We were camping at the Khaya in the Witteberg reserve with friends, and I grabbed the maiden flight for the area on the first evening just before sunset. The wind was very strong the next day, so we went on a 4WD trail instead, but our last morning dawned with a favourable forecast. I had planned a route to take advantage of the wind directions, flying south and west into wind and then using the tailwind to return. The area is very remote, with alternating mountain ridges and flatland valleys leading up to the Witteberge themselves. True to the Karoo, it’s a whole lot of desolation scattered with a handful of isolated farms; the mountains themselves have many hidden, trackless valleys. Not the sort of place you’d like to be stranded… but the rewards are great. Many of the old farms have been converted over the years to game farms and nature reserves. I packed spare water, energy bars, flares and survival kit and filled my tank to the brim. Launching at 3000ft above sea level with a heavily loaded, fully-fueled paramotor is not for the faint of heart, but the Ozone Speedster lifted off without difficult and carried me into the unknown.
My first leg was through the southern end of the WPNR into beautiful flatlands. Eastwards I could see the Anysberg National Park, and the land unrolling beneath me was soon dotted with curious springbok, twitching their tails in uncertainty as to whether I was a threat. I flew into a gentle southerly, but with trims open maintained a comfortable 40 km/h ground speed. Although it was early, the sun breaking through patchy clouds was generating small thermals.
Source: Ozone Paramotor