Sunday morning, and we were getting ready to leave Goerapan, our home for the past four days. All the aircraft had been prepped and fuelled the night before, bar tabs settled, and a final supper at this wonderful place enjoyed. With the eight-hour bottle-to-throttle rule in mind, it was an early night for all.
For most of us, the journey ahead was a roughly four-and-a-half-hour flight with two planned stop the first at Kuruman and the next at Bona Bona. For Marinus Hugo, who drove the fuel truck all the way from the big smoke, suffering a puncture en route, it was the start of another loooong drive home. By the end of it, he would have clocked more than thirty hours on the road and transferred thousands of litres of fuel, with help from Dawid, Peet's son, into the helis. Without him, we would have been grounded from day one. Thank you, Marinus.
The weather was perfect for flying and, unlike our inbound journey, pleasantly warm. Bidding farewell Goerapan and our hosts as well as all the pans of the Kalahari we left for the City of Brakpan, our home field on the Gauteng East Rand.
We stopped at Kuruman which this time had three visitors, one of which was a medical emergence mission. It was a lovely day and being refreshed we set out for our second but last stop.
We landed at Bona Bona, which had recently hosted the President's Trophy Air Race. By the time we arrived, all but two of the competitors had departed. Among the last were Dieter Bock in his blisteringly fast Lancair who with navigator Nicholas Clark, had finished a respectable 11th in this iconic handicap race.
Refuelled and refreshed, it was time to say our goodbyes. Hennie in ZU-ROP, Peet and Dawid in ZU-RIO, and Mark and Dan in ZU-ROC all set off to their respective destinations. I, now back in the Lama, with my luggage stowed in the Allo III, headed for the final leg home.
Approaching Klerksdorp, a loud bang jolted the Lama. It sounded like a gunshot but it wasn't. Charles, at the controls, kept his cool and announced it was a bird strike. He had tried to avoid it, but couldn't. Strangely, there was no trace of the bird, no feathers, no blood, just a large hole in the Perspex windscreen, just left of the instrument binnacle.
Needless to say, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief when it became clear there was no further damage. Klerksdorp Airfield was in sight to our right, but with systems reading normal, we continued, albeit with an icy blast inside the cockpit. Poor Renier, in the left seat and seemingly the bird's intended target, tried valiantly to block the hole with his foot, but to no avail.
Charles has yet to get an estimate for the damage. We're just grateful it wasn't worse and that we could continue safely to Brakpan.
We arrived at Brakpan without further incident. After inspecting the damage, we stowed the aircraft. It was around midday, and everyone was eager to get home, especially Johan, who had nearly four hours of driving ahead to reach Nelspruit in Mpumalanga.
I always find statistics interesting, and those from the safari are particularly noteworthy. Of the five aircraft, all were four-seaters except for the Allo III that can sear five. Three were turbine-powered, the Allo III, Lama, and Gazelle. The two ex-R44s, both rebuilt and flying in the non-type certified category, were piston-powered, one normally aspirated and the other fuel-injected.
The Goerapan Safari was, without a doubt, a dream come true, one of many my involvement in aviation has made possible. A big thank you to Hennie for the ride and to the rest of the team for the camaraderie and friendship as we explored the majestic barrenness of the Kalahari.
To all the wonderful Kalaharians we met, and to my fellow adventurers, you are truly the salt of the earth.
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