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“Flying the Fish”
Page V
After lunch I was in for the ride of my life, as I discovered these horses
were related to the famous Namibian wild horses. My horse would just not stop. If I just leaned slightly forward out of my saddle it sprung straight into a gallop and tore through the veld. It made for some interesting filming.
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I took the horse back and “traded it in” for a calmer horse that might be a little more camera friendly. It was so calm that it took me completely by surprise when it threw me off.
We had a good supper followed by a dynamic session at the pub, and enjoyed the warm dry beds afterwards.
The next morning we took Warren and Mark for a scenic flight over the canyon, bidding it farewell before heading south for the trip home.
We arrived at Vredendal just after sunset, after covering some six hundred Km of perfectly smooth flying. I called home, looking forward to getting back to the family the next day. My wife informed me that the weather was foul; the northwester was howling. The weatherman concurred and said there was no way we were going to get into Cape Town the following day.
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So instead we routed for Paul Raads farm next to Clan William Dam to sit it out. One day turned into two. The Gopeds proved themselves again as we explored the all but empty Clan William Dam. Cape Town was in its worst ever drought at the time, and nothing brings it home like seeing the low dam levels for yourself.
On the third morning we set off for home on what seemed like a relatively short flight. Table Mountain was visible from about 60 miles out and was a welcome sight as we routed coastward to Morning Star airfield.
Well, what have I learned from this experience…? We returned much closer as friends, who have shared a trip of a lifetime. Even though we live in Africa we rarely get to actually experience it. Africa is a vast open place upon which we barely scratch the surface. It beckons me to plan further adventures.
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I was quite obsessed with our schedule; “On day this we should be here doing that”. Schedules are something to forget when you live with the elements. We have isolated ourselves well from them and they rarely impact our lives.
The people out in the country seem to be a lot kinder and are definitely more patient. Humans like to huddle; even though we had miles of open space around us and complained bitterly about each other’s snoring, we pitched our tents within meters of each other. Some of these huddles have grown into huge cities, one of which I have returned to while still dreaming of our time out in the open veld.
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