We crossed the Mozambique Channel

There was nothing but sky and sea above and below us for hundreds of kilometers or nautical miles we use for the aeroplanes. We did the 5 hour crossing  from Vilankulos, Mozambique, to Toliara, Madagascar in formation with the 5 other planes, us in the lead and the others fanning out to either side like a flock of geese. About two thirds of the way across we did a little deviation to fly over the island of Europa, a tiny uninhabited island that is disputed territory between France and Madagascar and serves as a military weather or marine research station.

We came across several banks of clouds en route and we had to climb up to 9 000 ft to pass over them. Some clouds of that size often have ice blocks inside as big as a fridge and that would not be too nice to fly into. Cumulus clouds in formation can also suck you in and toss you around either descending or ascending at an alarming rate. But all was calm and the scenery spectacular as we edge slowly towards Madagascar at 200 kms/h. There was much joy when we could call land in sight about 60 nm to go, although the land mass of Madagascar appeared on our efis computer screens about 120 nm out.

Thanks Andrew from The Airplane Factory for this pic of us in ZDL as we cross the Mozambique Channel. Thanks also for the backup from the factory - very reassuring to know that you are looking after your children and that we can count on you for backup always.

Europa island en route to Madagascar

Brickmaking in a swampy clay area near our hotel in the bush

Photo from the AirTraffic Control Tower at Toliara Airport, Madagascar of our group of planes

Lifejackets and rashvests for warmth in the water as we did the 5-hour sea crossing

Sea below and clouds

The Airplane Factory's Andrew and Sean in the taildragger that flew with us

Our beautiful accommodation at Toliara - Auberge de la Table

Our stunning room at Auberge de la Table hotel, Toliara, Madagascar for our first night there

Processing our 12 passports at Toliara was time consuming, taxing and expensive as we paid immigration, customs, health tax, departure tax and landing fees

Final approach for landing on runway 22 Toliara, lour first landing on Malagasy soil

The brick kiln in the swampy clay area down the road from our hotel in the bush

Sunset over the trees as our cab driver changes a flat tyre, using spanners borrowed from a truck driver nearby

Waiting for our cabbie to change the tyre

Our arrival at Toliara Airport - our first landing in Madagascar

Toliara International Airport, Madagascar

The beautiful Auberge de la Table Hotel in Toliara where we paid only R150 a night pp for exceptional accommodation

Our first sighting of a baobab tree was this rustic metal one at the hotel