I am currently in Maun a small transit town in the Okavango delta in Botswana where a daily Fokker F28 and Air Botswana ATR42s and 72s unload passengers who later fly out to local bush strips hosting 3-5 star lodges on Cessna 206, 210s and 208s. During the cruise to the camps which average around 25mins its quite possible that you will see hippos in lagoons, elephants and giraffes banking around a 150ft tree on short final so certainly for the tourist looking to go on safari they are no doubt getting their moneys worth already and so is the pilot.
Unfortunately as of yet there are no jobs flying pax to be had for myself as well as the other 30+ pilots looking for work who have been rotating in and out their origins including Spain, UK, India, Canada, France, New Zealand, Portugal, Norway, Holland, S.Africa, Australia, Germany and Belgium to date.
For all of us the daily routine of getting a job is to get onto extra seats with companies so they can see how you fly and consequently get to know you to see if they could get along with you in the company. On a flight with one of the operators I was able take my hand at the controls of the 208 above which was landed into Seranga north of Maun with 1 pax and a handbag then loaded with 11 pax and heavy bags on the way out. Cool stuff really as the climb-out barely clears trees at the end of the runway!!
The hunt continues and well see what happens. There are many more places to go to in Southern Africa to look for a job and to explore as well. Ill be contemplating the next move over some Hansa beer tonight.
