19 September 2019 - Pretoria to Vilanculo

Flying Adventure: Victoria Falls – Day 1 (FAWB – FAKN – FQVL):

Everyone is up early this morning and excited as we start our new flying adventure into Southern Africa. Scheduled departure is 06H30 local time, and the aircraft is loaded and ready well in time.

Today’s flight will take us to Vilanculo on the Mozambican coast. We plan a stop at Kruger Mpumalanga on route for breakfast and immigration procedures.
The weather forecast looks generally good for our intended route with the exception of some very low clouds along the escarpment and Kruger Airport.

At the time of our planned departure, the conditions at Kruger are within Visual Flight Rules (VFR) minima. However, the forecast indicates a deterioration for the time of our estimated arrival with a general improvement later by mid day.

We therefore delay our departure by about 45 minutes to review the next scheduled weather observation from Kruger to determine actual developments. That observation is better than forecasted and we therefore decide to depart. But of course, not without a plan B, in case we cannot make it to Kruger.

take off from wonderboom — Early morning take off roll from Wonderboom airport in Pretoria, South Africa

Wonderboom to Kruger International

It is a beautiful morning flight over South Africa’s eastern plateau, or highveld as it is called locally. But as we get closer to the escarpment into the lowveld, we can see thick layers of cloud. They are hanging right on the top edge of the escarpment. And that layer of cloud is solid without any break up in sight as we fly along the edge.

We are getting ready to activate Plan B. That is to re-route to Polokwane for immigration and from there over the northern part of Kruger Nationalpark to Vilanculo.

But before we proceed with that, we contact Kruger Airport to check the conditions at the airfield. The tower controller confirms that the airfield is under Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), but we may expect Special VFR clearance. Special VFR are reduced minima in terms of cloud ceiling and visibility than what is generally permitted for VFR flights like ours.

With that Special VFR clearance, we decide to give this option a go.
The safe route through the valleys of the escarpment is the Ngodwana valley. It has a small airfield, where we could land in case all exits are closed up. The normal entry point into that valley is however blocked by thick cloud.

But two side valleys are open. We descend through one of them to get below the cloud layer. Down in the valley, it is important to make sure we can always perform a safe 180 degrees turn and escape where we came in.
We can soon see the Ngodwana airfield. That is our next place of safety in case we can’t reach Kruger. The direct route to Kruger remains blocked by thick low hanging cloud. We therefore fly low level along the N4 highway through the valley to Nelspruit and from there route to Kruger Airport.
Safely on ground, we deserve a hearty breakfast and a leg stretch.

Kruger International to Vilanculo

As the temperatures rise, the clouds are breaking up steadily. We are off to our last leg for the day, over the flat interiors of Mozambique to Vilanculos. After the border into Mozambique, it’s all clear sky and a beautiful flight with rewarding views as we descend towards the coastline with the Bazaruto archipelago in the background.

approach into vilanculo — Approach into Vilanculo, Mozambique

For his passengers this is the first flying adventure at all. Moreover it’s the first time flying in a bush aircraft, i.e. light aircraft. Today’s flights with some Special VFR challenges in the morning and a bit of turbulence over the interior have therefore left a mark or two, emotionally and intestine. But they have done well and passed their initiation to become aviators.
Hence he decided to take them to “Check Inn” opposite the terminal building to wind down.