Elands Camp "Trip Report"
We were greeted on Friday by near perfect flying conditions. The anticipation of a long overdue cross country was high and before long we were all lined up at the holding point and quickly got together for a last briefing. Present were myself, Paul and Dionne Mulder, Louis Cole and Sir Francis and Lady Sharon Smallwood. The original plan of flying via Loskop to Elands was quickly turfed out due to some heavy looking cloud in the vacinity.
We decided to route towards Cullinan and then see if there was a way around to the west....
As we got to Cullinan, we could see some rain and grey gunk in our path
, so… for safety's sake we landed at JAG to wait it out. We will be sending the owner a bill for cutting the grass on the runway for him!
It was'nt long and the weather was drifting east so we took off and could immediately see that a direct route from there was possible.
Amazing flying for the rest of the flight there and the 4 Samoosa pilots eventually made contact with a familiar voice on 124.8.
Oom Paul flies an invisible Aquilla
...despite many attempts to “Meet up” in the air...we had to make peace with the fact that a formation arrival would not be possible.
From 6 miles out we could see 04 lined up in front of us like a welcome mat.
We joined one by one and touched down. Safe and sound, Blue Max arrived a few minutes later. It takes only a few seconds to realise that the Springbokvlakte is automatically 10 degrees warmer than any other place. Hot and humid but so lekker to arrive in the bush.
We were greeted by Oom Paul and his wife and the ever present “Jimmy” who is Paul’s Right hand man op die plaas. Elands Camp is rustic (just the way I like it), and Paul is quick to remind you of that. “Guys this is a Bush Camp…not a Game lodge."
The hospitality you receive though….is better than any lodge!
A good old fashioned Cholesterol Brekkie was enjoyed by all and we settled in. Oom Paul likes to make sure his friends are catered for well and this normally takes the form of a brief “Special Meeting”.
A trip to town was in order, we bundled fuel cans, wallets and ourselves into the double cab and headed off to Marble hall.
We arrived back with all the supplies necessary for a weekend in the bush. Fuel, Water, Braaipacks and some personality juice.
With the ever present threat of a thunderstorm or two in the late PM, it was unanimously decided that waiting 6 hours to see if the weather would allow an afternoon flight was not as important as enjoying an ice cold beer in the shade right now. Needless to say we tied down the aircraft and moved into phase 2. Bierdrink en Kakpraat.... we seem very good at this... especially me.
The pool was there as if sent from heaven…we made good use of it…albeit in ons onderbroekke!
I was viciously assaulted by one member of our gaggle which resulted in a small hole being turned into a gaping rip….the evidence is visible above…I plan to lay charges this week.
Oom Paul decided we must go for a game drive to his Tjommie’s farm “net hier langsaan”. If Oom Paul ever offers you this, please make sure it’s a Tjommie he has seen in the last 10 years!! What followed was a two hour trip to F@kol en nerens…but at least we had a full coolerbox on the back though so it was all smiles and laughter.
We had a great evening around the fire and retired for a nice early night so we could be ready for action in the morning.
Saturday’s flight started with a “special meeting” of course. We decided to route Groblersdal and then fly up the Olifants river towards Loskop. What an amazing flight...
…perfect weather and absolutely stunning scenery going over Loskop. You guys are very lucky to have this right on your doorstep. Halfway back to Elands we could here the Potties’ manne arriving at Elands. (we were still 16 miles out or so)…we pulled a bit of bar and made it back to elands to make brekkie for the visiting Marauders from the north. I must say, Potties seems to have a very good flying gees going…great to see!
They wolfed down their eggs and wors and were quickly on there way again towards Arabie dam.
The rest of the day was spent much the same way as the day before…the pool and cold beverages are almost inevitable in the sweltering heat. We made sure the trikes were ready for the return the next morning and chilled out to enjoy our last evening at Elands. In true bush style I dragged by bed out of the cabin and spent two awesome nights kipping under the stars in the cool evening breeze…it just does not get better than that for me.
Sunday Morning, weather again…absolutely perfect. Packed up, loaded the cans, strapped everything in and we had our last “special meeting”.
We bid goodbye to Oom Paul and taxied to 22 for takeoff. All airbourne, I was last off the deck and immediately set course and headed off home. I quickly realised that we had a lekker tailwind.. GS reading at 68knts at most times. We shed half an hour off our time there, made it back in hour and 10 minutes. Safe and sound back at ML…the only turbulence we had on the entire trip was joining the circuit at ML (That’s why they call it “bumpsfontein!). Louis greeted us and took off again for his last 40min stint back to Jakkaldans.
I made some great new friends on this trip, we were very lucky with the weather and we must organise more.
A safe, fun, incident free weekend, spent in what can only be described as a Trikers Paradise. Thanks Oom Paul.
Just when I boasted about nothing wrong. 
. I have attached two designs. Not very original but I am not into flames, peace signs and skulls and crossbones. 
Louis, James...it's not so expensive, James especially as you also have a new wingsail!