Flying Adventure: Southern Angola – Day 4 (FAAugrabies – FAUP – FYKT – FYGK):

We depart early on a very cold morning, but with clear blue skies. Our final destination for the day is the Le Mirage Desert Lodge in Namibia’s Sossusvlei. From Dundi Lodge we have a first short leg to Upington.

As mentioned, it is a fairly cold morning with temperatures barely above zero degrees Celsius. He noted during run up checks that the engine’s idle power dropped very low. Most likely due to reduced fuel evaporation in the carburetor. Even during the short flight to Upington, the oil temperature did not reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. As we rolled out after touch down at Upington with full idle power to break, the engine just shut off. He had never experienced that before, he must admit. His reasoning is that fuel evaporation was very weak due to the prevailing temperature, and with increased oil viscosity there was likely more friction to turn the engine over. But he wouldn’t have expected a total engine shut off.

Anyway, the engine came back on after a re-ignition and we could taxi to the apron. We re-fueled the aircraft and filled up jerry canisters for some reserve fuel. We have a few long legs ahead of us without confirmed options to get fuel. It is thus safer to carry an hour of flight time in the back of the aircraft.

After immigration and some paperwork we are then on our way to Namibia.

Flight into Namibia

From Upington we fly up north to Keetmanshoop to enter Namibia. This time of the year there can be strong easterly winds in Namibia blowing from the interior towards the coast. As we approach Keetmanshoop we can feel that these easterly winds are getting stronger.

Keetmanshoop is a quiet little airfield without much going on. Clearing immigration and customs formalities is thus a swift process and we are off onto our final leg to the Sossusvlei.

As we are descending into the Sossusvlei it’s getting very bumpy. The easterly winds are gusting with over 20 knots down the vlei. Fortunately, the cross wind component is not that significant at the Geluk airstrip and we touch down gently with the stall warning howling and bawling.

After our Cessna 182 is parked and secured for the night, our pick up has arrived and we head over to the Le Mirage Desert Lodge. Time to relax and enjoy the beautiful (windy) sunset over the desert dunes.

We had originally planned two nights here at the Le Mirage. But with our delay in getting here, we already have to depart tomorrow to get back on schedule for the remainder of our tour. Being flexible is an essential requirement for a flying adventure. Otherwise, the fun can easily get spoilt. Be flexible folks.