Part 1:
Mozambique 1st to 10th June 2007.
After a couple of preliminary meetings to find out who was going to make the trip, and then doing a budget calculation, the monies were collected and 14 of us were in for the trip to Mozambique. The difference was that, instead of fishing for the entire trip, Brett and I decided to add a little of our own spice to the adventure; we were going to spend a part of our time there flying a microlight. Brett had spent months speaking to the more experienced teachers and pilots at his flying club trying to find out about the flying conditions in Mozambique. We had to get military clearance for one, let alone be aware of the no-fly zones. There was little information about the smaller airports that we might need to use because of the limited range that a microlight can fly. After some brainstorming with Dr Jameson (of the whisky fame), Brett and I decided that we wanted to include some fly fishing, drop-shotting and overnight camping whilst away from the support vehicles, so we minimized the gear that we were to take on the plane itself. We worked out that all we needed was a tiny pop-up tent, a bass rod and spinning reel, a 3 piece 10 wt fly stick and salt water reel, some flies and drop shots, energy bars, water, 3 GPS’s, spare batteries, a small digital camera and maps of the area. The Aquilla was equipped with headphones, radio and chat box. We also bought those polariods glasses with the small reading lenses. You can’t change from goggles or wrap-around sunglasses to reading glasses in the air. Anything that comes loose goes through the propeller behind the plane.
We also had plans to do some ski boat fishing with the guys in their boats and we also decided to take along a double paddle-ski and some rock and surf tackle as well.
We set off early from our various departure points in Durban to meet on the road to Swaziland. We met up to check the four 4 X 4’s, three ski boats and the trailer with the microlight. A quick cup of coffee allowed us time to fill the vehicles and we were on the road, aiming to make the Swazi border post at opening time. The border crossing went quickly and smoothly, we whacked through Swaziland and within no time we were through the Goba post and in Mozambique. The plan was to stay over at the Blue Anchor Inn. Paul, Liz and Nigel Hallowes made us very welcome and it was with intrigue that the locals viewed us as we erected the microlight that afternoon so that we could set off ‘early bells’ for the first leg of our trip to Ponto do Zavora. We had a tasty dinner and got off to bed. The fishing guys were going to leave very early so that they could check in, fill the boats, check the launch site and get some fishing on that same day.
Brett and his brother Mark, Stan and I were up early to check that the plane had remained securely anchored overnight. As soon as it became light we could see that the weather wasn’t what it was cracked up to be. We found out by the end of the trip that all these sophisticated weather predictions are subject to the vagaries of nature. The boys on the road ahead told us of a huge rain storm over Xai-Xai. We figured that it was a long way ahead and decided to take off anyway as our support vehicle had remained behind and would be able to fetch us if we were forced to land because of adverse weather conditions.
Little did we know!
The sun rising over the wing of ZU Charlie Alfa Charlie with our support vehicle in the foreground. In the picture below look at the weather that lay ahead of us. On the left is some rain through which our early leavers had already traveled.
Brett showing a courageous smile. We still had to pace the runway.
A picture of the well wishers at the end of our gravel road runway – rather shaky.
We took a heading that would take us to the coast and this is a view of the Komati from about 500 ft. We were already in the clouds and we had miles to go. Looking down, the marsh plains looked like the most perfect landing spot because they appeared really smooth and the water is not visible through the dense cover of reeds. If we had put down, it might have taken us half a day to walk, squelch and swim out, but there would have been no real way of recovering the plane in a week.
We, as a group, have been coming to Mozambique for years, some of us missing a year here and there due to various reasons, but I am sure that none of us have seen the parts of this huge country that we were able to see from the air. There are parts, like this last part of the nKomati River lowlands that are greatly untouched and almost uninhabited.
It was with relief that we reached the coast and, considering the weather, saw the wide sandy beaches that looked like a good landing strip if we needed get down because of rain. We got our first nasty surprise when we flew into our first rain storm. We saw it coming, like we saw the plumes of rain coming down on our limited horizon inland but weren’t prepared for the impact. Traveling at between 55 and 45 mph, the rain felt like pellets of hail and the sunglasses suddenly looked like they were made of shower cubicle glass. We dumped down surprisingly smoothly in the slightly colder, dense air and were relieved that our first test of Mozambican beach sand found it firmer than thought, considering our knowledge of driving ski boats to and from the launch sites that we’ve used in the past. We taxied the plane to get the correct perching angle to the driving wind and rain and, like a bird, just turned our backs to the weather to sit it out.
Now, how long were we going to be there? First thing, get hold of Mark and Stan in the support vehicle to let them know that we’ve landed and are safe. Problem. The rain had interfered with the connections on the 2-way radio and, even though we’d activated international roaming on our celphones, there is no signal behind the dunes. I lit a cigarette and Brett, a near non-smoker, eagerly accepted one while we reflected on what next to do
Ready to go. That is the squall that passed us, behind the prop. We felt quite charged up after having seen that episode through. We took off with the knowledge that we weren’t going to mess around with that type of rain squall again. We looked for the telltale plumes and dropped to about 50 – 100 ft, at which height we could urgently seek a landing spot as soon as we felt rain on our face. We were forced down 7 times and the locals, when there were any within sight, would come to look at this strange machine that they had probably seen before, but not at such close quarters.
We had permission and a plan to meet our support crew at Xai-Xai. Again, whilst flying inland from the coast, it became apparent that landing spots were at a premium. Palm groves, dotted fruit and cashew trees and plowed, sandy cassava farmlands can look homogenous from the air but are not an option. Soccer fields look like Oliver Tambo International from the air but one has to factor in the angle of approach, let alone the take off. Power lines are a microlight pilot’s worst enemy too. We searched for suitable landing spots and the airport from high above town but found the huge flood plain of the Limpopo really inviting. We put down next to a soccer field just out of town and, within minutes were surrounded by huge crowd of inquisitive onlookers. We made celphone contact with the vehicle to be told that they were already near Chitenguele, them thinking that we’d already pushed through. They didn’t know that we’d had to put down so many times because of the weather. The take-off was rather unusual in that we couldn’t get rid of the kids, some chasing us on bicycles, not to mention a couple of dogs trying to bite the wheels.
We followed the main road out of town keeping a wary eye for possible landing spots. Few came to view and we started to look the national road. The problem of course is traffic, but there is another. CAC has a wingspan of 15 meters so any growth on the side of the road has to be really short. On arrival at Chitenguele we discovered that the President of Mozambique was holding a political rally on our proposed landing spot and that there were 7 helicopters, a large crowd and a stage already erected. What went through my mind was that, although we had clearance, this information might not have got through to the presidential guards. We also had sponsored fishing shirts with a big ‘ASSASSIN’ silkscreened down both arms and on the back. We took a wide berth around and away from the rally and found a likely spot to land on the road. Three attempts at this, with a Land Rover coming up underneath us from behind the first time, pedestrians and a cyclist on the second attempt and a violent rotor as soon as we hit the tree line on the third attempt, prompted us to head for the beach, the tank showing empty. We followed a road and found a lodge where we put down safely. Again the problem cropped up with communication. We walked up to Sunset Beach Lodge where a very helpful woman at the lodge showed us the exact spot to get celphone coverage. 22 SMS’s and missed calls later we eventually made contact to find that our support vehicle was by the plane down at the beach, but we were no where to be found. Brothers Mark and Brett shared a rather angry but relieved moment as we refueled for the last stretch to Zavora.
Part of the enormous lake system from Chitenguele to Zavora
A very long straight beach, big dunes, sparse habitation and access from the main road a very long way away considering that this lake alone is about 40 km long and access between the lakes sketchy, uncharted to us and the support crew.
This pic and before still the lake system with the previous showing Cuissico, across the lake from where the lake is visible from the road. More pictures follow.
