Maun, Botswana. The essential guide.
 

Yes that's true but you need to keep at least some common sense with your desicions.

CPL.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I left for Africa.
I had enough of working a ground job dispatching aircraft and knew where I wanted to be. I quit my job and sold everything and a month after making the decision, I was on a plane for Jo'burg.

Two years later I was leaving again with nearly 2000hrs and 500 turbine.

You have to remember. It is only money. If all goes sour, you can always go home again and build up your savings for another go somewhere else.
Africa was my third attempt after Australia and Indonesia.

Sure 10k could buy you another 60hrs in a Cessna... or it could give you the chance to get 1500hrs.

Hey fella's. I've been thinking a lot about this whole bush pilot thing in Africa to build my hours. how legit is this whole thing? do most newbies go here and build their hours? I will be doing my ATPL / JAA license soon probably and was just wondering since I'm sure no airline would take me with low hours. so I need to pay the bills and I'm thinking about things like seaplanes, bush pilot, w.e it is. building hours and getting paid is my aim. do these operators need pilots? is there demand? and living in Africa sounds kinda weird for me, freaks me out a lil tbh just is very weird.. but yeah .

You're right lilfly,It's also always possible that the gov. of Bots will again chance their regulations.
Lets see if the January is still on.

Oh that's the fun part about flying in Africa.
Just look at one of the new threads in the African forum about no permits being issues to expats in Tanzania.
There is chest beating like that every year. And then it all goes back to normal.

Nekro, Then it seems like Africa is not the right place for you.
You might want to look at getting an instructor rating or dropping parachutes.

I been watching that program on tele called Bush Pilots, where they are flying from Maun etc to all the smaller camps to take tourists to and from and food.

Seems like an amazing job to build the hours, i wonder if any of them pilots on tele are members of this forum :D

You hoping for Emarn? ;)
I know Kristy is on here somewhere, that's how she found out about the place.

I'm sure some of the Brits are as well... never did collect on those beers they promised me...

I know may sound like a daft question but which one is Emarn again? haha

Im hoping any of them are on here, i would be good to actually ask some questions, or see how things are going etc.

haha yeah lilflyboy, i've been watching the show too. i actually trained in the same school as kristy. hadnt heard from her in a while so imagine my surprise when i saw she was in maun! :}

Im not even sure what episodes im upto with this bush pilots series, has it ever been on before in the UK under a different name or anything? I want to catch up on any previous episodes.

No, it's a brand new series. Dave showed the entire set of 10 episodes over 2 weeks every weekday.

Now that it's finished, they're showing one a week. Episode 1 was on last Saturday, Episode 2 on this coming Saturday and so on. :)

Hey CPLpilot87,

Looks like I will be seeing you in Maun next year, Jan- Feb. Got the permission from my GF after so much talking (Max. 2 years or she will leave and marry someone else!!!). After so much reading and research on Bush pilot, and lots of reality checks. Wants to challenge and experience Bush pilot life. My I/R will be expired soon. Does anyone know that current I/R is needed????? Up to now, I only know W.A requires I/R.

Thanks

i may have to see if they are all available online to watch then :)

You'll find it's over-dramatised drivel in many places, beginning with:
'Botswana - one of the most inhospitable places on earth.'
I lived there for several years, including four in Maun. It's nowhere near the dangerous environment that the exciteable presenter portrays. And as for making the pilots out to be steely-eyed supermen...:rolleyes:

Maun, Botswana. The essential guide.
 

N.dave I PM'd you, but what I've heard about the situation, there's only one pilot looking for job there, others went back to home because of lack of hrs. It seens to be that 350 is absolut minimum at the situation.

CPLpilot87, check your pm!

Just been reading Wilderness Air requirements and they wanted 250hrs min. Also, been reading caab botswana caa about foreign licence conversion and it didn't mentioned anything about TT requirements. Unless things have changed recently!!

Cheers

Maun, Botswana. The essential guide.
 

That's the situation now what I've understood the provlem is work permit granted by goverment. That's at least due to emails I've got from there.

One of the girls hired in the last round got hired with 275hrs.

Cpl, maybe it is too hard for you to come to Africa and perhaps you should be looking elsewhere as well?

I think the only way to be 100% sure about the hours required is to personally contact the companies in question by telephone.

Maun, Botswana. The essential guide.
 

Well it's just that if it's impossible to comply with the gov. under 350hr it's better to use that money and time to build up more hrs in somewhere else. At this moment in Maun people couldn't get anything under 300 and one guy with 300 got a job and went back to SA to build hrs to please the gov.
This is just the info I got from one fellow aviator whos now in Maun, also he told me that attitudes against foreign pilots have gotten tighter.

I think thats why the original author of the thread said to go there with a tourist visa while your trying to find a job, then once you have a job lined up with a company they can sponsor your working visa.

Guys And Girls

Only one company is having trouble with work permits with pilots under 300hrs and that is Wilderness, every other company will again be hiring as per normal come OCT - FEB. Yes more hours is better but you still have a chance with 200hrs. It is a risk but nothing in life can be guarantee.

For those that do get hired it will take some time to get the permit approved and company's are now asking for the pilot to wait back home for the permit to arrive.

Good luck to everyone who makes the journey over.

What is the age range of pilots in Maun? From the TV show in the UK I'm guessing it ranges from early 20s through to mid 30s. Would someone in their early 30s be more or less likely to get a job than someone younger?

Also how to people typically find the experience is viewed by airlines? In the UK at the moment it seems that SEP hours (however obtained) aren't particularly favoured by airline recruiters...

Would be grateful for any thoughts.

Cheers.

Well if you watched the show you saw one guy getting into Qatar.

Hours are hours.

Age is nothing.

Good news. It looks absolutely mindblowing, big balls flying. I have a mad fantasy of jacking everything in next year when I finish my training and head on over... Looks more fun than instructing trial flights and PPLs in the UK anyway.

First up, a big thanks to lilfly for going through the trouble of setting this up n being so kind as to still keep tabs on it...This has been extremely helpful! - i've heard some real horror stories of ppl that have gone to places, like aus, and toughed it out for 4 yrs and only come out with a bigger debt and a very morbid expression. It doesn't really help convince one's parents that it'll be ok and I WILL FIND WORK.

i'm just finishin up some SEIR and MEIR stuff now and will be looking to scoot over late sept and early october - wish me luck :ok:

Aaah, it has been a good 8 yrs since i've lived in afrca for more than 6 weeks... i'm looking forward to it.

I wonder... i've got a degree from the university of auckland - BSc in Biology. Do degrees even help much when applying for jobs or is it just something else that decorates that cv?

I'm flying in from NZ so wanna keep the bags n luggage to a minimum. - chances are i'll be dropping off random food items and gifts in Zimbabwe on my way through.. are there good quality tents to be bought in Maun? or would it still be a better idea to bring one with me beforehand.

Any chance you guys have some home-videos of your own flights in and around the delta? care to hit us up with a few links? It'd be nice to see a few "real" vids...

and wow... this is one hellova thread to read in one night.

Also, forgot to mention... but surely there must be a few part-time jobs to be had around the place that one could get to help keep themselves afloat while on the job hunt...or is that something that's frowned upon slightly?

And how expensive/advisable is it to maybe invest in a bicycle or little scooter/motorcycle as a means of personal transport..? or are the combis n taxis just more convenient in general?

thanks

Yes there are two main suppliers. Also Riley's Garage do some good end of season sales on tents around October.

None that are legal unless you have a 'work permit', sorry to use those two words guys and girls :eek:

Hey all,

Quick question, i'm an Aussie Pilot, just over 1120hrs total, got 97hrs ME, MECIR Current, flown Airvans, 207s, 206s and 310 doing Skydiving, Scenic and Charter. What i'm wondering is, would having this amount of hours work against me getting a job in Maun? I'm really considering taking the plunge as the job market over here isn't great and i'm pretty keen on a new adventure!! I know there are some places that would look at my hours and worry that i'll leaving too soon, would those of you whom have been involved over there see this as being the case?

Awesome... thanks mate. I look forward to seeing you soon-ish.

Ixixy, haha if you think you are over qualified then I'm well under qualified! Just 331tt, cpl and sep! (i/r and mep will be expired by then) I'm planning to go there in jan and feb 2013.

Hahaha, not overqualified, I've just had the situation before where people look at me having more hours than the usual candidates and become worried that i'm not going to stick around long enough to make it worth their while with training and such! So when i'm looking at most people going over there like yourself with around 300hrs I get a little worried and just thought i'd check it if would work against me!!

i'm also worried too! There are guys like you with thousand hours. You got the experience but i do not have! You probably get less training and be put on line very quicky. I probably need more training and be on line slighty longer! Haha. You have your advantages and I have mine. Just have to see what decisions the recruiter makes.

We could just duel with pistols at 20 paces? The gentleman's way to cut down the competition!

I don't see why either of you would require more or less training? Just saw one of the new company co-pilots at my new job blow 4 tyres on a king air while trying to stop to make a turn off with thousands of feet of runway remaining..... and he has thousands of hours from instructing.

The biggest advantage that Ixixly will have is that it will be easier for him to get work permits. Also Ixixly, if you do not get a job in Maun, I would suggest Zambia and Tanzania.
Both do the same sort of flying, but there are twin jobs to progress into. And you need over 1000hrs for a work permit there.

ixixly, the deal is on! But, i'm no gentleman and i will shoot you before the paces are done lol.
Lilflyboy, thanks for some useful info. regarding to work permits. I have being reading 'Low time flying jobs in africa' and very little info. about it.

You're going to get a rude shock when you go to fire and discover the blanks I put in there... Hahaha!!

Same from me Lilflyboy, appreciate the advice!!

If you watched the show even more carefully, you would have seen a clue on the front of that guys logbook, which might have better explained how he got into Qatar. A lot of people where he trained found the same destination.

Not so much where he trained, but the type of licence he holds.
Qatar are also after guys with their ATPL's. The time here counts towards your ATPL's. So yeah...