Glorified Taxi Driver
If one says “Bush Pilot” what do you think of? Flying in Alaska, or Namibia, or Indonesia, or Botswana? Tundra tires, and landing on sand banks, and hopelessly short, muddy runways? Taking off from cliffs and flying 10ft above the ground?
Well, it’s sort of like that out here. We don’t have tundra tires, or sandbanks, or cliffs (it’s scary to see how flat Botswana is). Most of the runways we operate from are calcrete, and in fairly good condition, though when the rains come, it does get interesting. The shortest strip we fly to is 600m, but most of the others are 900-1100m; ample room. And we don’t get to fly 10ft above the ground (you can, but you’ll lose your job before you can say “Cessna”).
At the end of the day, we are, quite simply, glorified taxi drivers. We go from strip to strip, transporting clients around the Okavango Delta, doing our best to offer them top-notch service and give them the full-on African Experience. Every day is different, and take-off times can be as early as sunrise. It is not uncommon to land just before sunset, and have to tie your aircraft down in the dark. Some days are short, with only 4 or 5 movements. Other days can have 10 sectors, some as short as a 2 minute hop.
We land, unload the clients and their luggage, wish them well, greet the new clients, load them and their luggage, check the fuel, give them a safety briefing, and go. From wheels down to wheels up, we have 10 minutes to get everything done. It is fast-paced and hard work. And as such, it is easy to take the wrong bag, or even the wrong passengers; so we are always double checking everything.
But despite the pace and responsibility, it isn’t particularly stressful. Sure, there are a few “Oh snap” moments on some of the take-offs with a fully-loaded aircraft on a 38degC day, at 3100ft, from a strip that has had a bit of rain. Typically during those sort of take-offs, the mantra in my head is “It will fly, it will fly, it will fly, it will fly”. And it does, though sometimes not very well.
Interesting moments aren’t only limited to the bush. It’s not uncommon to be pre-flighting the aircraft in Maun at the start of the day, and have the CAAB (Civil Aviation of Botswana) ambulance and fire engine dice each other down the taxi-way, piloted by suit-clad drivers.
Odd place this.
It can get a bit hectic when you have 3 or 4 days in a row of early starts and late landings. But, after tying the aircraft down after over 5hrs of flying, and walking back to the terminal, body aching and covered in sand and mud, all you have to do is look back across the apron and see the sunset, and it makes absolutely everything worth it.
