Early morning shuffle.

I had a nice flight this morning!

I truly love flying the C 206, even after nearly a thousand hours in this aircraft; its still one of my favorites.

Flew to Chitabe camp to collect some guests, did a double shuffle as the family owns this specific C 206. Outbound and inbound at 500 ft. AGL for a scenic flight. Saw masses of game, elephant, giraffe, big herds of buffalo, zebra and hippo playing in the water to just name a few.

All I could think off the whole time was; WOW, what a way to start a day! Other people are sitting in traffic and I’m playing over the Okavango Delta with my favorite aircraft!

Oh well, I suppose that is the way it is; Living the dream came to mind once again.

My training flight for the afternoon got postponed till later as the training pilot is needed somewhere else. This gives me time to catch up on some office work and planning for the next few days and the weekend.

It was cold last night, but the day time temperatures are really nice now. Maybe the first signs that the season has turned…………?

Now it’s back to work, hope you enjoy the read.

And always remember: ONWARDS!

Herewith a quote from a friend of mine:

There is a certain stillness you find deep inside when viewing the wild open places of Africa from above…… herds of buffalo, a lone elephant bull on an endless plain, marching dunes, dancing flamingo, the swirling and meandering Kavango and the icy Atlantic crashing onto inhospitable shores.

It’s been a journey and an adventure”

                                     By: Jacynth Roode (www.sky-hawk.co.za)

A day in my life!

My day starts at 07:30 in the office for a management meeting. During this meeting we discuss and plan for the day and the upcoming days flying, aircraft, pilots, training and all other eventualities that will arrise.

My normal day consists of planning and scheduling of flight training, route checks, flight assesments and normal operational line flying.

I fly all aircraft in our operations. The awesome flight trainer the C 172. The work horse of the Okavango Delta, the C 206 or "Tonki ya makgobogobo" This means, "Donki of the swamp! and the Cessna Grand Caravan or C 208.

Most of our guests movements happen between 11:00 and 15:00 on a daily basis. These movemants are from camp to camp, camp to Maun or Kasane and Livingstone (Zambia).
Guest normally enter Botswana from either South Africa (Johannesburg) or Livingstone (Zambia) and then we dispatch these travellers from Maun and Kasane (Botswana) into all the lodges.

Early flights are normally freight to re-supply the camps with food and necesities for daily operation and staff. Training happens first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon.

We are now in the winter where early morning temperatures reach low teens, normally around 5 deg C, mid day temperatures range from early to late 20 deg C. I dont do cold temperatures very well, but its smooth weather to fly in. But saying that; I CANT WAIT FOR SUMMER!

So, on this introductionary note, I'm heading out to the ramp to go and do some training and then later this afternoon fly the Caravan!

I will leave you with the most important part of my day:
Always ONWARDS, Upwards is optional, but ONWARDS is a must!

Have a good everybody!