When I was in Friedrichshafen for the Expo, I signed up for the newsletter of skyafrica.com. Today I got a mail from them saying that they are organizing a flying safari by a group of planes, more info here.
Has anyone done such a safari trip with skyafrica.com? How did it go? Which countries did you visit and was it safe? Were the airplanes good and was it easy to keep them in a safe state, with good and enough fuel? What about the lions 
? Smiling but the lady there (I think it was Erika) told me that the most dangerous part of the safari starts when you land and everything wants to eat you.
Does anyone know Heiko from Germany, mentioned in the newsletter?
Some infos here:
http://www.flightforum.ch/board/index.php?/topic/92715-süd-africa-bush-flying-und-flugsafari-sky-africa-bush-air-und-andere/?hl=%2Bsky+%2Bafrica
Generally, my impression is that it is one of the more organized and serious (but possibly slightly more expensive) “players” in that market.
IIRC, there have been a couple of people who were not satisfied with their experience and I think you can find on the web about it. But that’s just normal in GA. Out of 10 customers, there will always be one or two who will complain. Think they ended up in court I believe.
The problem arises when people go to South Africa and expect European standards on the rental aircraft. It just won’t happen. Expect the engine to run but nothing else.
Vladimir wrote:
but the lady there (I think it was Erika) told me that the most dangerous part of the safari starts when you land and everything wants to eat you.
I have been to Mozambique a year ago through work. We were told the most dangerous parts were malaria and guerrilla (Mozambique is in an unstable state politically). When I was there, there where confrontations (shootings) almost every day between different factions and the official police/military. At night the military police were everywhere in the streets patrolling. This depends where in Mozambique you are though. We were in the middle of guerrilla-land. One guy managed to get a picture of him with two (rather hot) female MP with Kalashnikovs, the perfect souvenir 
According to the official Norwegian counselling, the dangerous thing in Mozambique is to get sick and go to a local hospital. If you need hospital, there is only one thing to do, and that is to get to South Africa.
That safari looks really cool though, I mean seriously. Nice weather all the time, means no problems at all. South African airplanes are at least as well maintained as any plane in a European flying club, I wouldn’t worry about that. Just take malaria shots and pills and drink Gin and Tonic, and you will survive. What about license in SA?
LeSving with due respect, the maintenance standard for SA planes is far removed from the European flying club one :). It all depends on who you go with. Most planes will be quite battered, with only the radio and the engine working – but then again for bush flying you don’t really need more than that (and SkyDemon).
South African license validation is a theory test and a flight check. These can be arranged in advance but you have to have reliable contacts there who have done this before. If anyone cares to go, I can point you to the right people.
Now this is a bit irrelevant but I take the chance to ask anyone who has gone self-drive around Namibia. I was on the way to organise something but reports about attacks on tourists in the middle of the desert or inside lodges,made me sick./
Funny that I have recently done a trip around Scotland an the aircraft I was flying effectively only had one working radio and nought else. Not the exception to the rule either so I guess ‘european’ maintenance standards exclude the UK too. Hahahaha. Lets not get onto the ‘battered’ aircraft. I have hired aircraft in East London, port Elizabeth, cape town, grahamstiwn, Jo’burg, Pretoria and Durban and I fail to see that these aircraft were any better or worse than the UK fleet. I of course only have the UK fleet to compare to so it makes me think, based on some sweeping generalisations that the UK fleet must be way below standards when compared to mainland Europe which is a bit sad if true.
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
LeSving with due respect, the maintenance standard for SA planes is far removed from the European flying club one :).
I find that hard to believe. The standard club C-172 here, and you are lucky IF you can read what the frequency on the radio is set to. SA is a land of airplanes and flying, both gliding and bush flying. I wouldn’t expect a new Cirrus quality standard, but if the engine runs, and the basic instruments are working, then what else do you need from a bush plane?
MedFlyer wrote:
I was on the way to organise something but reports about attacks on tourists in the middle of the desert or inside lodges,made me sick.
It’s the same in Mozambique. We were not allowed to travel alone, two cars minimum and we had to have a local driver and satellite phone. Maybe just corporate over the top nonsense, but reports did show things were happening. With an airplane you can go to places far away from all this.
Been there, done that.
The biggest advantage of SkyAfrica compared to other players IMO is that they have very good ties to the South African CAA, so license validation can usually be done in a day. Otherwise this takes a week or so.
The trip was organized very well. We were staying in pretty upmarket locations, so if there was anything to worry about security it was the wild animals, and not unrest.
The scenery is absolutely stunning, much better than on the photos, the colours are much more intense than what can be captured on silicon.
I’d go for a Dakota or C182, they’re much roomier, and the C172s were often at the limit, endurance wise.
You may find that hard to believe, but then again, I’ve been there, got the photos and the T-shirt… so my opinion is based on experience not belief :)
To answer your question as to what you need from a bush plane – reliability and support. Having an airspeed indicator that starts at -10 mph can be unsettling. Being given a spare tire “in case you blow one” is nice – what are you going to do without tools and inner tube? Disassembling the mags and starter on a dirt strip and trying to figure out why the oh-so-reliable-and-reliably-hailed 1950es technology decided randomly not to work when you are hundreds of miles from the closest maint center is only fun if you’re Denys Finch Hutton, live there and have all the time in the world, or you’re Air America in the PDJ ca 1960es. Everybody else (well… almost) has grown up from the “being broken down by the side of the road is part of the trip” mindset…
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
Being given a spare tire “in case you blow one” is nice – what are you going to do without tools and inner tube?
Aircraft tyres do not have inner tubes
