22:59.0S 014:39.0E
From
South Africa to Namibia
Day
3, Sunday 19JUL Cape Town – Walfis Bay/Namibia
(05:25H)
Up very early that day, not to
forget that
we had heck of a lot of land to cover in the next twenty days, we
headed to the
airport. As we passed Table Mountain on the way, we admired
the clouds, which
hung over the top like a tablecloth.
In the very well and
professionally
equipped Met office, I enquired on the weather en route to Walfis Bay
in
Namibia.“Sir, you are not going anywhere before
early afternoon, due to
widespread fog all along the coast up to Namibia”…..
the Met officer said.
After explaining that we would
leave on an
IFR flight plan in view of this, everything was just fine, and we left
with all
our six tanks topped up.
We set off and climbed through
numerous
cloud layers to get on top into the sunshine. For some time we were
still in radio contact with
the professionally working controllers in South Africa,
then once out of range
we again broadcasted our position reports in regular intervals, to let
other
pilots and potentially conflicting traffic know, what our position,
altitude
and intentions were.
After about three hours, the
clouds and fog
were slowly dispersing and we could at last see the vast expanse of the
desert,
which lay below.
It was like this, fascinating,
ever
changing desert scenery all the way up to Walfis Bay in Namibia,
overflying
numerous “Restricted Diamond Areas”.
After 5 ½ hours, which felt
like 8 hours
bladder time, we touched down to be greeted “Guten Abend,
wilkommen in Walfis
Bay”.
We were pleased to stretch our
legs.
Unfortunately the customs people we had requested on our flight plan
before
departure forgot we were coming and had closed up and left. Kindly
enough, the
local Police were very helpful and put the usual
stamps in our passports to make us legal.
Sand dunes near Walfis Bay
On our way from the airport to
the small
settlement of Walfis Bay, we passed some of the world’s largest sand
dunes and
the enjoyed a breathtaking view onto the pelican sanctuary with
literally
hundreds and hundreds of those magnificent birds, as the sun set in the
ocean.
The long awaited G&T’s and
a great
stake at the “Crazy Mamas” restaurant gave the finishing touch to a
long, but
interesting day.
