African safari by microflight

A REMOTE safari lodge in Africa has come up with a novel way to get a glimpse of wild animals - and it involves a very peculiar looking contraption.

See Africa's plains in a new way with a microflight safari. Picture: Escape

I'VE never really had much luck with safaris.

Ever since I first went on one to South Africa six years ago and found a scorpion in my bed, things have never quite gone according to plan.

There was the time I returned home to find my legs covered in tiny ticks (which I naively mistook for freckles); or the occasion when I woke up to find a spider the size of my hand clinging to the inside of my tent. Fortunately it wasn't poisonous.

I also have a habit of falling asleep during game drives. While everyone else sits on the edge of their seats, intently scouring the landscape for a glimpse of the Big Five, I'll inevitably wake up in time to see a large, leathery rear end disappearing into the bushes - which hardly counts as "seeing" an elephant.

A bird? A plane?
This time, though, things were going to be different. Because instead of being cooped up in the back of a Land Rover, waiting for my guide to stumble across a big cat, I was about to take to the sky in a microlight. From a thousand feet up, nothing would avoid my omniscient gaze. Plus it's very difficult to fall asleep when you're flying through the air at 90km/h, strapped to an armchair with wings.

At first glance, this was exactly what the aircraft resembled. Apart from two seats - one for the passenger and one for the pilot - the only things to keep us airborne were an engine bolted just centimetres behind my backside and a hang-glider-esque wing above our heads.

"If the engine fails, the plane will just glide and we'll find a small clearing to land," said the owner and pilot, John Coppinger, evidently reading the concern on my face during the pre-flight briefing.

"You can put these machines down pretty much anywhere."

One thing was for sure: we wouldn't have to worry about landing in a built-up area. South Luangwa National Park is about as middle of nowhere as it gets; more than 14,000sq km of pristine wilderness in the east of Zambia, where man is just another option on the lunch menu for the lions, leopards and other predators that roam this vast landscape. The only signs of civilisation are the odd tribal village and a few bush camps, such as Tafika Lodge.

The Lodge
Owned by John and his wife, Carol, Tafika Lodge was my home for the next few days: a collection of six reed huts sprinkled around the bank of the mighty Luangwa River. Remote it might have been, but each cottage was the size of a hotel suite - with two double beds, an al fresco shower and flushing toilet. The moment I kicked off my flipflops, time slowed to a luxurious crawl; the only sound to disturb the silence was the wind in the trees and the occasional snort from a disgruntled hippo.

There are hundreds of them here, beached on sandbanks in the middle of the river, their bulbous bottoms giving them the appearance of fat old ladies basking in the sun. Don't be fooled by their air of indolence and incapacity, though: get on the wrong side of one and you'll find two tonnes of teeth and muscle coming your way at 50km/h.

The river is the main reason for the abundance of wildlife in the region, being a vital source of water during the dry season, which runs from April to October.

During the wet season, which runs from November to March, the area around Tafika is completely cut off from the outside world - the microlight being the only way out. For the rest of the year it is used to show guests parts of the park that are inaccessible on foot or by car. Game drives still feature on the program here but they're not the be-all and end-all, as you'll find at most other lodges.

The plan was to make two flights a day: one just after sunrise, the other in the early evening, taking off and landing back at the lodge.

"The beauty of the microlight is that you can cover many miles in one outing," said John, as we headed over to the airstrip for my maiden flight.

"This allows you to see much more wildlife than you would in a 4WD."

Best of all, it doesn't scare the animals; to them you're just a large bird patrolling the sky.

Into the air
Safety checks completed, we taxied up the grass airstrip next to the lodge and prepared for take-off. As John wound up the throttle, I felt the engine straining to wrench itself free right behind me. But after a quick thumbs up, we hurtled down the runway towards the river and were airborne in seconds. Simple as that.

Peering down at the river, I saw clusters of crocodiles lurking like logs, their beady eyes just above the shallow water, constantly searching for the next snack. Only then did I realise just how isolated we were. The lodge is the last bastion of human habitation for hundreds of kilometres. As my eyes adjusted to the perspective, I began to spot iconic shapes below.

"There's a huge herd of buffalo right underneath us," John said over the intercom, as we swooped lower for a closer look. They barely batted an eyelid.

Indeed, the only creatures that seemed bothered by our presence were the crocs. On a regular safari you'd never get near these killing machines, for obvious reasons. The most you can hope for is a glimpse through the binoculars from the safety of your vehicle, but as we dropped low over the river I got a bird's eye view of a huge crowd of them, feeding on the remains of a hippo on the shore.

Armed with a mental wish list of animals I wanted to see, we cruised around and ticked them off: antelopes, eagles, zebras and elephants - the latter making their way across the river in the late-evening sun. The best was saved until last, however, in the form of two corn coloured splodges sprawled out on the grass. Even from this distance their shape was unmistakable: two male lions, utterly exhausted after gorging themselves on a gazelle.

We made a few passes over them before buzzing off back to base, wheels kissing the grass as we coasted to a halt.

This was only day one, but I already had the feeling that my luck was about to change.

To book a microflight safari at Tafika Lodge, visit your local travel agent 

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