One of the highlights of my recent safari trip to Africa was taking a low flight over the mighty Zambezi River. We did this on Proflight Zambia, a local airline offering both scheduled and chartered flights on very tiny planes.
Often, my two companions and I were the only passengers on a 9-19 seat plane. It was like having a private jet. On the smallest planes, the pilot would do the security briefing. We all listened, considering that the emergency exits tended to look like the one pictured at right — well worn, to say the least. We hoped the wear and tear was due to drills and dug into the beer and snacks in the cooler in the back of the plane.
The most memorable of these flights was the one from Mfuwe to Jeki, on which we watched in stunned awe as we flew over the Zambezi, looking at the herds of animals on the endless islets. Even our pilot and co-pilot were pointing out animals to each other like they were experiencing it for the first time. We loved that.
Check out this video to see the stunning scenery — and the awesome “airport” we end up at.
You say “airport,” I say “shack and a fire bucket.” Let’s call the whole thing off.
[Photo and video by Annie Scott.]
My trip to Zambia was sponsored by Abercrombie & Kent and Sanctuary Retreats, but the ideas and opinions expressed in this article are 100 percent my own.