Long Way Down (In Reverse): Cape Town to John o' Groats

Leg 10 will be taking off in 20 minutes on my discord, first challenge will be to navigate around Windhoek’s airspace restrictions :slight_smile:

**Leg 10 Windhoek-Eros (FYWE) to Bush Breaks Lodge (FYGO) - 149NM **
We departed Windhoek today into stormy conditions that continued to deteriorate as we worked our way east. Fortunately as if by “magic” the weather suddenly cleared into “Broken Clouds” and we were able to continue our journey across a wide open plain (not to be confused with “plane”!) to the tiny strip at Bush Breaks Lodge.

This will be our last stop in Namibia, the next leg will bring us into Botswana and a gradually a shift from dessert to fertile wetlands as we approach Maun.

@TicTocRock @DenJyskeUlv it’s such a pleasure flying with you! As we discussed I’ll update the flight plan shortly for the next two legs to be more aligned with VFR rules following roads, rivers and landmarks as far as possible :slight_smile:

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Leg 11 taking off at 8pm GMT today we’ll be following the back country road North East to Ghanze, Botswana :slight_smile:

Leg 11 Bush Breaks Lodge (FYGO) to Ghanzi (FBGZ) - 124NM

We took off, it was flat…very flat and dry for miles around. At least we were able to celebrate another border crossing into Botswana :slight_smile:

After many miles of desert @TicTocRock @DenJyskeUlv and I are looking forward to a change in scenery. Fortunately the next couple of legs will provide that exploring the waterways and wetlands north of Maun on our journey towards Victoria Falls.

Border Crossing!

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Leg 12 Ghanzi (FBGZ) to Ntswi (FBMD) - 170NM

We followed the desolate back country road for a few more miles before arriving at Lake Ngam and the the start of the Okavango Delta. Weaving through the various tributaries and wetlands we made our way to Ntswi airport one of the many small strips serving the bush lodges in the regions.

The trip was really brought to life by @DenJyskeUlv knowledge of the region talking us through the ecoology of the wetlands and various sites along the way.

The next leg on the trip will bring us to the Caprivi strip a narrow spit of land joining Namibia to Zambia.


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Thank you very much for the kind words. The trip that you have laid out for us is exciting, interesting and breathtakingly beautiful to fly. I just try to give it a little spice here and there where possible. And, not to forget, good company along the way is worth its weight in gold.
Thank you, simmers.

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Leg 13 Ntswi(FBMD) to Serondella (FBKS) - 172 NM
I think the three of us were in agreement… what a stunning leg! Live weather really brought this trip to life, dodging rain storms on our way out of Ntswi clearing to rainbows and broken clouds as we followed the Chobe river towards Serondella.

Sunday will see us joining the Zambezi river and Victoria falls.

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Leg 14 taking off on my discord in 20 mins… we will be touring the Zambezi River, Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba!

Leg 14 Serondella (FBKS) to Binga (FVBI) - 148 NM
We had some luck with the live weather on the last leg but this one it was completely against us. Overcast conditions leaving Serondella rapidly deteriorated into rain and a low cloud base, forcing us after a brief glimpse of Victoria Falls to dive deep into the Zambezi canyon to maintain something close to VFR.

Miraculously (or some would say with the push of the “overcast” button) the conditions cleared to allow for a safe landing at Binga on the shores of Kariba.

Thanks to @DenJyskeUlv and @TicTocRock for the moral support on this tense but exciting leg!

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Leg 15 Binga (FVBI) to Chirundu (FVCD) - 156 NM
After the storm that was Leg 14, @DenJyskeUlv and I enjoyed a relaxing jaunt across lake Kariba, the largest man made lake in the world I’m told! It’s the first time I’ve actually seen zero wind in the sim, hands off flying at its best!

Upon crossing the far Shoreline of the lake we were greeted by Lions, and Giraffes and Elephants (Oh My!) and even a Rainbow before following the Yellow Brick River Zambezi (Wizardof Oz references going to far!) to our destination at Chirundu.

@TicTocRock we missed you! Was it really work or just a fear of Giraffes that kept you away? :wink:

Big thanks to alphaBICEPS from flightsim.to for the Kariba Safari mod!

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I got a bit carried away with the flight planning this evening and have plotted our route for the next 8 legs which will take us from where we are now near Lusaka up through Malawi and Tanzania to the Rwanda. Updated plan is in the original post :slight_smile:

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This is an enormous Task you have undertaken and is making an adventurous read.I look forward to the next installments :+1:

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Thank you so much for the kind words it really means a lot. It is indeed an enormous task but a lot of fun especially with the friends I’ve made along the way. Feel free to join us for one of the upcoming legs :slight_smile:

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Leg 16 Chirundu (FVCD) to Zambue- 142 NM
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon , the three of us enjoyed a pleasant flight following the Zambezi to the junction with the Luangwa river and the border between Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We followed the Zambezi for a few more miles before heading north over hilly terrain deeper into Mozambique.

It is absolutely amazing how well the sim handles the scenery in this remote corner of the world. Sim update downloading now in preparation for tomorrow’s flight!

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Leg 17 Zambue (FLNI) to Chipata (FLCP) - 156 NM

We’ve definitely left the rolling dunes of the Kalahari now with the scenery turning into lush tropical greenery dotted with small hills. We left Zambue with clear skies which slowly succumbed to thunder showers. Fortunately there were enough gaps to enable us to maintain VFR and weave our way to Chipata in the northeast.

@TicTocRock @DenJyskeUlv yet again my Geography let me down on this leg. We were actually enjoying the rolling hills of Mozambique not Malawi! Saturday will take us into Malawi… or is it Tanzania? :wink:

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Leg 18 Chipata (FLCP) to Nikhota Kota (FWKK) - 153 NM

The intrepid trio set off once again, this time taking a dog leg of a route into Malawi across flat green lands over the nations capital Lilongwe to Nihkhota Kota near the shores of Lake Malawi.

We had our fair share of challenges with the approach dodging storm clouds and having to change our planned runway at the last minute to avoid a large building strategically placed at the end of the field. @TicTocRock and I learned a lesson… when @DenJyskeUlv reports that he’s reviewed the chart and can see there’s a large building it’s probably best to listen to him!

For tomorrow’s flight we will be tracing the shore of Lake Malawi northwards, please do join us!

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Leg 19 Nikhota Kota (FWKK) to Karonga (FWKA) - 182 NM

Our longest leg yet but a stunning one heading northwards up the huge expanse of Lake Malawi to Karonga on the northern coast.

The odd storm cloud kept us busy with @TicTocRock pushing his CTSL high to nearly 9000 feet to clear the cloud layer. Towards the end of the leg we split up to do some sight seeing exploring the valleys and lake shore.

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Leg 20 Karonga (FWKA) to Kapenta (HTLH) - 153 NM
Leg 20 brought us northwards over rolling green hills before crossing from Malawi into Tanzania our 8th country on this trip. VFR became much easier after we picked up a natural escarpment guiding us the final 70 miles into the tiny strip / road at Kapenta. Without having to focus on the map i decided to use the time see how close I could get to @TicTocRock without him noticing :slight_smile:

I experienced the first CTD of this trip which I later diagnosed to an unstable overclock., no fault of the sim. Yes there is the odd bug here and there with the sim, but hats of to Asobo they are fixing things slowly but surely. It’s clear with the number of hours that three of us have flown on this trip without issue that things are becoming more stable.

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Leg 21 Kapenta (HTLH) to Mpanda (HTNP) - 176 NM

A little behind on my trip update from Wednesday it was a mad week at work!

Leg 21 saw us heading further north crossing Lake Rukwa another wide expanse of water before following the roads up to Mpanda.

We started off with nice clear skies before the visibility dropped significantly 20 miles out from the approach. Fortunately we found Mpanda in a gap in the clouds and were able to make a safe landing.

One more leg in Tanzania tomorrow and then we’ll be hitting Rwanda. We’re getting quite close to the equator, will have to think up something fun for that leg :slight_smile:

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Leg 22 Mpanda (HTNP) to Kifura (HTKF) - 176 NM

A plesent leg winding our way over country roads up close to the border between Tanzania and Burundi. The odd thundershower kept us on our toes but we were able to navigate our around or in the case of @TicTocRock through the weather to find our way to Kifura.

As the team reminded me our current flight plan ends after our next leg to Kigali. Not to worry i have added another 8 legs to the flight plan in the original post which will bring us from Rwanda through Uganda and Kenya to Addis Adaba. As with other legs the focus for the route planning will be in VFR following rivers, roads and other landmarks to trace the epic journey that Ewan Macgregor and Charley Borman did several years back.

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