“Truly horrible flight from Quelimane. Got very wet taking 4.5 hours to cover 185 miles. Next stop Vilankulo.” (via Jeremy) #108

Have been stuck in Quelimane for 2 days now. Much anticipated northerlies are southerlies, plus rain and low cloud. Not good, but at least its hot and the coffee is great! John & Jim (via Jules) #107

Hi All, Afraid it’s been a long while since we managed to get internet access. Thank goodness for mobile phones and SMS- thanks to Ingrid, Julie, Keith for helping relay our progress. We’re now in Blantyre, Malawi before hopefully crossing in to Mozambique tomorrow. Not quite the route we’d chosen but our chosen port of departure was rejected late yesterday. Blantyre came as a shock as we were hit for en-route navigation fees and the total bill today came to $96, this is more than ten times we’ve paid anywhere else.

We are still taking it easy near Lake Malawi doing some pleasure flights and staying in a great lodge with fantastic food (the excuse is we are getting our strength up for Mozambique!). Took the lodge manager for a very pleasant evening flight yesterday and today we are going to a game reserve. Back “on the road” again tomorrow and hopefully (permits permititng) into Mozambique where we are expecting communication will be even more difficult.

Very pleasant flight today - 30 miles to Mvuu camp, a great place. Seen hippo’s, elephants and crocodiles! Staying here overnight, then back to Matakola in the morning. Hopefully on to Mozambiqe on Friday. John and Jim (via Jules) #104

23 Nov 2003 MatakolaVery pleasant day relaxing by lake Malawi and great evening flight to Monkey Bay and back. No need for flying suits, teeshirts and shorts! Thanks for emails and messages, sorry for the lack of replies but internet access hard to get. Cheers John and Jim.Via Jules ( can’t be flying at 10,000 ft anymore, hey guys?) Comment by Steve (2003-11-25 12:40:59) They promised pictures and good to their word some arrived some days ago.

Yesterday we left Zambia officially but didn’t make Malawi as we were beaten back by the winds. Today we tried again and managed two legs. The first 85 mile leg taking 2.10hrs took us to Lilongwe the capital and then another 2.15 hrs on to Matakola, 20 miles south of Monkey Bay. Staying in a wonderful spot over looking the lake and there is another trike here! First one we’ve seen since we left the Bakota boys strip at Victoria falls.

We have reached the Zambia/Malawai border after two days flying. First day a 205 mile leg, taking 4.15hrs. Flying over bush, mountains and with head winds at lower levels some of the flying was at altitudes of 11-12,000 ft. Got a bit wet as we have caught up with the rainy season! Today only a 100 mile leg. We now have an enforced rest day (Thursday) as our Malawai permission does not start until Friday.

The girls departed for home today. Last heard they had checked in for fligth from Victoria Falls. We hoped for flight over falls this evening but the weather was too bad. We hope to resume our travels tomorrow. (via Keith) Comment by Jim_and_Ingrid (2003-11-18 12:33:09) Thanks Tone and Cherie - your thoughts mean a lot to us - look forward to catching up with that take away! Ingrid and Jim

Flown 2 legs today both very rough (apparently rougher than the S Africa Namibia border but I don’t believe they could be!). 1st leg 115 miles in 2.75 hours followed by a second leg of 65 miles in 1.75 hours. At the first landing spot there were 200 children around the plane before the prop had even stopped! Now at a large airport in Lusaka and hoping to fly on to Petorka tomorrow.