I am a very lucky girl in that I have a brother who pilots his own plane - affectionately referred to as his "Sports Car", presumably because it is small, it only has 2 seats, and it goes fast. Said brother loves flying off to explore new places as much as I do, the more remote the better, so he 
did not need much encouragement to fetch me from Bulawayo and head off to the southern part of the Hwange National Park area to a camp called Bomani, where I was headed for a site inspection. The day towards the end of July arrived and the wind HOWLED !! I had perhaps had a few too many sundowners the night before and was not feeling as strong as I should have to undertake this trip, but I thought, well, it can only be half an hour, I'm sure I'll manage that. We taxied on to the apron to find the trusty fuel attendant to fill up ... and the wind BLEW .... and let me point out that this was in winter, and so that wind was cold. So cold, in fact, that the oil which Pilot was attempting to pour into the engine wouldn't "run" and came out in a thick massive blob.... that did NOT please him. By this time, the vicious wind, combined with not too strong constitution, and little "Sports Car" was starting to make me think that perhaps this wasn't the right day for this little adventure and I started asking pointed questions like "is this wind too strong to take off in" and stuff like that. But trusty bush pilot was not deterred ... having managed to refuel and re-oil, we continued on our trip, got permission to take off, and so, into 
terrifically strong head winds we went, amid some comments from Pilot about how flippin' strong the wind actually was. Well, a few bumps and sways later, we were off the ground, turned around, had the wind under our tail and we were headed off to Bomani at top speed !!! It was only a half an hour trip, thank goodness, as passenger was starting to feel just slightly queasy, but soon enough, after following the railway line - a very straight line - toward the co-ords we were given, the camp came into view. I had said something like "buzz the camp so that they know to fetch us". Well, I was subsequently told that those three little words "buzz the camp" apparently give the pilot free reign to act like an idiot !!! After making some I-don't-know-what degree turn, which just about caused the contents of my queasy stomach to come out my ears and nostrils, and definately did cause some bad language to be used toward virtuous Pilot, we made an easy landing and cruised up to waiting staff at the top of the air strip. Only once out the plane did I admit that perhaps I wasn't quite in my best flying health !! Once the plane was strapped down and sun blocked for the rest of the day and night, we picked up our bags and just walked a few hundred metres to the camp. Wonderful !!
did not need much encouragement to fetch me from Bulawayo and head off to the southern part of the Hwange National Park area to a camp called Bomani, where I was headed for a site inspection. The day towards the end of July arrived and the wind HOWLED !! I had perhaps had a few too many sundowners the night before and was not feeling as strong as I should have to undertake this trip, but I thought, well, it can only be half an hour, I'm sure I'll manage that. We taxied on to the apron to find the trusty fuel attendant to fill up ... and the wind BLEW .... and let me point out that this was in winter, and so that wind was cold. So cold, in fact, that the oil which Pilot was attempting to pour into the engine wouldn't "run" and came out in a thick massive blob.... that did NOT please him. By this time, the vicious wind, combined with not too strong constitution, and little "Sports Car" was starting to make me think that perhaps this wasn't the right day for this little adventure and I started asking pointed questions like "is this wind too strong to take off in" and stuff like that. But trusty bush pilot was not deterred ... having managed to refuel and re-oil, we continued on our trip, got permission to take off, and so, into 
terrifically strong head winds we went, amid some comments from Pilot about how flippin' strong the wind actually was. Well, a few bumps and sways later, we were off the ground, turned around, had the wind under our tail and we were headed off to Bomani at top speed !!! It was only a half an hour trip, thank goodness, as passenger was starting to feel just slightly queasy, but soon enough, after following the railway line - a very straight line - toward the co-ords we were given, the camp came into view. I had said something like "buzz the camp so that they know to fetch us". Well, I was subsequently told that those three little words "buzz the camp" apparently give the pilot free reign to act like an idiot !!! After making some I-don't-know-what degree turn, which just about caused the contents of my queasy stomach to come out my ears and nostrils, and definately did cause some bad language to be used toward virtuous Pilot, we made an easy landing and cruised up to waiting staff at the top of the air strip. Only once out the plane did I admit that perhaps I wasn't quite in my best flying health !! Once the plane was strapped down and sun blocked for the rest of the day and night, we picked up our bags and just walked a few hundred metres to the camp. Wonderful !! The
Pro Guide was out with the client, but the staff showed us to our rooms (safari tents on decks) and we had a good look around the camp.
Pro Guide was out with the client, but the staff showed us to our rooms (safari tents on decks) and we had a good look around the camp. The story will continue .....
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