My first solo! (again)

 

We have had a number of very hot, sunny days over the last week, to such a degree that by 8.30am it has been too hot to load up enough fuel to fly a survey line out and one back. Very frustrating! So we decided last night to load up with a lot of fuel and attempt to take off even earlier (as soon as it was light) to allow us to take off for a second flight before 8.30am so we can get a proper second flight in.

Decent sized Flatties – one of few harmless animals	Flash colouration on a locust

Couldn’t capture the length of line of these ants – thousands of them chivvied along by bigger soldier ants

Imagine our disappointment when there was a thunderstorm around us this morning at first light, low cloud, and the temperate was already 24°C at 5.30am instead of the 17°C it has been all week. So even if the clouds lifted, we would still be overloaded with too much fuel and unable to fly. Dammit!

One of very many ant hills/ termite mounds in the area	A poor pet rat tied by its tail to some string

Some fun news is that a few days ago I was sent solo. Pierre was here simply to train me up to be able to fly this system unsupervised and he decided I was ready one morning and announced that he wasn’t coming with me and I was off on my own! Daunting of course, but I concentrated like hell and returned uneventfully. Didn’t realise that solo flights were taken quite so seriously here and landed to a small celebration and an email Pierre sent around the entire company (including throughout Europe) congratulating me on my solo flight. Got a reply from a couple of the big bosses with their congratulations so that was quite special.

Having just landed from my first solo flight	So trusting… shaking hands with Pierre as he distracts me from a bekreeping Andrew
*scream!!!*	Completely sodden but rather cool and refreshing

Since then I have been flying all flights without Pierre (he has been getting very bored in camp) so I’m sure he’s quite happy to actually get going somewhere where he can do some flying himself! I’m feeling a lot more relaxed now while flying – its becoming easier to deal with everything happening inside and outside the cockpit, and have even been able to chat to the techie during the flight; a stark contrast from my first flight when I had to tell him to shut up so I could focus!

Crowds gather every time we land, but keep their distance. This crowd is laughing at me getting soaked	It appears that Pierre has a little Captain in him…

Life in the camp is not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was a little terrified on arrival, but I have settled in quite nicely now. Still struggling a bit with the long drop idea – having flies crawling on your bum while you’re sitting does not help the whole process! The shower isn’t so bad. They have built proper showers surrounded by reed grass with real showerheads and water that they heat up. Although since its so hot here anyway the water is often too hot and a nice cool shower would be even better! Having said that, a swimming pool would be ideal!

A celebratory braai; Kenneth, Pierre, Andrew	Pierre doing what Afrikaaners do best

The food here is FANTASTIC!! I still want to get a few more pics of how it is prepared! The chef bakes pies, bread, roast chicken and quiches. All of which is done in a pot BURIED WITH COALS IN A WOOD FIRE!! Its incredible! He can make anything – and there is no shortage of food. I was hoping, since we sit around all day, that I wouldn’t be that hungry but I’m eating three meals a day. And its really hot right up until it gets dark so exercising is difficult.

Breakfast! Full English for some, French toast for others	Quiche with salad for lunch

The crew have almost completely changed around me. There were originally 5 of us: The other pilot, Andrew, instructor Pierre and myself, Annie the camp leader and data processor, and Kenneth the techie who monitors the onboard equipment as we survey. All of them have changed now except for Pierre and myself, and Pierre has been called to Turkey so needs to leave as soon as possible (today or tomorrow), leaving just me to do the flying. I’m going to be lonely! All the others hide in their tents during the day and only Pierre and I sit in the dining tent watching TV and chatting.

Local beer, afternoon thirst quencher	Or coffee made the South American way

But today is a dead day… So feel free to comment the hell out of the blog and send me plenty emails and whatsapp messages…