We got up early again that
morning, the
Tromp family had already left for work or school, but a great breakfast
table
awaited us,
as we entered the kitchen.
Back at the airport at 9AM, a
quick visit
to the flight office was next. All of a sudden we were confronted with
news,
which we
had not expected: We were invited to the office of the director of
Civil Aviation. Indeed to the big boss in person. We had a lengthy
discussion
on our plans to fly to the northern part of Namibia, the Etosha pan and
then to
continue via Angola to the Congo. The
response was crystal clear and categoric:
“You are not going any further north in Namibia than the 16th degree
parallel without
having obtained an official clearance from Luanda, or else….”
Mr.Mujetenga was clearly worried about our safety, because of
the latest news
and reports on the renewed war situation in Angola that he had.
Apparently
there were still a lot of SAM missiles
around up there, in the hands of Dr
Savimbi’s troops. After we agreed to strictly follow his instructions,
we
received
“Hotel Oscar November cleared for take off ” after a
nearly two hours
delay.
Once the wheels off the ground,
we talked
to Jannie in his dental practice, on a prearranged VHF frequency. He
could
clearly see
us as we climbed out and his parting words: ”you look great up
there, have a good and safe flight”.
Day
6/7, Wednesday/ Thursday 23/23JUL
Etosha
National park/Namibia
Spectacular Etosha Pan Game
Reserve was a
longer stop. The main lodge at Mokuti, just outside the eastern part of
the
reserve
was a real beauty of fresh thatch roofs with a 7’000 ft private hard
gravel airstrip. Here again no skimping on comfort and cost.
On our entire trip
we always stayed in hotels, the Aircrews of larger airlines booked. The
AOPA
Air Crew cards came in handy
very often and assured us of hefty discounts in
all the places. Wherever we stayed in Africa, the hotels in most places
had the
necessary working equipment like fax machines, some even Internet
connections,
all had CNN. We were in the heart of Darkness
with Monica Lewinsky. Shame.
We spent lots of time exploring
the Etosha
pan Reserve with all its fantastic wild life and visited the ancient
German
Fort Namutoni,
in which a hand full of German soldiers once won a battle
against thousands of native Ovambo warriors….
Etosha
Pan Namibia
At night, trying to find my
sleep, my
thoughts about Angola and Congo made my pulse rise.
I remembered a sad story, which
dates back to the time when Ann and I lived in South Africa:
A German emigrant and owner of a
Twin Comanche, which was based at Vereeniging airport south of
Johannesburg,
the place
I took my flying lessons left one day on a trip to Europe via the
West coast of Africa to attend the Olympic Games in Munich.
Three days after he
had left, the press was full of news, stating that that Twin Comanche
had been
shot down off the coast of
Guinea Bissau and both people on board killed….
At least twice a day I was
inquiring by phone
in Windhoek about our pending clearance for Angola…but every time no
news
yet
was the answer.
I sent faxes and made phone
calls all over
Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Finally with the kind help of Omri
Talmon
in
Israel and Chales Galloway in Zimbabwe, all our clearances and with it
our
alternate "Plan B” to return via Eastern Africa was
complete and ready to
use if we had to.
