Epic Air Safari: Mana Pools to Liwonde

26th May We have 466 miles to fly today from Zimbabwe to Malawi.  We have flown 4,693 miles so far, with 2,157 miles remaining…. We leave Mana Pools with sadness.  This has been the highlight of our safari so far.  The best safari experience we’ve had and, for me, one of the best ever.  But […]

Epic Air Safari: Okavango Delta to Mana Pools

24th May There are 452 miles to be flown today from Botswana to Zimbabwe.  We are leaving the Okavango for the beautiful and unique Mana Pools on the lower Zambezi River.  The flight is spectacular: over the Delta, then along the Chobe River, the Zambezi, Victoria Falls, and finally Lake Kariba, which was artificially created […]

Epic Air Safari: Wolwedans to the Okavango Delta

22nd May A long day ahead of us.  One of the longest legs: 612 miles from Wolwedans in Namibia to the Okavango Delta in Botswana.  The flying is beautiful, first over the moon land of central Namibia, then over the green savanna all the way to the wetlands near Maun.  A great low-level formation flight […]

Epic Air Safari: Naankuse to Wolwedans

20th May First step toward home.  There are 3,553 miles to be flown in the next 18 days. Last night under the stars with the bushmen at Naankuse was simply magical. This morning, sunrise is marvelous and we drive in the chilled dawn to the runway.  Then we have our first glitch on this air […]

Epic Air Safari: Hartmann Valley to Naankuse

18th May We loved our quad ride so much yesterday that we rode the quads again to reach the runway up in the Hartmann valley.  A lovely one-hour drive at sunrise. The flight from Serra Cafema to Naankuse, near Windhoek, was the one I had been looking forward to since the starting day.  We flew […]

Epic Air Safari: Etosha to Hartmann Valley

In the oldest desert on the planet 16th May Today we had a “short” flight, just under two hours.  Another 239 miles down, 4,679 to go….  The flight to Hartmann Valley is one of my favorites.  This valley is on the border between Namibia and Angola.  So hard to describe: red sand in a mountain […]

Epic Air Safari: Zambia to Etosha

1,882 nautical miles flown, 4,918 to go 14th May Scorpio is still bright in the black sky before dawn.  We enter our boat hoping that the hippos are asleep and not on our course!  We take a quick boat ride to the main lodge at Royal Chundu, and then we drive to the airport.  The […]

Epic Air Safari: Malawi to Zambia

12th May A long 640-mile day.  We left beautiful Kaya Mawa at the crack of dawn for a short one-hour flight to Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.  Winds were favorable enough for us to make a bold decision: fly from Lilongwe to Livingstone without going via Lusaka.  A long 520-mile leg, which we covered in […]

Epic Air Safari: Mahale to Malawi

10th May We leave camp just before sunrise looking at a bright Scorpio in the starry sky.  We fly over the lush Mahale National Park thinking about the hundreds of chimps living there (estimated at over 700). In about two hours, we reach Songwe, our exit point from Tanzania.  We refuel and fly to Mzuzu, […]

Epic Air Safari: Serengeti to Mahale

8th May Today we had a “short” flying day — a direct flight from the Serengeti to Mahale National Park on Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.  Only 370 nautical miles, with 6,015 to go… Imagine taking off at sunrise after having watched a leopard stalking a young giraffe.  (What was he thinking?)  Mist on the river, […]