There was an article in a German flying magazine (aerokurier) about Sky Africa recently. The author was a guy named Herbert Junghanns who I believe is not one of their regular writers.
The e-mail of the magazine is [email protected]. Maybe they can get you in touch with the author who might then be able to provide you with further contacts.
I was on one of those trips about 5 years ago.
Southern Africa is definitely worth a visit, it's a beautiful continent with very intense colours.
One advantage of Karl Finatzer's setup is that he has some very special relationship to the south african CAA, so he can get you validated in one or two days, whereas others (eg. in Namibia) usually need a week.
It won't be cheap, though the exact price also depends quite a bit on the accomodations - we tended to have really good accomodation.
I have flown in southern Africa and it is prob99 the best flying you will ever do!
I didn't go on one of these organized safaris but did it myself. It's perhaps just me, but I like to plan things myself and then go off and do them. Not a great lover of groups. In my case I got a validation from Namibia.
Re the validation: CAUTION! Depending who your issuing authority is, this can take weeks! The worst seems to be the CAA. Not only do you have to pay them for the privilege, they also quote 10 working days. Very nearly scuppered my honeymoon trip in Namibia, as I wasn't aware of that. After a series of phone calls they eventually expedited it and we were on our way. Best trip of my life.
Best to check with your issuing CAA first what they require (they all hide behind 'data protection' in order to extract money from you) and when.
If you have a standalone FAA license, then use this one, the FAA usually turn requests around in three working days and don't charge for it. Learned that the hard way in Namibia (I do have a standalone FAA ticket and should've used that).
Cost - accommodation in southern Africa varies hugely and the top lodges are very, very expensive. That said, in my experience (and I've stayed at quite a few, also for work) they are worth it. You'll get to some of the most amazing places anywhere.
As for the flying, unless you are current with rough strips (length usually isn't a factor there) and hot-and-high ops (!!!!!) I'd suggest you read up and practice soft field technique as much as possible beforehand. What tends to catch European pilots out is the hot-and-high situation, which sometimes means that if you don't depart before the temp hits a certain level, you won't be able to get out that day.
If you're into that kind of flying, you could do worse things than to get in touch with our old acquaintance Sam Rutherford. Though I must say he has been very silent as of late.
(Peter, would it be ok to post his business url?)
Sure.
Thanks for all comments ;)
I just returned from a two-week "counterclockwise loop-the-loop" of South Africa - happy to answer any questions :)
We organised it ourselves with some contact and inputs provided by a very nice (and resourceful) guy we know in Jo'burg.
