we were on top of an overcast.
4 December 2007. A beautiful sunny day! We had a great 6 hour hike along the coast with our guides Marius Sky and Nico to the luxurious Fernery, where we stayed the last night of the Dolphin Trail hike.
3 December 2007. Not a good start on the Dolphin Trail hike: it was raining and the boardwalk giving access to the pedestrian Storms River suspension bridge burned during a major fire 5 months ago. In addition, the Storms river boat was out of service.
2 December 2007. Port Alfred to Plettenberg Bay (VFR 1:46 hrs). Drove to Storms River mouth in the Tsitsikamma National Park, where we stayed overnight in a chalet. This is the start of the two day Dolphin Trail along the coast.
1 December 2007. Joined the Christmas lunch of the 1820 Settlers Association in St Andrew's College in Grahamstown. In the afternoon, we met up with Angela Mitford Barberton in Grahamstown. She was married to the late Roland Mitford Barberton, another Bowker descendant, who had done a lot of recent Bowker genealogy research before he died. Dinner in Port Alfred.
30 November 2007. Rainy day in Kasouga, Port Alfred. Working on our web pages. In the afternoon we met Angela's second cousin once removed Jeff Currie, who also lives in Kasouga. Dinner in the evening with Andrew and Pamela Bowker at their house in Kasouga.
29 November 2007. Visit to St. John's Church in Bathurst guided by a local historian Merwynne Jones. Drove to Kasouga on the coast, where we are staying with Andrew and Pamela Bowker for the next 3 days. Dinner in Port Alfred with SA Mooney owner Patrick and Janis Hanly.
28 November 2007. We met up with Chis and Jan Webb at Tharfield, the 2000 ha farm the Bowker family (Miles Bowker is Angela's 4xgreat-grandfather and an 1820 settler) ran from the 1820's until it was sold to Chris Webb's great-grandfather in 1925. Walk from the Riet river mouth on the beach to the 3 sisters (rocks) near the coastal end of Tharfield.
27 November 2007. Rainy day in Grahamstown. Visit to the History Museum department of Albany museum. Interesting display depicting the conflicts with the Xhosas which followed the occupation of the land by the 1820 settlers. Drove to Bathurst in the afternoon where we checked into the Pig'n Whistle, the oldest pub in SA dating from 1832.
26 November 2007. Mountain Zebra National Park (Cradock) to Grahamstown, where we stayed in a luxurious B&B 7 Worcester Street. Good lunch in the Yellow Piano on High Street followed by an interesting visit to the Observatory Museum. Dinner at 'La Galleria', an excellent Italian restaurant
25 November 2007. Morning walk near the Mountain Zebra Lodge followed by game drive in the game reserve: rock dassies, baboons, springbok, Cape mountain zebras, wildebeest, eland, red hartebeest, blesbuck, jackal, vervet monkeys.
24 November 2007. After breakfast in the Drostdy hotel in Graaff-Reinet, we drove to the remote Karoo village of Nieu Bethesda, where we had lunch and visited the owl house. Then the weather cleared up, and we had a beautiful drive through the Karoo highlands to Mountain Zebra National Park near Cradock.
23 November 2007. After breakfast we went for the 14 km long Eerstefontain hike in the Camdeboo National park. After that, we drove up to the viewpoint above the Valley of Desolation followed by a game drive in the Camdeboo game viewing area, where we saw lots of eland, ostrich, gemsbok (oryx), wildebeest and blesbuck.
22 November 2007. After breakfast, we drove to the charming Karoo town of Graaff-Reinet where we checked into the Drostdy Hotel and had a light lunch in their garden. Afternoon visit to a few of the interesting museums in Graaff-Reinet.
21 November 2007. Game drive in the Addo Elephant Park, where we only saw one of the big five: Elephants.
20 November 2007. Stellenbosch to Port Alfred (VFR/IFR 2:59 hrs). Pretty flight through the Franschhoek valley east of Stellenbosch to Port Alfred. Went by car to Addo where we stayed in Valley View B&B near the Addo Elephant Park.
19 November 2007. Back to Stellenbosch airfield to fix the door brake attachment on Honey Mooney.
18 November 2007. Shopping and lunch outing to the Waterfront in Cape Town with Bob and Fizzy.
17 November 2007. Stellenbosch to Lamberts Bay (VFR 1:18 hrs) via Cape of Good Hope and back (VFR 0:59). Lunch at Lamberts Bay hotel.
16 November 2007. 50 hour maintenance of Honey Mooney at Stellenbosch. Lunch with Bob, Fizzy, Mouse and Tom at a Stellenbosch winery. BBQ at Bob and Fizzy's house with Roger and Linda in the evening.
15 November 2007. Morning shopping at a large California-style shopping mall in Somerset West. Afternoon walk with Dorise Hettlich up the Heldeberg mountain to the spot by a stream where she had scattered her husband Frank's ashes earlier this year. We toasted Frank with a bottle of champagne and a freshly baked almond cake. Dinner at Camps Bay with Fizzy, Bob and their friends Benny and Rica.
14 November 2007. Twee Rivieren to Stellenbosch near Capetown (VFR 3:10 hrs). We set off early to avoid the thermals and flew south in smooth air over pink desert until about the last half hour when we had to duck below the low cloud layer surrounding the Capetown area.
13 November 2007. Up at 5:10 am to see the sunrise in the park next to the sleepy and tired lion couple, that had moved 2 km south during the night. Mighty lion roars. After almost two hours of waiting, we were finally rewarded by some lion action.
12 November 2007. Game Drive all day in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. In the afternoon, we found a mating pair of lions 14 kms from the Twee Rivieren gate.
11 November 2007. Karios to Keetmanshoop, Namibia (VFR 1:00 hrs), Keetmanshoop to Upington, South Africa (VFR 1:22 hrs), Upington to Twee Rivieren, South Africa (VFR 0:59 hrs).
10 November 2007. Morning walk near the Cañon Lodge. Lunch at Cañon Lodge. Lazy afternoon by the pool.
9 November 2007. Morning excursion to the Fish River Canyon. Evening walk in the hills above Cañon Village lodge.
8 November 2007. Lüderitz to Karios (Cañon Lodge), Namibia (VFR 1:11 hrs). 3 nights at the Cañon Village lodge, Fish River Canyon. Evening walk to 'Sun downer Rock'.
7 November 2007. Geluk to Lüderitz, Namibia (VFR 1:06). Windy landing with 25 - 30 knots from SW. Charming little diamond mining and fishing town with numerous colonial buildings from the beginning of the 20th century.
6 November 2007. Swakopmund to Geluk, Namibia (VFR 1:12 hrs). Stayed at Kulala Lodge for one night. Sesriem canyon in the evening and early morning tour of the magnificent dunes of Sossusvlei followed by brunch under a tree.
5 November 2007. Twyfelfontein Lodge to Swakopmund, Namibia (VFR 1:01 hrs). Early morning walk with our friendly guide Marcel, then breakfast and a smooth flight to cool Swakopmund by the coast, where we stayed in the Hansa Hotel. Superb dinner in the evening
3 November 2007. Vingerklip Lodge to Twyfelfontein Lodge (VFR 0:32 hrs). Early morning walk to Vingerklip rock. Baboons, oryx, helmeted guinea fowl, korhaan.
2 November 2007. Palmwag Lodge to Vingerklip Lodge (VFR 0:43 hrs). Up early again for a 2 hour game walk along the riverbed with Peter, followed by transfer to the airstrip and a pleasant low level flight in smooth air through the most beautiful tabletop rock formations of Namibia - the Namibian monument valley - and landing next to the spectacular Vingerklip rock. Sundowners and evening sunset dinner at the 'Eagle Nest' restaurant beautifully situated on top of the nearby tabletop mountain Ugab Terraces.
1 November 2007. Up by 05:45 am and breakfast by 06:30 am. Early morning game drive where we saw Hartman mountain zebras, oryx, springbok, steenbok, giraffes and ostriches. But no rhinos...
31 October 2007. Terrace Bay to Palmwag Lodge (VFR 0:31 hrs). Evening game walk with our guide Peter. Saw elephants, oryx and springbok. Food and wine were good at the Palmwag lodge.
30 October 2007. Immenhof to Terrace Bay (VFR 0:21 hrs). Slight damage to inner gear door from edge of concrete blast pad while parking, but it could be fixed. Temperatures dropped from +25 degrees at 5000 feet to a cool 20 degrees at sea level by the skeleton coast. Walk along the coast amongst elephant skeletons.
29 October 2007. Relaxing day at the Immenhof farm. Morning farm tour with Bernard. Evening horse ride with Thomas.
28 October 2007. Mokuti Lodge to Tsumeb, Namibia (VFR 0:24 hrs, refuelling) and Tsumeb to Immenhof farm, Namibia (VFR 1:07). After breakfast, Gideon drove us to Mokuti Lodge airstrip. Met a retired Frenchman from Annemasse (near Geneva) while refuelling in Tsumeb. Warm reception at Immenhof by the von Seydlitz family. Great sun-downer party on a nearby hill.
27 October 2007. Up at 5:15 am for an early morning game drive in the Etosha Pan National Park. Lion, springbok, zebras, ostriches, impalas, dik-dik, eland, oryx, giraffes and many others. Transfer to Onguma Safari Lodge. Sunset drive within the Onguma private game reserve with Gideon.
26 October 2007. Relaxing day by the pool of the Etosha Aoba Lodge and sunset game drive in the private game reserve of the lodge by retired German owner Georg.
25 October 2007 Vumbura to Maun, Botswana (VFR 0:33), Maun to Grootfontein, Namibia (VFR 2:14 hrs) and Grootfontein to Mokuti Lodge airstrip, Namibia (VFR 0:42 hrs). Transfer by 4WD to the Etosha Aoba Lodge where we stayed two nights.
24 October 2007. Chitabe to Vumbura, Okavango delta, Botswana (VFR 0:25). After breakfast, a cruise (with champagne) on an electric boat cruise on the small canal in the papyrus swamp near the Sandibe camp. Highlights were a couple of hippos near the camp, an elephant blocking our canal and feeding on papyrus in the river, and a colourful malachite kingfisher. On the way to the airstrip we spotted two male lions having a siesta in the shade of a tree.
23 October 2007. Leopard day! Morning game drive with Tshabo and Bee. One hour walking safari. Then we found a 200+ buffalo herd. Then another game vehicle informed us over the radio that a leopard had been found in a tree near the Chitabe airstrip. A really cute pussycat, our first spotting of a wild leopard.
22 October 2007. Kasane to Chitabe, Okavango delta, Botswana (VFR 1:08). We were received at the Chitabe airstrip by our guide Tshabo who took us to Sandibe Safari Lodge, where we stayed for two nights. Afternoon game drive with Tshabo and Bee who also took us on a mokoro (dugout canoe) ride on a lake.
21 October 2007. Another great evening sunset cruise on the Chobe river.
20 October 2007. Morning game drive in Chobe National Park. Evening sunset cruise on the Chobe river
19 October 2007. Livingstone to Kasane, Botswana (VFR 0:31). Overflying the Victoria Falls on the way to Kasane. Friendly welcome in Kasane, where the immigration official (Mugethi) took us into town and helped us to find accommodation. Took us finally to Toro Safari Lodge in Kazungula by the Chobe river, where we stayed for three nights
18 October 2007. Zambezi Sun hotel, Victoria Falls, Zambia. Morning walk to the rather dry Eastern cataract of the Victoria Falls. Walking excursion to Zimbabwe to visit the main falls and the Victoria Falls hotel, Zimbabwe. Spent US$ 125 on Zimbabwe visas and entry fees, but it was worth it.
17 October 2007. Luanda to Livingstone, Zambia (IFR 7:05 hrs). Got up at 3 am to make sure to avoid horrendous delays due to the rush our traffic. In spite of Angola Air Services competent help, it still took us 2 1/2 hour to get in the air. What a relief to be airborne and to leave Luanda! IMC for the first hour, slight 15 knot headwind most of the way. Bumpy African thermals for the last 3 hours.
16 October 2007. São Tomé to Luanda, Angola (IFR 5:10 hrs). IMC for the first hour, then fine weather. Slight 15 knot headwind most of the way. In spite of the competent help from Angola Air Services, order, payment, delivery and transfer of the 200 l Avgas took 2 1/2 hours. After that, our groundspeed went down to about 1 knot between the airport and the hotel as it took another 2 1/2 hour to drive the 5 km in Luanda's polluted, dusty rush hour traffic. Not a place to go on holidays!
13 - 15 October 2007. Relaxing at the Club Santana hotel. Visit to the Santana island.
12 October 2007. Lomé to São Tomé, São Tomé and Principe (IFR 3:56 hrs). Leaving Lomé almost simultaneously with Africa West's three AN12 cargo haulers.
11 October 2007. Lomé, Togo. Chilling out at the Coco Beach Hotel
10 October 2007. Gao to Lomé, Togo (IFR 4:41 hrs). Back to civilisation: Dinner in an excellent French restaurant: Mains à la Pâte
9 October 2007. Timbuktu to Gao, Mali (VFR 1:27 hrs). Sunset trip by pirogue on the Niger to La Dune Rose.
8 October 2007. Mopti to Timbuktu, Mali (VFR 1:09 hrs). Low flying over the Niger. Flying nomads meet desert nomads.
7 October 2007. Dogon country: Djiguibombo, Teli and Ende. Colourful Sunday market in Ende.
6 October 2007. Dogon country: Niongono and Songho. First visit by tourists to isolated Niongono after the rainy season.
5 October 2007. Bamako to Mopti, Mali (VFR 2:15 hrs). Pretty villages on islands in the Niger. By 4WD across a river to Kambary hotel Bandiagara (Dogon country).
4 October 2007. Agadir to Bamako, Mali (IFR 9:03 hrs). Headwinds on the first part, and a number of detours near the Mauritania-Mali border to cross the inter-tropical convergence zone.
1 October 2007. Taroudant to Agadir. (VFR 0:17). Relaxing days by the sea in search of the rare bald ibis.
29 September 2007. Ouarzazate to Taroudant (VFR 0:55 hrs). Finally got the authorization from the Governor of Taroudant. Bumpy thermals over the Atlas mountains.
26 September 2007. Todra gorge to Dadès gorge by car.
25 September 2007. Skoura to Todra gorge by car.
23 September 2007. Alicante, Spain to Ouarzazate, Morocco (IFR 1:10 hrs + 3:18 hrs). Alternator failed again after 1 hour in the air. Intermediate landing in Almeria, Spain to fix it again. This time in sunshine, and the exact cause of the alternator failures was understood. Then by car from Ouarzazate to Skoura.
22 September 2007. Alicante, Spain. Buying a voltmeter and fixing the alternator in pouring rain.
21 September 2006. Geneva, Switzerland to Alicante, Spain (IFR 4:57 hrs). Challenging arrival with thunderstorms on final and 'Low Voltage' warning upon landing.