Flight Log: Livingstone FLLI -- Maun FBMN 20.11.2010

Distance: 264 NM
scheduled Flying time: 2h 10min
Filed Route: EKBES1B EKBES DCT EXOBO DCT UVELA DCT ETLON DCT APDEX
ATIS Livingstone: 0620 rwy 10 wind 170/10 kts CAVOK temp. 33 QNH1012
Clearance: left turn climb 8500 ft
Take Off Time: 06:50 (UTC)
ATIS Maun: 0750 rwy 08 wind 70/6 kts CAVOK temp. 37 QNH1012
Landing Time: 08:35 (UTC)
20.11.2010 Livingstone/Maun: Checking in at Livingstone Airport was no problem. We were given take-off authorisation and now had a one-and-a-half hour flight in front of us. Just like our flight to Livingstone, we flew over the Victoria Falls again. Our hotel was also easy to see from the air. Afterwards we only saw steppes and desert until, shortly before Maun, the Okavango Delta with its lakes and rivers emerged. After we had landed in Maun, we went directly from the airport to the safari office. We picked up our papers for a two-day safari trip to the Okavango Delta here. Back at the airfield, we were able to take off again immediately. In three-quarters of an hour we reached our landing strip, a sandy runway called Kwara.

To start with, we flew over the airfield twice. We wanted to know which direction the wind was coming from and check the landing conditions. At the same time, we discovered two elephants at the beginning of the runway, one on the right and the other on the left-hand side. They were about 80 to 100 metres away from the runway and were looking curiously at a plane taking off. We started to land, but carefully observed the two elephants at the same time.

'Marie' touched down gently on the sandy runway. But in the middle was a big puddle, so that Marie was totally sprayed with mud and came to a stop in quite a dirty mess. We'd never seen 'Marie' like that before. Two guides from Kwara camp picked us up in their Landrover. But of course, we did secure the plane beforehand.

23.11.2010 Kwara/Maun: In the morning we took off from Kwara camp to Maun on a half-hour flight. The first stage was a low-level flight, so Martin was able to take more pictures of the Delta and different types of animals. Once we had landed in Maun, we refuelled the plane and had a second breakfast in Aviator Café and will fly on tomorrow to Durban.