I have been flying in Swaziland. What a wonderful experience. There is a picture on website. This came after a week of intense travel. I had been in Lusaka for a reference group meeting, then flew down to Johannesburg for a night and spoke at a conference. On the Friday afternoon I was on the Airlink plane to Matsapha. Traveling, and unusually, as a passenger was Derek Harrington, who I had taught St Marks School in 1975. He flies for Airlink so I expect to see him in the cockpit. He had been in Johannesburg to study for his captaincy, and he passed. Of all the people I taught he is the one I envy most: living in Swaziland and flying.

I have been flying in Swaziland. What a wonderful experience. There is a picture on website. This came after a week of intense travel. I had been in Lusaka for a reference group meeting, then flew down to Johannesburg for a night and spoke at a conference. On the Friday afternoon I was on the Airlink plane to Matsapha. Traveling, and unusually, as a passenger was Derek Harrington, who I had taught St Marks School in 1975. He flies for Airlink so I expect to see him in the cockpit. He had been in Johannesburg to study for his captaincy, and he passed. Of all the people I taught he is the one I envy most: living in Swaziland and flying.

My schedule had me at a Waterford school Governing Council meeting all day on Saturday, but Sunday was free. I had been wondering if there was any chance of flying. Seeing Derek was perfect as I asked him if there was a flying school. He pointed across the runway to a Cessna 172 belonging to the Swaziland Aeronautical Academy and suggested I go and talk to the owner Mike Rantf.

I had to wait as Mike was just doing a circuit of the airfield. This gave me a chance to meet his two trainee instructors. Both are females and as with all young instructors, are trying to build their hours. They seemed terribly young. I was glad, in the end, that Mike gave me the lesson. His pupils said he is one of the best teachers in the region.

It is clear that learning in Swaziland has many advantages. The airport does not charge a landing fee for student pilots, there is virtually no traffic, and it is a nice long runway. Mike is a big jovial man. In addition to his captain’s bars he wears the insignia of the Swaziland Defense Force and explained that he does instruction for them and also flies helicopters. Amazing. He was quite happy to arrange the lesson.

So on Sunday morning I went flying. I was at the school by eight fifteen and, after the briefing we took off at about nine. It was amazing. This is the fourth airplane I have flown, both the Cessna and the Piper two seaters are insubstantial; the four seaters are heavier and possibly easier to fly. The controls are different between the Piper and the Cessna: in the former it is a lever one pushes forward and back; on the later it is a knob sticking out of the dashboard. All the principles are the same though.

Once we had taxied down to the end of the runway Mike gave me instructions on the takeoff. Basically at 55 knots I pulled back and off we went. Once airborne he told me to fly along the runway for a few hundred meters to build airspeed and then we were up and off. It was a stunningly beautiful day, the air was clear, the countryside was green, and one could see for miles.

I have now flown from three different airfields and this was the most fantastic experience. It is the first time I have flown in hills. We flew up Ezulwini Valley to Mbabane, then circled Waterford school a couple of times. This was funny because next day, when I saw the headmaster, he asked: ‘where you in that plane that circled us today’. I had to admit that it was me.

From there we flew over the house I grew up in and then down at Pine Valley. How amazing to be flying in a valley with mountains on either side. At the end of the valley we turned back towards the airport flying between and over the mountains. At one point we cleared a ridge by less than 100 feet it was an astounding feeling. Mike also pointed out dagga plantation which was hidden away in a side of valley, quite inaccessible. I think however they will be having a visit from the police helicopter.

Once we had returned to the airport we came in and did one touch and go and then a proper landing. I could have gone on flying for hours, but the plane had to go to Johannesburg for its service and the pilots wanted to get away before the thunder clouds build up too much. This was a sensible point of view because there had been some amazing thunderstorms.

All is well at Waterford, unfortunately we had to begin the Saturday by convening a Governing Council sub-committee to hear an appeal against the expulsion of one of our students. When students are expelled they have the right to appeal to the GC and a number of us hear the appeal. There are some few rules which are strictly adhered to on the campus. Most important is the zero tolerance for drugs policy. If students feel they may be developing a problem they are allowed to enter a contract with the school to try to avoid this. However if they are caught they are out. We do not allow use of alcohol but it is possible to get a warning for a first offense. The third area where there have been recent expulsions is around students having sexual relations on campus. Of course we operate in a complex world and we have to be realistic. There are condoms available on the campus but we should not catch students using them.

The storms have been fierce. On Friday I drove from the airport to meet my colleague Derek von Wissell the head of NERCHA in the Malkerns Valley at the restaurant Marandelas which is next to the amazing venueHouse on Fire. We sat out on the grass overlooking the pineapple fields and watched a storm brewing in the hills towards Hlatikulu. It started to thunder and lightning at the restaurant and we left hurriedly.

I drove up towards the hotel with the storm chasing me up the valley. The dark clouds were roiling and writhing behind me. I got to the hotel, checked in and got to my room just before the storm broke. It was incredibly dramatic. Thunder, lightning and a cloudburst of rain. On Sunday when I went to collect Given and Ilaria from the airport there were storms all around, and I was surprised to see the plane had arrived. Before we went to the restaurant at the hotel I dashed to my room to unplug my computer. Not a good idea to leave it plugged in as fried computers are common in thunderstorms

I desperately wanted to get some exercise, and on Sunday after flying decided to go to the gym. The one at theMountain Inn, where I always stay, is pathetic. One bicycle, one treadmill and a few weights. It is worth going to this website though because it has a view on the valley that I flew up and on the left-hand side are the mountains we flew over.

I decided to go down the hill to the Royal Swazi spa. It too was disappointing: three pre-treadmills, two bicycles and some weights stop. However I spent a happy hour cycling and reading and then went up the hill to watch the students doing their end of year dance show. This was billed as ‘short and sweet’, but lasted approximately an hour and 15 minutes.

There is no doubt that this weekend was amazing and I feel very lucky to have had it. Flying in mountains and with a different instructor was most interesting and has been quite inspiring. I think my next posting will only be in the New Year, so if you are looking at this before then I send greetings for the holiday period.