AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012 - 77

Finally, a full dinner awaits you back at the lodge. Gather around the bar or fire pit for an evening of storytelling and reliving the day’s adventures. At most locations a staff member will escort you back to your cottage because, well, the creatures— including the predators—don’t know the boundaries. Some lodges are fenced so you can walk about freely at night; at others you will want an escort.
A LOW OVERCAST delayed our departure from Ngala, but gave us more time for the morning game drive and a surprise bush breakfast. As we roared around a bend in the path, Elliott slid the Land Cruiser to a stop, revealing the staff’s morning work: a full-course breakfast under a massive mahogany tree miles from the camp. With the low clouds breaking up, we launched for our next stop in Botswana, but first we had to get fuel and clear customs out of South Africa at Polokwane, a major airport with an 8,400-foot runway, airline terminal, and all the amenities. At each stop clearing customs into or out of a country, the paperwork seemed interminable. As the Hanks had briefed us, the staff is competent and friendly, but things happen at a pace outside your control. You’ve not seen carbon-paper forms until you’ve seen carbon-paper forms associated with customs and immigration in southern Africa. Stamps and officialdom flourish here. On these legs we all wore professional pilot shirts with epaulets, which in

theory helps usher you through in a way that mere airline passengers can only hope to experience. The Hanks’ kit includes the appropriate fees in the local currency for each stop, each in its own envelope and ready to hand over. We found the fueling staffs to be efficient and friendly. Fuel prices were only a little higher than in the United States, about $7 a gallon on average, with major credit cards accepted everywhere. Leaving Polokwane, we headed farther north toward the Botswana border. En route throughout southern Africa, there is little to no radar coverage, requiring pilots to broadcast position reports in the blind or at times to flight information region (FIR)

controllers who simply note your call and wish you well. The Hanks file VFR flight plans for you for each leg, further easing the burden. A note in the Remarks section tells authorities you don’t seek search and rescue, so there’s no need to close the flight plans. Meanwhile, the Hanks, well connected with all the lodges and the air traffic systems, monitor your progress from afar and can step in with resources should a problem arise. Our first landing in Botswana was at Limpopo Valley, a paved 5,000-foot strip that serves numerous lodges in the region, but is itself located far from anyplace in the dusty, gravely southern part of the country. But while the terrain looks bleak compared to the green of the Kruger area of South Africa, the region is ever richer with game. We seemed to find some interesting creatures behind every shrub—and on a continuous basis. Our stay at the Mashatu Main Camp showed that the luxury and comfort of Ngala was not exclusive to South Africa. The dining area and bar overlook a watering hole in the 75,000-acre private game preserve. Individual cottages come equipped with all the amenities you’d find at a luxury hotel in the United States—and then some—in a setting so starkly beautiful that you’d think no animals would show, but they’re everywhere. After 36 hours on the ground, we headed north again, clearing customs out of Botswana at Francistown, a modern

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2012

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