For all of you who are going to Botswana soon, here you have a good travel guide that helped me a lot.

Botswana Travel Guide - by Bradt Travel Guides: the ultimate guidebook to Botswana.:ok:

or


http://www.expertafrica.com


See you all soon ;)

Hi everybody to Botswana
 

Hi, could somebody write here current situation about hiring in Maun. Was anybody hired with lower hours than 300 and without FI ? Thank you and wish you all the best, and next season everybody have couple of bears from me ;) And I read somewhere here on pprune that local goverment negotiating that non-local pilots will need 1500 hours.... I hope that will never happen.

Enjoy every day its year 2012 !!!

Mate what type of bears? Grizzly or Black bears? There's quite a few big fat hairy guys there if those type of bears are more your fancy. But for the majority of the guys there they prefer donkeys and goats and goats standing on top of donkeys. I've got a friend who's very fond of Eurasian Brown Bears so could you smuggle one in?

I was thinking of heading to Maun in early January, but I've heard some discouraging news from someone who is there and now I am not so sure. Apparently, including South Africans who have gone home over the holidays, there are already over 30 people looking for work in Maun. He also told me that Mack Air, Wilderness and Moremi have already hired and he is not sure if they will hire any more.
The problems with getting work visas for expats also seem to be continuing so the companies are hiring more local pilots and have a preference for expats with at least 500+hrs and an instructor rating as it is easier to get visas for them. It also appears that there are a lot of people heading there in January too so I am not sure if our chances are going to be very good.
What are other people thinking?

Hi mate ,

Sory for misunderstanding , It was meaning beers instead bears http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...s/embarass.gif .....by the way I found than in botswana is possibility to go hunting, ....bu I dont know how it is with license, and probably it will cost a fortune ( Rann Safaris - Hunting outfitters in Botswana specializing in Lions, Leopards, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino and Plains Game )...maybe I will try a fishing while I will be in Maun.

And Its very bad news what you wrote about hiring situation, but not change about it, that next season after my school graduate I will come for visiting this African beauty and trying to find job.

Essential Information Required
 

Where does a chap get a decent haircut here? I have checked the whole thread and this information is not available here - disgraceful. I am standing-by for all sorts of ridiculous replies. Mama's Hair salon is not an option and neither is a wooden hut on the side of the road. Also no snide comments please about the very limited work required :(

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32684975/Hair%20Cut.jpg

Jeez Exascot! Take all the fun out of it then!!!

There is a decent one that I went too behind Old Mall. Its close to the Christian book shop, and off of the road that leads to Maun Surgery.

There is also meant to be a place in that new mall that opened up on the road out to sports bar. By DHL. Can't remember the name of the girl who does it.

(There is also meant to be a place in that new mall that opened up on the road out to sports bar. By DHL. Can't remember the name of the girl who does it.)

In that one contextual statement lies a whole new concept of the significance of the barber's pole, an interpretation which has up to now, been unchanged since the European Middle Ages.

A quick question, how exactly does one pronounce 'Maun'? (With a Kiwi accent)

Is it like 'mound' without the 'd' or like the first part of 'morning'?

It's hard to convince people that you want to go there when you don't know how to say the place name :p

Ma -oon is the correct way.

But everyone says it the mound minus the d way ;)

Check out Safari Air if you are a Kiwi! It used to be all Kiwi's, but now there is none :(:{I was the last!

Theres still a few with various other companies though :)

Safari Air is the company I've had the most trouble reading about. The others in your original post were way easier to find websites for. Guess I'll just have to get over there sometime and find out for myself http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...ilies/cool.gif.

It seems that lots of Kiwis used to head to Bots but I don't hear of it much now.

I know one who went last year- but she was kicked out by immigration.
And I met someone who came back last year after a few years in Maun. I think she was with Sefofane and talked about how much she loved Africa.

Yeah Safari Air doesn't have its own website. They are owned by Chobe holdings which is Desert & Delta, and Ker & Downey.
If you e-mail one of those companies, I am sure they will put you in touch with Safari Air.

On a totally unrelated note, one of the guys that was in town looking for work, died last night outside his tent of a suspected heart attack. He has no next of kin information with him. Please make sure you have something with you so people back home can be contacted should anything happen to you!

Coiffeur
 

Lilflyboy and CC thank you for your recommendations re. haircut. Did a stealth recce of the 'girl who does' place. All looks very professional! Just waiting for the RDF film crew to leave on Saturday - they get everywhere. Are they filming (or indeed having) their leaving party at the Sports Bar tomorrow night? Couldn't find any of them around today.

No idea about that sorry! I'm in the frozen north of Canada now!

@ Sockstall. Driving up to Livingstone will be a bit tricky! Best thing to do will be to jump on one of the companies that flies up to Kasane daily. Wilderness, Safari Air and Mack Air would be your best bets for that.
Usually pretty cheap, then just get the ferry across the river to the Zambia side, and then a taxi into livingstone.

A few companies around there but if you are going to Zambia, you really need to head up to Lusaka or Ndola.

To answer my own question:

Yes, that is tonight now (27th)

Riverside Accommodation Available Maun
 

This is not an advert but a notification. I have permission from the mods to post.

Two rondavels have become vacant next to us in Maun. Both en-suite and with kitchen area. Large shared garden, on the river Thamalakane. Cracking very quiet spot (we wish to keep it this way). Any parties - we have to be invited. 10 kms from airport. You will need a 4x4 to get there. PM me for further details.

If I was you I would move on and look elsewhere. ive been here 2 months with no hits yet and one guy has been here for 4 months. 4 guys have left in the past week. and i assume many more will be leaving in the coming weeks. work here is very hard to come by. most of the companies are full and wont be looking to hire until the end of the year. talking to other guys here ive found that most will be heading home and doing an instructors rating and trying to build up to 500 hours. so my advice is to do that then if flying in maun is what you really want to do then come back at the end of the year.

where abouts are you staying? i dont think anyone has met you yet? or even know you are here. so get out there go to the bon and to sports bar on a friday night and meet people and get to know everyone.

but yea like i said it doenst look like it will be changing anytime soon so build some hours then come back or try namibia or tanzania.

best of luck

hours don't matter. they say 500 hrs to scare people off. There are not enough locals to fill the positions, so the companies then have to default to foreigners. the reason hour requirements exist is due to insurance. some companies do prefer that you have time on type, but no problem if you don't. who do you think they're going to choose; the guy who has been there for 2 days, or the guy that knows the people and the area? It is a waiting game, so be prepared to wait.

"The hardest part about this process is waiting. But once you're in, you're IN."

And have somebody information how many guys way hired ? And how many was job seeker ?

Google translator strikes again :E

Really sorry... I know my English is not so good. But I think that you know, what was my intention to ask...And NO I didn´t use google trans, - don´t offend GOOGLE TRANS :)

Well, a month without news, so I might as well bump the thread a little.
To rephrase the question that had already been asked - is anyone in the know on the number of folks that tried vs the number of jobs landed? Info would be much appreciated, the more the better - including perhaps when the bulk of hiring happened.
(I do know between Nov and Feb is the season, the reason I'm asking is that I still need to save up for the reminder of the training AND do the training before I go... and one month DOES make a difference...)

Thanks in advance!

Is the hiring season for Namibia different to the one is Botswana by any chance?

yup, it is, a couple of month different

Quick Q to any Maun employed pilots who read this if you please ;)

I'm CPL SE, about 470 hrs TT at this time, most of it VFR low level aerial photography in 172s. I'm doing a ME/IR around June/July, who knows even /August, bottom line being I'll no longer be a 500 hr virgin.

I'm addicted to flying into new and weird short and challenging strips, not ready or interested in the failing airline market just yet, would Maun 2012/2013 be a decent idea?

I would lose the crappy full time job back home, which is both a benefit and a drawback...

Cheers :ok:

p.s. I'm single...

go for it boy

can anyone throw a ball park budget figure in the thread for a 3 month stay please :confused:

honestly, bring more than enough. Think about it this way, if you plan to stay for 3 months, and get a job right at that 3 month end date, how long will it take for the work visa to go through? how will you support yourself for the period after that initial 3 months? --and 3 months really isn't that long. be prepared to wait for up to 6 months! :ugh:

Bring around $1000USD per month. You probably won't end up spending that much, but at least you'll have some sort of reserve incase you get into any trouble. :ok:

true.. thanks :)

Whatever amount you bring wont be enough!!! Because the more you bring, the more you spend and chances are you'll run outta money anyway ;)

lol yeah. the duration of the trip ultimately depends on the budget i set for the trip. so if its a low budget, it would mean a shorter trip :(

but hey atleast i could claim i lived in africa for a xx amount of time :E

cant blame them you know. they do see hundreds of pilots each year.

but damn i was hoping atleast someone would come up with something

Yup. The least they could do would be to throw a ticker tape parade to welcome their saviours.

A tender juicy mzungu like you, you're lucky you didn't end up in a pot with a necklace of herbs and clutching a couple of veggies.:E

Learning to fly is not cheap. And I'm learning that getting a job isn't cheap either. To keep your sanity, remember that people can easily spend $20,000usd/semester going to university. That's roughly $40,000/ year. We have decided to put our money elsewhere. I'd rather be upset not finding a job in something that I love than finding a shi* job doing something I hate. There is something going on EVERYWHERE; keep your eyes open.

It seems like most have spent $40-60,000 on their ratings and qualifications (year and a half of college LOL). Honestly, if you're not an instructor, of course you're 'another prostitute'. You'll be upset and down for awhile, but just remember that patients is key. If you're going home, and there are sky diving companies around, be there. It's relatively inexpensive to get to them if they're close, and you'll make your face familiar. It's the same thing that you were doing, just closer. All I can say is that anything is possible. Stay focused and GO after what you want; it's only a matter of time........and money haha. "What do you do when you can't do anything? . . . you do what you can."

This all may sound happy-go-lucky, and it is. Ask yourself how are YOU going to get YOUR job? What makes you the favorable prostitute? How badly do you want to do it?

Africa is as safe as you make it with the flying. I do not recall any situations where I couldn't climb.
A few where I was climbing slowly... but none where I couldn't climb!
It sounds like you are trying to justify the reason you are going home. If you had a job there you would have been having the time of your life.

What is with the sense of entitlement of pilots? Just because you have a license, it doesn't mean you should be hired. Look at how many educated and qualified people are out of work throughout the world.
You have to remember how many guys are coming to see the chief pilot every day, and that he also has a job to do.
Could they be a little nicer about it? Maybe.
Should he be laying out the red carpet and making you feel good about yourself? No.

You have a very long and hard road in aviation ahead of you. I left there with 2000hrs and I wasn't welcomed with open arms to every company I applied at. Hell, I only heard back from two.

I hope you enjoyed your time in africa and at least took the opportunity to get out and see the sights while you were there. You did just have an experience that you probably would have never had if you had not got into aviation in the first place.

Your thread has been the poorer for your absence.
I hope that success is attending your efforts.

Getting there. Have a job as a co-jo on a Kingair.
Just having issues with license conversion. Every time I think I am done, there is something else that comes up.
Sometimes I wish I was still in Africa, things were so much more simple!

what do you prefer

1-have a "job" where you have to pay to fly , you can not make a living even when working 18h a day.
You struggle just to fill your miserible logbook.worse than a slave...

2-have no job and the pocket plenty of money! employers beg for you to come to give them your money , but you tell them they can shave their :mad:and you don't give a ****, because jobs will come one day...

I might have said bull**** in my previous post. I guess i'm a bit tired after 2 months of ass-kissing and not even a single interview. But i don't blame anybody, i take responsibility and i expected that in some extent.

Good luck

Quite so. Problem is it's a skewed market. Flying schools sell the dream and promise the moon to qualified candidates. The reality is that there are a lot of new CPL holders and few jobs so they're pretty much a captive market for those with no scruples to abuse as they like. For all their faults, the Maun operators at least agree to pay a salary for a fair day's work, unlike the shonky P2F crooks. Those going the P2F route are bolstering this practice, knowing full well that the next in line is right behind them and at the end of the day they still won't have a paying job because the operator will just get the next desperate sucker to pay to fly when his time is up. All this increases the debt burden among new pilots.

How to fix this? No idea. Maybe worth getting the word out there re actual job availability, thus getting fewer new CPLs on the market by adding reality to the dreams sold by the schools. Of course the trickle down effect will then mean the schools will cease to be a worthwhile investment and some will fold, meaning even fewer jobs available. It's a vicious circle and there's no real way out of it without a fair bit of pain.

propcowboy, cheers :ok:

lilflyboy262...2, fantastic information you've provided, you could probably get a short book published detailing your time in Africa alone.

HBB