Flying Adventure: Weekend getaway to Palala Lodge, Northern Limpopo (FAWB – FAFW – FAPalala – FAWB):

The weather and forecast these days has been a bit unpredictable. On this Saturday morning only the top northern part of South Africa looks relatively clear and reachable from Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Some quick research revealed Palala lodge with its own airstrip as a fly-in destination in this part of the northern Limpopo province. A phone call later availability is confirmed and we decide to fly out and explore this northern corner of the country.

If you can see through, you can fly through

By midday as we are ready to depart from Pretoria, the weather starts closing in fast. Faster then any forecast predicted. But as there are several airstrips for a precautionary landing on route, we decide to nevertheless depart and see how far we can go.

As we fly northwards of Pretoria we are facing a widespread dark weather front right ahead of us. We have to stay low level but know that we still have to safely clear the Waterberg mountain range. There is no seeing through the weather in front of us, and thus no flying through either. However, out to the west there appear a few lighter spots, which we aim for. As the fellow reader will remember, where you can see through, you can fly through. The detour from see-through spot to see-through spot adds a good 45 minutes or 50% to our planned flight time.

But it is well worth it, past the Waterberg mountains the clouds break up and we reach our destination safely and in beautifully sunny warm weather. Much better than hanging around the city in the rain, he finds.

Palala Game Lodge

After settling in at Palala Game Lodge it is time to relax in this extraordinary and tranquil surrounding. The lodge has a stunning setup and decorations, which are thought through to their finest details. It just invites you to sit down have a drink and enjoy the sunset.

Besides the great accommodation and surroundings, Palala offers great fine dining cuisine and a whole range of activities to do. The admittedly stunning bush spa is not really what he is after, but a bicycle game ride and a river cruise on the Limpopo with biltong and beer certainly is.

We spend Sunday morning on a game ride by bicycle, the afternoon on a river cruise and the early evening to tie down the aircraft as a storm is passing by.

By Monday morning it’s then time to head back to Gauteng. The clouds of Sunday’s evening-storm are still hanging around, but it’s good enough and clears up as we head further south.

It is still fairly difficult to plan any longer or even border crossing tour in these freedom restricted times of the Covid pandemic. But this weekend getaway was a great way to still fly out and explore some beautiful hidden spots. It’s time to think about another one …