Skubies Blog 2024

 We arrived in Tanzania on the 27th April which meant we were able to expeerience the bush straight after the wet season for the very first time. The river was full, everything was green and we had flowers. Just beautiful. However, as you will see, as the weeks went by, the river level decreased rapidly leaving the usual islands and pools of water. The water souces spread throughout the park and the surrounding protected area will eventually dry up and the animals will once again, rely on the river for water. Whilst that will be  nice for game viewing, it was also be good for the predators  and poachers who were sure to find  desperate animals forced to visit the river to drink. The following pictures give some idea of our camp life, our work, our trials and tributlations with the savannah aircraft, our downtime in Iringa and  ofcourse the wonderful people we work with, especially the Village Game scouts or rangers.

 We are working with STEP funded rangers from the nearby villages. ..Village Game Scouts. The  main task of these rangers  is to patrol the protected area and apprehend any poachers etc. which either they, or we,  have located. However, as our camp is just on the other side of the Ruaha river, there are still wild animals around, including Lions, Hyena and Hippo,  so we have a ranger protecting us with a loaded gun at all times, sitting up all night by the camp fire while we sleep.   

 Well that gets the serious stuff out of the way! Clearly there is more to life in camp than flying and catching the bad guys. The camp is fantastic. Our tent is right on the river with sunsets each day to die for and mosquitos who are trying to aid us in that purpose! We are thankful for the bats that come out each night, but they are just not taking the job seriously. Large red marks on arms and my legs prove that they are failing! Hey guys - eat more! 

This year our patrols will be split between the Mbompa, Wild managment area on the eatern side of Ruaha National Park and RUNAPA , Ruaha park patrolled by TANAPA ( TAnzanian National PArk Authority). Whilst I will fly as observer in Mbomipa and to and from the park, a park ranger will fly the patrol inside the park.

On the first day, Chuck cranked up the plane to test it before our patrol, and we heard a shot ring out. Suddenly it was on for young and old. He immediately pulled over on the airstrip for me to hop in and we  tried to locate its source. No luck, but what a start to our season!  

The next day, however, our patrol was aborted due to a loss of instruments. This led to a week of donwtime which was a real disappointment as we had only just arrived. The cause was suspected to be battery problems, so  2 new battery's later we were no further down the road or in the air! An Avionics expert was sent for ( we ofcourse broke down on the way to the bush with him in the 'Black Mamba' landrover) and a new Voltage regulator installed, flown in by our plane mechanic. All good...except that our radio comms functioned erratically. Now this meant that Chuck could not talk to other pilots at times, which as we are all flying in the  same air space is kind of necessary. Chuck could also not hear me from time to time... a blessing I would have thought! However, as his observer I could not direct him to check out anything or tell him what I was seeing.  Yelling was not an option for 2 hours! So the thought was to try yet another new battery straight from the Sth African factory....  it ofcourse arrrived with all the water leaking! We could not believe it! So we then waited for this to be replaced and the battery installed. 2 weeks later it was discovered that it was not the battery after all! It was a voltage alternator and some loose wires for the avionics. Thats planes for you!