These are all some great flight plans with some very exciting screenshots. I’m trying to find some more contributors to help populate World Tour Flights and I think this would be great for sharing on there. Would you mind sharing some of these flight plans on the site? https://worldtour.flights
I’ve been thinking about adding some there (I have the site sitting open in a tab) just need to find some time to sort it out and cut off the ‘connector’ flights from my flight plans. Between flying, editing screenshots, reconstructing flight plans (I make them afterwards), updating this thread and planning the next leg, I’m amazed I still have time to eat It’s all great fun and today I had a bit of a break, 600 miles of empty desert, so nice haha!
Leg 59, Bir Moghrein, Mauritania via Western Sahara to Niafunke, Mali
DAY10_20.PLN (3.4 KB)
10-20 Bir Moghrein GQPT 5:13 AM
10-20 Gueltat Zemmour GMGU 6:02 AM
10-20 Dakhla GMMH 7:06 AM
10-20 Tazadit GQPZ 8:31 AM
10-20 Atar GQPA 9:26 AM
10-20 Chinguetti CGT 9:53 AM Full tank Climb to 18K ft Eye of Sahara North-East, 580 nm to next stop
10-20 Niafunke GANF 2:30 PM Landed in drone view with high exposure
Only 6 stops today, not many airports in the desert! The last leg was about 4 hours of empty desert. Relaxing and some time for measurements.
Approaching Guelta Zemmur after crossing a lot of empty desert
A bit of elevation in the terrain and the spectacle is there again
Guelta Zemmur just a small village in the Moroccan administered part of Western Sahara
The guelta, meaning oasis, was a camp site for the Sahrawi nomads of the area for hundreds of years
On approach to Dakhla, the Atlantic ocean on the left
Dakhla, in the distance, in the middle of this long peninsula
Dakhla is a popular kite surfing destination with many resorts and kite surfing schools
After a lot more empty desert, approaching Tazadit
Cross your t’s and dot your i’s, it looks like something is written there
It lies next to a huge iron ore mine, Guelb el Rhein
No depth data for the pits in MSFS, this is what it looks like
Flying on to Atar, the colors of the desert
It almost looks like patches of silver lying on the ground
Atar at the base of the Adrar Plateau
It’s quite a step up, new ground level incoming
A quick stop at Chinguetti, a medieval trading center near the eye of the Sahara
After Chinguetti I set a course North-East at a steep climb, for the first time seeing the desert from higher up. The Adrar plateau at 6,000 ft
Oudane at the bottom right with the eye of the Sahara already in sight
Oudane old quarter
The town was a staging post in the trans-Saharan trade and for caravans transporting slabs of salt from the mines at Idjil.
Getting closer to the eye at 16k ft altitude
17k ft, enough to still fit it in frame
From straight above with wide angle lens at 17.5K ft up
One more looking back while slowly descending to 15K ft
Cruising at 15K ft altitude, nothing but empty desert ahead
I did some measurements while descending 1,000 ft at a time to figure out the cruise speed at max throttle and propeller
My heading 131 to Niafunke
15k ft IAS 113 TAS 142 GS 145 Wind North (359) 5 knots
14k ft IAS 117 TAS 145 GS 148 Wind North (352) 4 knots
13k ft IAS 121 TAS 147 GS 150 Wind North (351) 3 knots
12k ft IAS 124 TAS 149 GS 150 Wind North (005) 2 knots
11k ft IAS 127 TAS 151 GS 152 Wind No Data
10k ft IAS 130 TAS 152 GS 151 Wind North (019) 2 knots
09K ft IAS 133 TAS 153 GS 155 Wind North (302) 2 knots
08K ft IAS 136 TAS 154 GS 156 Wind North (287) 1 knot
07K ft IAS 138 TAS 155 GS 157 Wind North (340) 1 knot
06K ft IAS 142 TAS 157 GS 158 Wind North (005) 3 knots
Quite a bit short of the 176 listed TKAS cruise speed. To climb to 18K ft IAS has to drop to 100 knots.
600 miles of empty desert, the sun starts to set
The landing at Niafunke was a challenge. It was very dark, dirt strip no lights and no data in the G1000 to use virtual vision to land. I didn’t have time (and running low on fuel) to divert to another airport which might be the same anyway. Thus a new approach, landing in drone view with the exposure cranked up enough to make out the runway. It is tricky, switching between plane and drone controls to keep the camera pointing in the right direction, but it worked. Soft touchdown, all safe.
My plane is the green light at the bottom.
The eye of the Sahara / Guelb er Richât / Richat Structure was amazing. Definitely worth a visit.
Leg 60, Niafunke, Mali to Agadez, Niger
DAY10_21.PLN (3.1 KB)
More desert, really there is a lot of it
10-21 Niafunke GANF 5:10 AM
10-21 Goundam GAGM 5:27 AM
10-21 Tombouctou GATB 5:46 AM
10-21 Kidal GAKL 7:40 AM
10-21 In Guezzam DATG 9:23 AM
10-21 Arlit DRZL 10:07 AM
10-21 Manu Dayak (Agadez) DRZA 10:59 AM
Flight time 5:49, 5 stops
There are not many airports in the desert, long flights.
First up, Tombouctou aka Timbuktu
Home of the Djinguereber Mosque, build from earth (banco) mixed with straw in 1327
Regular maintenance keeps it looking great, scaffolding is build into the design
Following the river Niger passing Bamba down there on the left
It’s not supposed to be this full, I guess they had heavy rains up stream
Kidal at the end of the road RN18
More desert views between Kidal and In Guezzam
Soothing colors, very relaxing
It goes on and on and on
Plenty time to add the good parts of earlier flights to https://worldtour.flights/
In Guezzam, brief hop into Algeria on the border with Niger
Niger is 10 miles left of the airport
View down below
There are pictures of the streets flooding, though not often, it can rain pretty hard here
Into Niger, on the way to Arlit
Arlit is a big industrial town next to a huge Uranium mine (Arlit Mine) It looks kinda ugly in FS 2020, a mess on google as well. Ugly mine, so a nice colorful picture of the surroundings instead
However this is what keeps the lights on if your country uses Nuclear power
Better detail here, the awesome landscape is back
One more before reaching Agadez
Agadez on the rather dry river Teloua
Another town made with banco, mud bricks
As well as the 16th century Grande Mosquée d’Agadez
Tomorrow back North a bit, into the Aïr Mountains
Leg 61, Agadez, Niger to Ati, Chad
DAY10_22.PLN (3.5 KB)
More deserts, mountains and some really weird landscape
10-22 Manu Dayak (Agadez) DRZA 4:28 AM
10-22 Iferouane DRZI 5:26 AM
10-22 Dirkou DRZD 7:18 AM
10-22 Nguigmi DRNG 8:37 AM Oddly nothing there on Google
10-22 Nguigmi DRNG 9:58 AM
10-22 N’Guigmi DRZN 10:38 AM
10-22 Berim FTTL 11:27 AM
10-22 Hassan Djamous FTTJ 12:07 PM
10-22 Ati FTTI 1:35 PM Syntethic vision landing
Flight time 7:46, 7 stops
Setting out towards the Aïr Mountains
Iferouane, picture taken from the bugged airport on a runway shaped hill sticking out the terrain
Climbing up through one of the valleys
On the other side, more desert!
Looking back at Aïr Mountains from the Eastern side
And out onto the vast sand planes, it’s a long way until the next airport
The sand hasn’t buried everything yet
Here it has, not even halfway to Dirkou
I’m guessing this is the ‘road’ to Dirkou, lot of tracks on the ground
There is not a lot of info on this town, but it does have a picture of a pink sandstorm!
That’s it, all of Nguigmi
It must be newish, there is nothing there on Google. On Bing it looks like a brand new compound.
Flying from Nguigmi to N’Guigmi
N’Guigmi on the shore of lake Chad before the lake retreated
The lake retreating explains the bizarre landscape that follows next
But first, a view from the ground in N’Guigmi
No bridges to go under, stack it up!
Onwards to Berim, flying over the bottom of lake Chad
Lake Chad is a terminal basin (endorheic basin) meaning water only flows in, evaporates out
The lake varies in size over the centuries as rainfall patterns shift over time
Lake Chad shrunk by as much as 95% since 1963 but is currently growing again
People live on these ‘islands’ yet the place seem to have no name
This is at 13°57’50.3"N 13°41’45.5"E, lot of tracks going and leaving, no name or other info available
I’m moving further way from the center, drier land
Koulgouma … maybe. No info other than ‘island’. Chad is a mysterious place
Berim also had no info, just a single 4 star rating on Google. Place not found on Bing (unnamed)
Flying on from Berim to N’Djamena, back to the wetter parts of the old shore
Arrival in N’Djama the capital of Chad
That colorful part near the bottom right is Place de la Nation
N’Djama is a huge city, with very little info again
The national museum does have quite a few pictures for impressions of Chad and this cool new statue
Onwards to Ati while the sun sets behind me
Oi, keep your eyes on the road driver lady
Peaceful at night, the light fades fast at this latitude
Ati, another mystery with hardly any info. I found this picture for the only POI a market
And a couple random videos only adding to the mystery
Tomorrow, a bit further East than heading for greener pastures in Central African Republic
Leg 62, Ati, Chad through Central African Republic to Doba oilfield, Chad
DAY10_23.PLN (4.1 KB)
I’m leaving the desert behind for a while. South to greener pastures and back West to explore the next section of Western Africa.
10-23 Ati FTTI 4:31 AM
10-23 Oum Hadjer OUM 5:06 AM
10-23 Goz-Beida FTTG 6:01 AM
10-23 Birao FEFI 6:59 AM
10-23 Birao FEBI 7:31 AM
10-23 Gordil FEGL 7:52 AM
10-23 N’dele FEFN 8:35 AM
CTD shortly after departure, restart
10-23 N’Dele FEFN 8:47 AM
10-23 Kabo FEKA 9:43 AM
10-23 Batangafo FEGF 9:58 AM
10-23 Doba Airport FTDB 10:47 AM
Flight time 6:04 9 stops
I flew around Central African Republic today and ended back in Chad. Central African Republic is even more mysterious, hardly any info or pictures on google maps. Undestandable since it’s one of the 10 poorest countries in the world and still plagued by civil war.
From the air it looks quite lovely. First Oum Hadjer on the Batha river, still in Chad
The pictures online show a lot more green, I guess this was from the dry season
Following the Batha river, patches of green along the dried up river
Kouroukoul, no info on this town
Gaz-Beida a little further, about 70km West from the border with Sudan
However I’m going South, Sudan will have to wait. Otw to Birao
This is (one of the places called) Birao, the town in the distance
Only this sad fact available: In March 2007, the town was almost completely burnt down in the fighting between rebels and government troops in the area. On to Birao airport, which is actually near Tiroungoulou.
Passing by Reserve de Faune de la Ouandja Vakaga, savannah
It’s getting greener, Parc National st Floris
Gordil, that is an airport down there, the green dot is my plane. Also zero info.
N’Délé, a market town (in the distance) in the North-East of the country
Bamingui-Bangoran Parker, national park and biosphere reserve
Reserve de Faune du Gribingui Bamingui
They do have a lot of nature reserves in Central African Republic
Coming in for a landing at Kabo, I love these kind of airstrips
Batangafo on the Ouham river, signs of agriculture
The info for this town: There is an airport in Batangafo. Thx.
Following the Ouham river for a bit
Straight road to Koldega, back in Chad
Doba, my final landing spot for today, has no info either. The airport is next to Doba oilfield and a town called Dildo. It’s also referred to as Dildo airport. There is no further info.
I’ll be passing by the capital of Central African Republic on my next lower (altitude) pass through Africa, for now I’m heading back West all the way to Cape Verde.
Leg 63, Doba oilfield, Chad via Cameroon to Gusau, Nigeria
DAY10_24.PLN (4.8 KB)
10-24 Doba Airport FTDB 5:17 AM
10-24 Moundou FTTD 5:36 AM
10-24 Touboro FTBE 6:06 AM
10-24 Lere FTMB 7:05 AM
10-24 Garoua FKKR 7:33 AM
10-24 Yola DNYO 8:03 AM
10-24 Jalingo DNJA 8:37 AM
10-24 Jalingo DNJA 9:01 AM
10-24 Makurdi DNMK 10:18 AM
10-24 Lokoja Airstrip DNLO 11:14 AM
10-24 Nnamdi Azikiwe Intl (Abuja) DNAA 11:53 AM
10-24 Shiroro DN50 12:18 PM
10-24 Gusau DNGU 1:13 PM Landing strip is the dark stretch in the middle of town
Flight time 7:32 11 stops
Mostly low detail terrain today yet also some parts with better coverage. The trees help.
First Moundou, not much from the air, but has some sights available online
On the way to Touboro into Cameroon
Touboro is still pretty dry
Touboro houses thousands of refugees fleeing armed violence
Bouba Ndjida National Park over the hills
Bouba Ndjida National Park, one of the few places the painted hunting dog can still be seen
Lere, not much info, 89K population, has an airport, situated on Lac Léré, no pictures
Cameroon is great at soccer and shows its passion for it
Roumdé Adjia Stadium, build in 1978 and will be part of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
Looking at the date of the picture it was fully renovated / upgraded in 2018
Crossing the Faro River
I’m using my plane here to cover up the worst of the low detail center river line imposed on top. I wish you could turn that off, no clue why it’s there.
Arriving at Yola, which means great plain or vast land, massive city on the Benue river
Crossing an unnamed mystery river
Bing to the rescue, it’s the Mayo Ini. The part joining remains unnamed.
Jalingo Airport with part of the city behind.
Most of Jalingo is on the other side of the river Lamurde
Jalingo, maybe on Barbe way
Interestingly most of the shops have pictures what they’re selling yet landmarks are not marked
Lokoja on the left 2 where the Benue river (coming from the right) joins the river Niger
Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, Aso rock dominating the sky line
It’s a proper rock to build a city next to
Flying past Shiroro Hydro-Electric Power Station
Last picture of the day, Kwiambana Game Reserve
Can’t spot and Elephants or Lions. It seems only Northern Ethiopia has fauna in the game so far. It will be a while until I get there.
I was ready for another night time landing by Drone view in Gusau since the air strip has no data in the G1000. However the landing strip turned out to be in the middle of the town. Aim for the long dark rectangle! It says Gussau old airport online but still seems to be in use. It’s just old.
Leg 64, Gusau, Nigeria via Benin to Tenkodogo, Burkina Faso
DAY10_25.PLN (6.1 KB)
10-25 Gusau DNGU 5:15 AM
10-25 Saddiq Abubakar Lii Intl DNSO 5:51 AM
10-25 Sir Ahmadu Bello DNBK 6:13 AM
CTD on touchdown, restart
10-25 Sir Ahmadu Bello DNBK 6:19 AM
10-25 Gaya DRRG 6:44 AM Follow Niger River
10-25 Kainji DNIX 7:51 AM
10-25 Jebba DNJE 8:29 AM
10-25 Ilorin DNIL 8:47 AM
10-25 Tankaro DBPA 9:54 AM
10-25 Djougou DBBD 10:17 AM
10-25 Natitingou DBBN 10:40 AM
10-25 Kandi DBBK 11:25 AM
10-25 La Tapoa DRRP 11:59 AM CTD 2 minutes out
CTD on approach, restart close to La Tapoa
10-25 La Tapoa proximity 12:07 PM
10-25 La Tapoa DRRP 12:12 PM
10-25 Diapaga DFED 12:30 PM
10-25 Arly DFER 12:48 PM
10-25 Pama DFEP 1:13 PM
10-25 Tenkodogo DFET 1:45 PM
Flight time 8:16 15 stops
Long flights with a lot of flat terrain going from national park to national park.
First up Sokoto in the North-West end of Nigeria. The name means ‘market’
Sultan Palace hall in Sokoto. No info other than a picture
The big area with a track going around is for horse races, Sokoto race course
Some info in video form, mini Durbar for Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar in 2016
Flying on to Gaya which is actually in Niger, right on top of the border with Benin
Following the river Niger, the border between Benin and Niger, back into Nigeria
The land is pretty flat, the river seems to shift often
A wide green stain on the dry desert
Kainji Hudro Power plant at the end of Kanji reservoir
Jeba hydro electric power plant
The town of Jebba in the opposite direction
The paper mill is the biggest feature in Jebba
HRH KABIYESI OBA Adebola Adebara the first Oba (local chief in Nigeria) of Jebba, 1897
Local festival at Oba’s palace
Djougou, an important market town in the North-West of Benin
Festival of dancing horses in Benin, no clue where this is in Benim
Flying over one of the many national parks in Benin, Foret de Birni
View from the runway at Natitingou, also known as Nati
Parque Nacional W de Níger, right on the border between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso
It has one picture, two elephants, they must be down there
Harvest time in La Tapoa, Niger
Arriving in Arly, Burkina Faso
A faded airstrip near a road, nothing else there
About 9 miles from Pama, on lake Compienga is this 4 star hotel, Refuge de Thialy
If you want peace and quiet, go here!
Arriving in Tenkodogo at sunset
I was just watching this amazing video about Benin, fun to recognize all the place names I flew over
Leg 65, Tenkodogo, Burkino Faso via Ghana and Togo to Bocanda, Côte d’Ivoire
DAY10_26.PLN (6.0 KB)
10-26 Tenkodogo DFET 4:25 AM
10-26 Ouagadougou DFFD 4:59 AM
10-26 Poura DFCR 5:38 AM
10-26 Wa DGLW 6:21 AM 261 nm next
10-26 Kpalime DXKA 8:07 AM
10-26 Kpalime DXKA 8:23 AM
10-26 Kumasi DGSI 9:25 AM
10-26 Sunyani DGSN 9:55 AM
10-26 Soko (Bondoukou) DIBU 10:16 AM
10-26 Tehini DIBN 10:49 AM
10-26 Bobo-Dioulasso DFOO 11:44 AM CTD less than 10 minutes out
CTD while turning the camera, restart
10-26 Bobo-Dioulasso proximity 11:51 AM
10-26 Bobo-Dioulasso DFOO 12:02 PM
10-26 Orodara DFOR 12:20 PM
10-26 Korhogo DIKR 12:53 PM
10-26 Korhogo DIKO 1:12 PM
10-26 Katiola KTC 1:44 PM
10-26 Bouake DIBK 1:56 PM
Autopilot broken (active pause mistake) 100% up trim, unrecoverable, restart
10-26 Bouake DIBK 2:20 PM
Terrible performance sub 5fps, restart, game lockup on exit, delete rolling cache
10-26 Bouake DIBK 2:50 PM
10-26 Bocanda DIBC 3:18 PM Drone cam landing with blinding lightning, grass strip
Flight time: 9:36 15 stops
Detail is kinda patchy in this area with many places where color grading and detail levels change on sharp boundaries and also cloud shaped ‘holes’ in the terrain filled in with default farmland textures that don’t fit in at all with the surrounding scenery. Lakes and rivers also have very low polygon data but it was still possible to get some decent impressions.
First up Ouagadougou, awesome name for the capital of Burkina Faso
Grande Mosquée and Cathédrale in Ouagadougou
The cathedral is from the 1930s, no info on the mosque
Poura, dirt landing strip below
Wa, Ghana. Easy to spell city name, useless when searching
Interesting restaurant names, eg God is king fast food, Mummy’s kitchen and Prisoners canteen
Mole national park, Ghana’s largest wildlife resort
Elephants, antelopes and over 90 other species on savanna and forest terrain
Lake Volta or rather the start of lake Volta
Largest man made reservoir in surface area
3,283 sq mi total, 3,000 sq mi were flooded with the completion of the Akosombo dam in 1965
Looking at the border with Togo near WoraWora
Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti region
Sunyani, capital of the Bono region
Between Tehini and Bobo-Dioulasso
Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino Faso’s second largest city
Home to this amazing Grande Mosquée, possibly the largest example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture
Made with mud brick and white washed regularly.
Construction started as early as 1812, later enlarged. A view from inside
Tongon Gold mine, Côte d’Ivoire
Apparently it is (or was) for sale, producing about 250K ounces of gold yearly
Bouake, second largst city in Côte d’Ivoire
My last flight was cursed today. It was on auto pilot, not much to see in the dark anyway. But I paused, turned up the gain with drone cam to take a look and didn’t realize I used active pause with auto pilot on. That put AP into an unrecoverable state. I tried to get out of it but AP only wanted to pull the nose up 100% into a stall.
So I restarted, let it fly on its own again from Bouake, I came back in time for the landing and found it was stuttering at sub 5fps for no apparent reason. I restarted again after deleting the rolling cache which fixed the problem.
3rd time, smooth sailing. I came back 5 minutes before landing. It was a grass strip and dark, drone view with increased gain to the rescue. It went very smooth this time, lined up nicely switching back and forth between camera and plane controls. The difficulty was the lightning, which had been going all day already, which completely whites out the screen with the increased gain to be able to see the terrain. Fun landing!
Leg 66, Bocanda, Côte d’Ivoire via Liberia and Guinea to Bemako, Mali
DAY10_27.PLN (6.7 KB)
10-27 Bocanda DIBC 4:51 AM
10-27 Yamoussoukro DIYO 5:12 AM The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro
10-27 Seguela DISG 5:55 AM
10-27 Mahana DITM 6:22 AM
10-27 Guiglo DIGL 7:12 AM
10-27 Gagnoa DIGA 7:47 AM
10-27 Tchien GLTN 8:44 AM
Terrible performance, streaming issues, restart
10-27 Tchien (Zwedru) GLTN 8:51 AM
10-27 Tapeta TPT 9:14 AM
10-27 Lamco GLNA 9:47 AM
10-27 Konia GUNZ 10:01 AM Massif du Zamia North-East
10-27 Odienne DIOD 10:52 AM
10-27 Gbenko GUGO 11:39 AM
10-27 Badala (Faranah) GUFH 12:21 PM
10-27 Kiniero GUKO 12:52 PM
10-27 Diankana (Kankan) GUXD 1:08 PM
10-27 Siguiri GUSI 1:33 PM
10-27 Bougouni GABG 2:11 PM
10-27 Senou (Bemako) GABS 2:45 PM
Flight time 9:47 17 stops
A lot of flying but detail was patchy, thus a lot of let AP do the work until the terrain gets better. See below for one of the worst places to fly (Liberia)
First Yamoussoukro, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire
Yamoussoukro is home to the largest church in the world, Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
Not quite like that, doesn’t look like $600 million well spend
This is what it looks like, completed 1989.
It can house 18.000 worshippers, only a few 100 attend normally. Social distancing king!
Ground view of that open-ish patch dead center
The typical style of Mosque around here
Mont Sângbé National Park home of the African dwarf crocodile among others
Guiglo on the river Zo which flows into Lac de Buyo nearby
Yep, I was right.
There are a lot of half finished buildings around which reminds me of Greece. When we were touring there in our twenties we also noticed lots of house with only a frame for the second floor. A local explained that it had to do with taxes and building permits. No hurry completing the second floor, just need to have rods sticking out for another floor to have the building permit to finish it many years later. However, here it just seems to be coincidence or people like to take pictures of construction in progress. (There are also a lot of selfies posted for landmarks)
Something different. I always try to get the best out of the simulator, adjusting camera angles just right, keeping detail changes out of frame etc. But Liberia is a different story. This is between Tchien and Tapeta
The connection was fine, the game was simply streaming garbage. It happened for another long stretch later in Liberia, a half concentric ring of those blue squares moving along with me over extremely low detail terrain. It happens more often in the far North, first time I see it this bad at this latitude.
Not all Liberia is bad, Tapeta, over saturated but decent at the right angle.
No info on Google though, mystery town
Nimba Nature Reserve on the border with Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea
Konia, these long wide runways are making me lazy
Massif du Ziama Classified Forest in Guinea
That is some dense forest, looks like a lot of work to keep the road clear
Crossing a mountain range near Kourouko
Near Banankoro is Mazano with a diamond factory. I expected a little bit more than this
Faranah on the river Niger as many of the bigger cities
New meets the old (not my circle)
One of the many random pictures you see on Google for cities around here. It gives a good idea of the local culture without street view.
I flew by Sélingué Dam Hydrolectric next to Kangare on the Sankarani river in Mali and after that the city of Bougouni. Unfortunately the detail is so low in this area I couldn’t make anything of it. So I flew on to Bemako, the capital of Mali. Arriving after dusk
Bemako has a monument of independence (from France I assume, no info)
I’ll see what Bemako looks like in daylight tomorrow.
Leg 67, Bemako, Mali via Senegal to Kaedi, Mauritania
DAY9_29.PLN (10.0 KB)
10-28 Senou (Bemako) GABS 5:01 AM
10-28 Ambodédjo (Sevare) GAMB 6:54 AM
10-28 Keibane (Nara) GANK 8:32 AM
10-28 Kolokani GAKN 9:20 AM
10-28 Bafoulabe GABF 10:23 AM Lake and parks East-ish
CTD while cruising in the background 10:59 AM
Restart, luckily little navmap was running and had the last known position
10-28 Bafoulabe GABF - Dire GADI 34nm to go 11:06 AM
10-28 Dire GADI 11:18 AM
10-28 Kedougou GOTK 11:49 AM
10-28 Simenti GOTS 12:20 PM
10-28 Tambacounda GOTT 12:39 PM
10-28 Ouro Sogui GOSM 1:29 PM
10-28 Kaedi GQNK 1:50 PM
Flight time 8:42 10 stops
More low detail areas but also some decent ones.
I started out by following the river Niger to the desert. Passing Farako
The closer to the desert the less the effect of the water. Near Nakri
Mopti, making good use of the water
The river Bani joins the Niger in Mopti, double the water
Fertile waters, fertile land, great place for a town
Mopti is build along the old bank of the river Bani. It looks like the river shifted a lot leaving a huge area of very fertile ground for farming.
All that water and mud is also great for building, Grand Mosque of Mopti
Niger river basin feeding Lake Débo
Quite a sight from the air, near Dogo
The river continues North to Niafunke where I departed from in leg 60
Nara to the West, not far from Mauritania (to the North)
What’s missing from the weather engine, sand storms!
That could seriously hurt my plane
Near Goumbou, washboard terrain
Passing Hatero, finally some elevation in the terrain. It has been mostly flat so far
Bafoulabe where the river Bakoi joins the river Bafing
Ferry service to connect the roads up there
Hydro dam at Manantali on the river Bafing, constructed from 1982 to 1988, operational since 2001
Apart from long time issues with funding to get the project actually delivering electricity, the dam also took food away from about 370,000 people who lived from flood recession agriculture in the Senegal river valley. Flood recession agriculture has now completely disappeared.
Dire or rather Falea South-West Mali.
Big runway for a tiny little town
Near Semanti inside Niokolo-Koba National Park
Flying by Fete Bowe, also not much info on towns in Senegal
Arriving in Kaedi for the last stop, just across the border (the river) into Mauritania
Leg 68, Kaedi, Mauritania via Senegal to Rabil, Cape Verde
DAY10_29.PLN (5.8 KB)
I’ll apologize in advance for the amount of screenshots, I went into the good part of the desert again. So many amazing views, well worth the ‘detour’.
10-29 Kaedi GQNK 4:31 AM
10-29 Kiffa GQNF 5:26 AM
10-29 Aioun-El-Atrouss GQNA 6:18 AM
10-29 Tidjikja GQND 7:23 AM
10-29 Letfotar GQNL 7:49 AM
10-29 Akjoujt GQNJ 8:56 AM
10-29 Akjoujt GQNJ 10:02 AM
10-29 Oumtounsy GQNO 10:51 AM Intl airport missing, just dirt strips
10-29 Nouakchott GQNN 11:00 AM
10-29 Podor GOSP 11:41 AM
10-29 Rosso GORO 12:04 PM
10-29 St Louis GOSS 12:24 PM
10-29 Thies GOTH 12:58 PM
10-29 Blaise Diagne GOBD 1:06 PM
10-29 Leopold Sedar Senghor GOOY 1:24 PM 323nm next
10-29 Rabil GVBA 3:25 PM Virtual vision landing
Flight time 9:48 14 stops
First up, the way to Kiffa from Kaedi, starts tame enough
Kiffa, large spread out town with a photo featuring Niagara falls on Google
You can’t fool me, this is the real Kiffa
Carrying on to Aioun-El-Atrouss
The desert colors are coming back
Too bad the height map resolution doesn’t match the ground detail, this is what it looks like around Aioun-El-Atrouss after some rain
On to Tidjikja, a long stretch of empty desert to cross first
Until getting to the Tagant Plateau
Hopping up onto the Tagant plateau
Tidjikja, capital of the Tagant region and is known for its palm trees
The landscape is getting more and more varied
Letfotar, maybe. The nearest settlement is unnamed, closest named town is Moudjéria, 12 miles away.
Lake El’Aleib (maybe, unnamed on Bing, kinda questionable name placement on Google)
Names are sparse, but you can see a picture of what’s on the shelves in a local shop
Then follows a lot more desert with lovely sand dunes
The ground is starting to show patterns again
And then the scenery goes wild on approach to Akjoujt
To put the actual town in a rather mundane spot
Strange form of advertising, a local grocery store (Epicerie Tasamouh) has one picture up of a heavily bandaged guy hanging out on a chair in front of (blocking) an open steel door, taken from inside a Toyota that’s stopped in the middle of the street or driving by. Also the only contribution of the poster. I feel there’s a story here.
There was a good picture of Akjoujt as well
Autoroute Akjoujt N1, long straight drive
A lonely grocery store down below with pictures of the inventory posted
Oumtounsy is the name of the airport at or rather in Nouakchott
Nouakchott is home to Mosque Saudique
There is also a fish market nearby with the colorful pirogues to fish with
Arriving at Podor along the river Senegal which forms the border between Mauritania and Senegal
Street view is (sporadically) available in Senegal, horse and buggy seems to be the popular form of transportation in Podor.
On to Rosso, That looks like a hand with a skull drawn in the thumb
Richard Toll, named for the park of the Château de Baron Roger, laid out by botanist Jean Michel Claude Richard. Senegal looks very much like France from the road signs to the style of concrete hydro poles. Senegal gained independence from France in 1960, not very long ago.
Quite busy on the streets, bustling town.
Another coastal town with lots of colorful boats
Thies, a major industrial city
And lastly arriving at the capital of Senegal, Dakar
Home to the African Renaissance monument and mosque of the divinity
I’m amazed I’ve never heard of this monument before. The first picture I saw of it was a few days ago posted in a small town in Guinea. I thought it was a joke picture, it’s a real thing. It is rather new, 2010 unveiling. 52 meter high bronze statue designed by Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby and made by Mansudae Overseas Projects in North Korea. For comparison, Christ the redeemer is ‘only’ 30 meters high.
I did know of Dakar from early on, Paris Dakar rally pc game from 1990. The rally is still going
Although the last time it went to Dakar was in 2007. From 2008 to 2019 it was held in South America due to security concerns in Mauritania and this year it was held in Saudi Aribia.
From Dakar I (or rather the plane) flew on to Cape Verde. I took a couple pictures of the sun getting low before letting it continue on its own. Near full moon today
I like how it lights up the logo on the wing
Taking a back seat for the rest of the flight
Cape Verde has no runway lights but does have a big runway in the G1000, virtual vision landing made easy. Tomorrow island hopping! I survived patch day, the game still works
Leg 69, Rabil, Cape Verde via The Gambia to Kolda, Senegal
DAY10_30.PLN (5.1 KB)
Couple technical issues today due to the patch. The G1000 buttons keep turning on their own, it seems the button up event from the mouse is not always recognized anymore. Work around, remap cockpit zoom to button plus scroll wheel and use the scroll wheel to operate the G1000 knob.
Also TAA has changed, picture quality seems to have degraded some what even though I take screenshots at render scale 200. It could also be the terrain at Cape Verde, a lot of washed out pictures needing a bit of brightness and contrast adjustments.
The plane seems to be harder to control as well with wind or maybe the effect of wind is now better implemented. It was windy today in Cape Verde, up to 36 knots, making it very hard to land.
10-30 Rabil GVBA 5:02 AM
10-30 Amilcar Cabral GVAC 5:40 AM
10-30 Preguica GVSN 6:13 AM
10-30 Agostinho Neto GVAN 6:42 AM Took 3 attempts to land, 26 knot cross wind
10-30 Sao Pedro GVSV 7:10 AM
10-30 Esperadinha BVR 8:03 AM
10-30 Sao Filipe GVSF 8:18 AM Crazy wind, full steering lock to stay on the runway
10-30 Mosteiros GVMT 9:01 AM Awesome volcano
10-30 Mandela Intl GVNP 9:32 AM
10-30 Maio GVMA 9:50 AM 385nm next, 35 knot head wind ugh, climb!
10-30 Diofior GODI 12:50 AM
Restart, not sure if streaming is actually working or poor quality
10-30 Diofior GODI 12:50 AM poor quality
10-30 Banjul GBYD East through The Gambia 1:24 PM
10-30 Kolda GOGK 2:18 PM
Flight time 9:04 12 stops
First up Boa Vista, sadly very little detail
What the coast really looks like
There is an old freighter ran aground at the beach in 1968, Praia da Atalanta, but detail is too low to see it
Rabil, cute town next to the airport
Ribeira Brava, the airport is just to the left
Parque Natural Monte Gordo in the mountains, quite green in reality
Awesome coast line here as well
Vale do PaúlIlha de Santo Antão, or simply Paul Valley
Ponta do Sol, actually this landing was easier than it looks
Esgamaleiro tucked into that valley
the real thing, those vertical cliffs on the water!
A little bit to the South-West, São Vicente
In the middle of the bay on the left is this rock, turned into tourist attraction
A long way to the South, Esperadinha Brava, another ‘interesting’ landing experience
Just East of Brava is Ilha do Fogo with a massive volcano, Pico do Fogo
Active 9,281 ft. stratovolcano
With a huge caldera, Fogo National Park
People live there, Bangera and Portela
The lava field at the base of the volcano
Looking down into the caldera from the peak
And one more goodbye shot for the overview
On to Santiago a little bit to the East, Porto Mosquito to the right, sounds inviting…
Praia, the capital of Cape Verde
View from Lighthouse Dona Maria Pia at the end of that small peninsula
Last island for today, Porto Inglês on Maio
Nice Beach. It’s still 27 degrees there at 11 PM, looks inviting
Back to the mainland, back to Senegal. Flying over Moundé
This area is part of the Saloum river delta
Bakau in The Gambia, a small country around the river Gambia
Kachikally Crocodile Pool in the middle of town where you can pet the crocodiles
Hmm, not sure if you can trust that one
Banjul, the capital of The Gambia
Arch 22, decorative gate commemorating 1994’s military coup d’état
I followed the river Gambia to the East until the sun went down
About time to turn South to my final destination of the day
Arriving in Kolda, Senegal, night lighting has changed
No lights at the airport, no problem, runway data was in the G1000
Tomorrow back to the coast and follow it Eastwards.
Leg 70, Kolda, Senegal via Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone to Sinoe, Liberia
DAY10_31.PLN (7.3 KB)
Landing is still tricky after the latest patch. Something is messed up with the sensitivity curve of both the flight stick and the way the ailerons react. Auto pilot has issues as well, very jerky when switching to VS mode. While leveling off over the runway, when pulling the stick back slowly, there is a point where it suddenly gets super sensitive and the plane pitches up wildly. Move it a mm back and it violently pitches back down. For now my solution is to land with trim set to 20% up, thus pulling the stick less far back while landing.
First back to the coast, at Cap Skriring
Cap Skirring is a popular seaside resort for Europeans and great place to catch the waves
Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau on the river Geba
Contrasting city, modern to decaying Portugese colonial buildings
Crossing into Sierra Leone near Kabala
Interesting mountains near Makiti, a huge eroded plateau, must be old
A long city, it actually started quite a bit way back from my first picture
Topped by the remnants of an old volcano
Looking back on the city extending in the far distance
Museum and Grande Mosque of Conakry
Approaching Freetown in Sierra Leone
Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, known for its historical role in the slave trade
The old town’s centuries-old Cotton Tree, a historical landmark, symbol of emancipation
Near Funkio, some nice colors along the coast
It’s all part of various river basins, here the Tai river basin
Heading in land again, passing Lanty dry mining plant
Apparently pruduces heavy minerals, rutile, ilmenite and zircon (Mr Zurcon?)
Kambui Hills Forest Reserve next to Kenema
On the way to Robertsport, shields up
Robertsport, named after Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of Liberia
View from Ducor intercontinental hotel
The old hotel is now a tourist attraction, with great views
You can explore it in street view, pretty cool
The layout reminds me of the abandoned building in The last of us 2
I flew on to Sinoe to arrive there in the dark with lots of lightning, drone view landing for visibility
Bright during a flash, near pitch black right after, fun landing with that going off every few seconds
Leg 71, Sinoe, Liberia via Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin to Lagos, Nigeria
DAY11_1.PLN (7.4 KB)
Along the coast with a little peak into Togo to find nothing of particular interest. (A whole lot of cloud shaped holes with default texture filling)
11-01 Sinoe GLGE 4:46 AM
11-01 Grand Cess GRC 5:11 AM
11-01 Cape Palmas GLCP 5:28 AM
11-01 Tabou DITB 5:37 AM Cool kid drumming on google maps
11-01 Tabou DITA 5:47 AM
11-01 Nero-Sur-Mer DIGN 5:53 AM
11-01 San Pedro DISP 6:02 AM
11-01 Sassandra DISS 6:17 AM
11-01 Dabou DIDB 7:00 AM
Bad performance, restart
Also turning sharpen off in UserCFG.opt makes everything very blurry, no middle ground, TAA problem
11-01 Dabou DIDB 7:07 AM
11-01 Felix Houphouet-Boigny DIAP 7:23 AM
11-01 Aboisso DIAO 7:41 AM
11-01 Tiapoum DITI 7:51 AM
11-01 Takoradi AB DGTK 8:24 AM
Terrible performance, restart, streaming issues, constant lightning, delete rolling cache try without
11-01 Takoradi AB DGTK 8:32 AM
11-01 Kotoka Intl (Acra) DGAA 9:22 AM
11-01 Kpong DGAK 9:37 AM
11-01 Tokoin DXXX 10:19 AM
11-01 Akpaka DXAK 10:51 AM
11-01 Sokode DXSK 11:29 AM
11-01 Save DBBS 12:07 PM lot of cloud shaped, default farm texture, ‘holes’
11-01 Murtala Muhammed DNMM 1:03 PM
Flight time 8:02 19 stops
Monument at Cape Palmas, doesn’t say what for
Nero-Mer Airport, La Flotte, Côte d’Ivoire
Sassandra on the Sassandra river
Flying by Tioko over a big coastal lake
Abidjan, big city closer to the Ghana side of the border
Abidjan Plateau Mosque on the left, St Pauls Cathedral on the right
With a long history of slave trade. Here the Dutch cemetary with Elmina castle in the background
Elmina castle was build in 1482 by the Portugese, a base for trading slaves. The Dutch attacked the Portugese in the 17th century from Fort St Jago, while recruiting Africans into their army. Then in 1735 the directors of the Dutch West India Company decided to shift the slave trade to Elmina Castle, where slaves were cheaper.
This leg is depressing. Born and raised in The Netherlands, yes I knew of the slave trade and we did learn about the West India Company in school. However the slave trade by the Dutch (and other stuff like South Africa and Indonesia) was conveniently left out of the history curriculum.
Cape Coast, a little bit further East
Cape Coast Castle, fort built by the Swedish in the 17th century.
It was later used by the British as a holding prison for slaves.
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (left) honors Ghana’s first president.
Black star gate on the right, The star represents Africa in general and Ghana in particular.
Accra is also home to the world’s largest digital waste dump, Agbogbloshie
It’s nicknamed Sodom for the open fires used to extract metal from old electronics.
Flying by Kpong, lightning is going crazy all around
Lomé, the capital of Togo
No, that straight line is not a bug, it’s the border with Ghana
Akodessewa Fetish market on the left, the world’s largest voodoo market
Monument of independence on the right
Sokode, straight North from Lomé
Stade Municipal de Sokode, holds up to 10,000 people
The home stadium of AC Semassi F.C. and Tchaoudjo Athlétic Club
Arriving in Lagos, Nigeria, not long after sunset, view from the coast
Lagos is a major financial center for all of Africa with a rapidly expanding financial sector
Next to that, it also features an amazing night life
Leg 72, Lagos, Nigeria via Bioko island to Bali, Cameroon
DAY11_2.PLN (6.1 KB)
11-02 Murtala Muhammed DNMM 4:13 AM
11-02 New Ibadan DNIB 4:43 AM
11-02 Akure DNAK 5:16 AM
11-02 Benin DNBE 5:41 AM
11-02 Osubi DNSU 6:00 AM
11-02 Enugu DNEN 6:58 AM
11-02 Owerri Imo DNIM 7:25 AM
CTD right after coming to a stop (switching view to nav panel)
11-02 Owerri Imo DNIM 7:33 AM
11-02 Port Harcourt DNPO 7:47 AM
11-02 Port Harcourt City DNPR 7:54 AM
11-02 Eket DNEK 8:21 AM
11-02 Calabar DNCA 8:40 AM
11-02 Malabo FGSL 9:12 AM Mount Cameroon on the left
11-02 Tiko FKKC 10:33 AM
11-02 Douala FKKD 10:46 AM Mount Manengouba otw
11-02 Mamfe FKKF 11:34 AM
11-02 Bali FKKG 11:58 AM Drone cam landing
Flight time 7:37 15 stops
Bing coverage is a bit of a modern art piece in these regions
Luckily the weather provided the views instead
First up, Ibadan, the largest city by geographical area in Nigeria, 6 million people
Bowers tower is one of the landmarks in Ibadan, good spot to view the city
A historic monument put up to honor Captain Robert Lister Bower
A first, a late first, after 1200 approaches, dead on without ever changing direction after taking off
Just North of Ogbunike where Ogbunike Cave is in the forest behind the yellow fields
Ogbunike cave and peculiar instructions
When you look it up online it incorrectly shows pictures of Hang Sơn Đoòng in Vietnam, which I will certainly visit, but this cave is about a hundredth of the size. The largest chamber in this cave is still pretty big, 10 by 30 meters by 5 meters high.
Enugu, derived from two Igbo words Énú Ụ́gwụ́ meaning “hill top”
Port Harcourt, connected by a large estuary to the Bight of Bonny aka Bight of Biafra
To Eket, yep lots of lightning and thunder
Malabo on Bioko island, Equatorial Guinea. Island not far off the coast
Volcanic mountain peak, 9,878 ft high
It feels like the weather doesn’t want me here, the clouds are chasing me
Reserva Científica de la Caldera de Luba formerly San Carlos
The Gran Caldera de Luba Scientific Reserve is a protected area of 51,000 hectares
Back to the mainland, Mt Cameroon, aka Mongo ma Ndemi (“Mountain of Greatness”)
13,250 ft high, part of the Cameroon volcanic line, same as Pico Basilé earlier
Diving down to Tiko, Mt Cameroon remains hidden
Flying by Tiko, small town on the edge of another large estuary
Douala in the between the Wouri and Dibamba rivers
La Pagode aka Palace of the Kings Bell from the German colonial period on the left
La Nouvelle Liberté produced by Joseph-Francis Sumégné in 1996, now a symbol of the city
Mount Manengouba in the never ending lightning
Featured in the documentary The Mists of Mwanenguba
Racing to my last stop, it’s getting dark fast
No runway lights, no G1000 data, prepare the drone, max exposure
Awesome pictures !
You might wanna join our new thread.
It’s the windows spotlight challenge
Leg 73, Bali, Cameroon to via Central African Republic to Gbadolite, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DAY11_3.PLN (4.5 KB)
The switch to winter time and moving further East are cutting into the hours I can explore. It was dark at 11 AM already today. Considering the circumference of the Earth is 21639 NM at the equator, every 900 nm further East is one less hour of sunlight. At some point I’ll have to make the switch to playing in the evening/night. Currently sun rise would be at 10:30 pm from my pov.
11-03 Bali FKKG 5:37 AM
11-03 Bafoussam FKKU 5:58 AM
11-03 Foumbot FKFO 6:06 AM
11-03 Nkounja FKKM 6:10 AM
11-03 Tibati FKTI 7:08 AM
11-03 N’gaoundere FKKN 7:30 AM
11-03 Bocaranga FEGC 8:25 AM
11-03 Bossangoa FEFS 9:13 AM
11-03 M’Poko FEFF 10:12 AM
11-03 Bangui FEBA 10:17 AM
11-03 Gbadolite FZFD 11:16 AM Too dark for drone cam, runway lights!
Flight time 5:53 10 stops
Another day with thunder and lightning from start to finish
Climbing or a a couple ridges that form a horseshoe near Ntendzem
Reservoir of the Mapé aka Lake Bankim
Peculiar landscape between Nkounja and Tibati
Trees grow in/along the drainage channels, too dry further out
Lake Mbakaou, dam in the river Sanaga
Ngaoundal, there is a Bauxite mine nearby is about all the info on this town
I guess that ditch is a little more than a ditch in reality to lead a road around it
Rainbow at Bocaranga, crossed in to Central African Republic
Near Bobili, it’s really pouring now (except on my windshield)
No info on Bossangoa, onwards to M’Poko
Two drops of water on the windshield if you look closely!
Not for long, on approach to Bangui
Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, on the Ubangi river
No info or rather landmarks in the capital.
There are some pictures online including this panoramic shot
The city was taken over by rebel forces in 2013 and the most recent cease fire from 2019 was broken again this year. On 17 February 2020, members of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa (FPRC) attacked MINUSCA forces in Birao, leading to 12 FPRC forces being killed. The country has been in a state of civil war since 2012.
Following the Ubangi river for a bit
It gets dark early now and fast
Gbadolite, just over the border (the Ubangi river) into Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was known as Versailles of the jungle, Mobutu’s modern high tech city in the jungle.
The airport was also build by Mobutu, large enough to accommodate the Concorde. He further build the largest nuclear bunker of Africa there, room for 500 people, and two palaces.
After Mobutu got ousted in 1997 the city and palaces were raided and the palaces left abandoned
Leg 74, Gbadolite DRC via Central African Republic to Impfondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
DAY11_4.PLN (6.1 KB)
Another full day of lightning, it never ends!
11-04 Gbadolite FZFD 5:04 AM
11-04 Mobaye MBanga FEFE 5:11 AM
11-04 Bakouma FEGM 6:02 AM
11-04 Yalinga FEFY 6:28 AM
11-04 M’Boki FEGE 7:43 AM
11-04 Zemio FEFZ 8:06 AM
11-04 Bondo FZBY 9:01 AM
11-04 Bondo (Likali) FZDW 9:17 AM
11-04 Aketi FZKN 9:34 AM
11-04 Yalingimba FZGI 10:00 AM
11-04 Bumba FZFU 10:13 AM
11-04 Lisala FZGA 10:40 AM
11-04 Pimu FZBX 10:58 AM
11-04 Binga FZGE 11:17 AM
11-04 Gwaka FZFW 11:29 AM Drone cam landing
11-04 Impfondo FCOI 12:25 PM virtual vision landing
Flight time 7:21 15 stops
A look at Mobutu’s abandoned palace in Gbadolite from the previous leg
Yalinga, heading North first, back into Central African Republic
Flying over Chinko Nature Reserve
The reserve spans nearly 7,000 square miles, that’s seven times Luxembourg
The whole area lies on a volcanic plateau 2,000 ft above sea level
Approaching M’Boki, rain has moved in
Heading back South into the Democratic Republic of the Congo over Western Bomu Wildlife Reserve
No info on the Bomu reserves, it’s pretty wet
with a varied and colorful terrain
Flying over the river on departure
Finally a town with a couple pictures, looks like it was a flood situation
My only ‘knowledge’ of the Congo is from the 1995 movie, Congo, mediocre blockbuster now cult-classic
Not to be confused with the 2019 movie Congo which has nothing to do with the 1995 one
Most likely also not a good source to learn more about the Congo
For that this would be the documentary to watch
Crossing the Congo river again
I continued on to Impfondo, the dark airstrip was in the G1000, here lit by lightning
Leg 75, Impfondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo via Republic of the Congo and Gabon to Djoum, Cameroon
DAY11_5.PLN (4.5 KB)
11-05 Impfondo FCOI 4:14 AM
11-05 Mbandaka FZEA 4:53 AM Follow the river
11-05 Gamboma FCOG 6:01 AM Extremely low res terrain in between
11-05 Lekana LKC 6:34 AM
11-05 M’Vengue FOON 7:10 AM
11-05 Koulamouto FO23 7:37 AM
11-05 Booue FOGB 8:01 AM
11-05 Mekambo FOOE 8:50 AM
11-05 Ouesso FCOU 9:45 AM
Restart, weirdly overbright and streaming only sporadically
11-05 Ouesso FCOU 9:52 AM
11-05 Masea FKYK 10:34 AM Server issues, slow streaming
11-05 Djoum FKSA 11:38 AM Drone cam landing
Another day with thunder and lightning, however it did finally stop after I restarted the game due to streaming issues. The last 90 minutes were thunder free!
It started with some nasty weather, approach to MBandaka over the Congo river
A little break under the clouds to spot the town, MBandaka
MBandaka has a large botanical garden, Jardin Botanique d’EALA
Next to all the flora it houses a Nile Crocodile captured in 1953. They get between 70 and 100 years old, the picture of him was from Dec 2018, living there for 65 years already.
Today it was nasty in MBandaka, on the runway lit by lightning
Following the Congo river further South West
About here the Ubangi river joins the Congo river
I can’t even see the sides in this weather
Arriving in Gamboma accross the fuzzy border (the river Congo) in to Republic of the Congo
From Gambona to Lekana, got my reading light on, not much to see
With the weather and streaming issues on top, I decided to climb above the clouds to Koulamouto
It cleared up for a bit over the Ogooue river at the GRand Poubara Hydropower Plant in Gabon
Bridge over the river at the Chutes de Poubara
Approaching Koulamouto on the Lolo river
Nice paved runway at Koulamouto
Nice town, just 6.6 miles South of the Equator
Looks like logging is one of the activities here, big trees
Spotting the Lvindio River in between the clouds
Ouesso on the Sangha river, back in the Republic of the Congo
The ferry from Ouesso to Brazzaville
Ouesso is known for the pygmy peoples who live nearby. The smallest peoples in the world
There are between 250,000 and 600,000 Pygmies living in the Congo rainforest
Boumba Bek National Park in Cameroon, an ocean of trees
Descending to take a closer look at the rain forest
Better not run out of fuel on this stretch, no emergency landing sites anywhere
Sunset over Nki National Park, connected to Boumba Bek National Park
Dusk doesn’t last long, luckily still enough light for a drone cam landing in Djoum